Chocolate lava cookies; a rich and sweet treat for the choc-o-holics

Chocolate lava cookies; a rich and sweet treat for the choc-o-holics Jake fitzpatrick '22

My family has loved chocolate ever since I was a toddler. I remember going to Chip's Family Restaurant and ordering the Choc-o-holic Pancakes: five buttermilk pancakes loaded with white and milk chocolate chips, drizzled with chocolate sauce, dusted with powdered sugar and then topped with whipped cream. Needless to say, now that I'm trying to eat healthier, I should not have those pancakes, but I still crave for something similar. So I decided to make smaller cookies in the spirit of my beloved Choc-o-holic Pancakes.

INGREDIENTS

One cup of unsalted cold butter
One cup of packed light brown sugar
One-half of a cup of granulated white sugar
Two large eggs
One-half of a cup of dark unsweetened cocoa powder
Two and one-half cups of all-purpose flour
Three teaspoons of cornstarch
Three-fourths of a teaspoon of baking soda
One-half of a teaspoon of salt
One and one-third cups of semisweet chocolate chips
Three-fourths of a cup of Nutella

First, cut the butter into small cubes.

Then, in a mixing bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugars on high speed until light and fluffy.

Next, mix the batter while adding the eggs one at a time, until incorporated.

Measure one cup all-purpose flour and take out two tablespoons. Then, measure two tablespoons of cornstarch and add to the flour.

Place the blend into a bowl and mix until incorporated.

Then, sift the mixture twice.

Add in the cocoa, sifted mixture, the rest of the all-purpose flour, the rest of the cornstarch, baking soda, chocolate chips and salt, and set mixer on lowest speed setting to stir until dough is just combined.

Place the dough in the fridge for about 30-60 minutes to chill. The dough will get slightly darker in color.

Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats and preheat the oven to 410°F.

Using your hand, divide dough evenly into eight sections and lay the sections on the mats, flattening each dough ball into a disc. Using a one and one-half tablespoon cookie scoop, add Nutella to the center of your disc. Then carefully wrap your disc around the Nutella, forming a ball. Make sure that the Nutella is completely covered and there are no cracks in your dough. Repeat eight times.

Place one baking sheet in the oven and place the remaining one in the fridge.

Bake the cookies for about 11 minutes. Remove from the oven and remove the other baking sheet from the fridge and bake the remaining cookies for 11 minutes. After you remove the cookies from the oven, they need to cool directly on the cookie sheet and set. Do not remove cookies before they are set otherwise they will break. Allow cookies to cool for at least 20 minutes.

Once cookies have cooled and set, remove and serve with some fruit or just by themselves. Each cookie is extremely rich, so being tempted to have more than one shouldn't be an issue. Enjoy these gooey, chocolatey cookies.

All photos taken by Jake Fitzpatrick '22.

Created By

Jacob Fitzpatrick

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