If you’re tired of pink, red and rose coloured stuff this week, I gotchu. Deep, dark cookies to celebrate what should be our one true love: chocolate. There’s no sprinkles, there’s no pink food colour, there isn’t even a frosting. The only reason I even cut these cookies in heart shapes is so I don’t get evicted from the celebrations entirely.
These, my friends, are the most addictively chocolatey cookies you’ll ever eat. Crisp, bittersweet and ridiculously easy to make.
Many years ago I’d made this Smitten Kitchen recipe and posted it here on the blog but since then, I’ve made the same recipe without the grated chocolate and it still turned out delicious. This time I thought I’d definitely keep the chocolate, but I’d tinker a bit more and see if removing the egg had some disastrous effects or if just adding a bit of milk as a binder would work. Spoiler alert, it so did! I made a half batch because I didn’t have enough cocoa and still got about 30 cookies so the recipe is written this way.
The cookies need to be rolled quite thin for that lovely snap and crunch, but having said that, if you’d like to roll them thicker I promise it’s not a disaster. The thinner you roll them, the faster they also burn so the baking time on these cookies is actually quite varied. Cookies of different sizes, depending on the cutters you use will need more or less time. In short, don’t walk too far away from the oven!
In addition to the chocolate, these cookies use Dutch-process cocoa for a more intense chocolatey flavour. While this cocoa is usually used with baking powder (this recipe uses baking soda), it works beautifully for the colour and taste. Read more about the differences in cocoa here!
I used two heart shaped cookie cutters, roughly 1 inch and 2 inches wide. You can use just one cookie cutter, or not use them at all, simply slicing the dough into squares. Do what’s easiest! I have some tips in the recipe that makes the rolling, cutting and baking process easier. The cookies will harden further as they cool and have the perfect crunch when you bite into them.
If you’re into just pure chocolate, this recipe really is meant for you. I hope you’ll love it!
Please read the recipe notes before beginning.
Crisp Dark Chocolate Cookies (Eggless)
Ingredients
- 50 gms dark cooking chocolate (see notes)
- 55 gms butter, at room temp (1/4 cup)
- 1/4 cup caster sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 3 tbsps cocoa powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt if using unsalted butter
- 2 to 3 tbsps whole milk
Instructions
- Grate the chocolate into a fine powder and set aside (if your chocolate is cold, this step is much easier). Alternately, you can use a food processor but mine can't really handle solid chocolate!
- In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar with a hand mixer until pale and fluffy. Add the vanilla and stir to combine.
- Now sift in the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt (if using). Add the grated chocolate. Fold gently to combine, then add the milk to make a soft and sticky dough.
- Wrap the dough in a piece of clingfilm and chill for 15 minutes. I prefer it just cold enough that I can roll it out, not so cold that it becomes hard.
- Place the dough on a silicone mat, cover with clingfilm to prevent sticking, and then roll the dough over the clingfilm into roughly 1/8 inch thickness. I honestly just eyeball this, you need to make sure the dough isn't so thin that the cookies tear but also not too thick that they don't crisp up.
- Use cookie cutters to stamp your desired shapes leaving about half an inch between each, but don't cut them out just yet. The number of cookies you get will depend on the cutters you use (see step 9). Slide the mat onto a baking tray and place in the freezer for 20 minutes. I find doing it this way makes it MUCH easier to separate the cut out cookies.
- Preheat the oven to 175 C.
- Now use a sharp knife to peel away the scraps of dough surrounding the cut out shapes. This way, you don't need to transfer the cookies and worry about them losing their shape. They stay right where they were and bake that way.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until the edges have darkened a little and small cracks appear on the surface of the cookies. This time will vary depending on the size and shape of your cookies. For reference, the smaller heart shapes you see here are about 1 inch wide and took 5 to 6 minutes. The larger ones are about 2 inches wide and took 10 minutes.
- The cookies will look a little soft on the top, but let them cool on the tray and they will firm up further. Then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Re-roll your scraps of dough and repeat the process.
- Store the cookies in an airtight tin for a week to 10 days, unless it's very humid where you live in which case they may go a little soft sooner. Happy baking and happy Valentine's!
Notes
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How many ounces of chunk chocolate is correct for this recipe? Not used to working with grams and 50 grams does not sound like much chocolate? Also, how many cookies do you get from this recipe?
Thank you.
Hi, we don’t use ounces in India but online converters say 50 gms chocolate is about 1.5 ounces. Grate it after measuring it. It is a small amount as it’s more for flavour than anything else. I got 30 cookies (for some reason the yield wasn’t visible at the top of the recipe, sorry about that, I’ve just retyped it to ensure it does) but it will vary according to the cutter sizes you use. I hope that helps!
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Hi…can i use milk chocolate instead of dark? To make it a bit less strong as in? If so, in same quantity?
Hello! I tried this recipe yesterday, and for some weird reason it turned out as soft (but delicious) as a really thin slice of cake, loved it, but not “crunchy” at all. I’m wondering what other than the omission of grated chocolate could have caused that. I followed everything just like in the recipe tho..
Hey! Depending on how large and thick you rolled the cookies you may need to bake them a few mins longer for crunchiness. I’ve made them without the chocolate and they’re still crunchy so that shouldn’t be the problem. Let me know if that works 🙂
Maybe.. they were yum nevertheless though 🙂 Must just be the baking time. They were so thin i was mortally afraid, sure that they will burn. Must have taken them out too soon 😛 Thanks!
Yup they can burn easily so feel free to reduce the temperature if needed 🙂