Hello Everybody! I’m pretty sure that I have mentioned that I am a chocoholic. I absolutely love it! The darker the better! My mom has always been a huge chocolate fan too and I believe that she must have ate so much of it before I was born that I have cocoa as part of my DNA. So, you see, this incessant desire for chocolatey goodness is not my fault. I must have some each day, or I might develop some sort of chemical imbalance. That’s my reasoning and I’m sticking with it.
There are only a few recipes or dishes that I associate with my childhood. Chocolate Drop Cookies are first and foremost on that list. I wonder why? Mom used to make these when I was very young and then she just kind of quit baking them. She was always trying new recipes and I suspect that she found other cookies to make. This well-loved treat just fell by the wayside. For years I thought that these cookies would remain a memory alone but then one of my sisters happened to mention that she had the recipe. WooHoo! She was nice enough to share with the rest of us and I could not wait to try it out. I have to say, though, that the memory was better than the result of my first few attempts at these cookies. Maybe it was the lack of Mom that made the difference. Anyway, lately, I tried again because I wanted to share this recipe with you. Success at last! I tweaked the measurements just a bit to get them just right. When I used the original recipe, they turned out very flat. The cookies that I remembered were quite puffy, soft and light. I would suggest that if you try out this recipe (and I really hope you do) you bake 2 or 3 only during the first round of baking. If the cookies spread too much and turn out pancake flat you should add just a bit more flour. Make sure to add it in small increments so that you don’t overdo it. These cookies are soft, fluffy, light and not extremely chocolatey. The addition of the frosting makes for a blissful cocoa moment with each bite that you take.
Start off by softening your butter. You can use solid shortening in place of the butter. I have not tried that yet because I am a butter kind of girl. Maybe Mom used shortening instead of butter and so her cookies turned out differently? Hmmmm. I will have to make these again with shortening just to see what happens. If you make these cookies with shortening let me know what happens, please.
Whisk together the flour, baking soda and baking powder and set aside.
In a separate bowl, cream the packed brown sugar with the butter or shortening until fluffy using either a hand mixer or your stand mixer. Now, note that this mixture will not get as fluffy as it would if there was white sugar instead of brown. Get it as fluffy as possible. For years, I did not understand the importance of getting my butter and sugars creamed until fluffy. I can really tell the difference in cookies if I scrimp on this step. The sugars don’t seem to dissolve as well which leaves you with a grainier texture, in my opinion.
Add in the eggs and cocoa powder. The original recipe says that you can substitute 4 squares of unsweetened chocolate at this point. I have not tried that either, but I would imagine that you would melt it in the microwave until smooth and then let it cool to almost room temperature before adding it so that you don’t cook your eggs. Mix all of this until well combined.
Add the vanilla to the milk in a liquid measuring cup.
Begin adding the flour mixture about ½ cup at a time, alternating with the milk/vanilla. Continue until you have all your ingredients added. If you are adding nuts, then stir them in at this point.
Drop 2 or 3 mounds of cookie dough onto your parchment lined baking sheet. I usually make mine about 2 Tablespoons in size. Leave a couple of inches in between the mounds of dough to allow for spreading. Bake these in a preheated 325-degree oven for 11 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes. Remove to another parchment or wax paper covered surface to cool a bit more before adding the frosting. The cookies do not need to be cooled completely before the frosting is added. If this first “test” batch of cookies are still somewhat puffy and to your liking, then go ahead and bake the rest. If not, then add more flour in ½ cup increments until the dough is thick enough to hold the mounded shape better.
While the cookies are cooling a bit mix together all the frosting ingredients in a medium bowl with an electric mixer. Start with the melted butter and cocoa and vanilla. Add the powdered sugar gradually with the mixer on low so that you don’t end up standing in a sweet, white fog. Add heavy cream by the Tablespoon alternately with scoops of powdered sugar until you get the consistency that you would like. I like for mine to be like cake frosting.
Frost the mostly cooled cookies and enjoy with a big old glass of cold milk.
Chocolate Drop Cookies
These cookies are soft, fluffy, light and not extremely chocolatey. The addition of the frosting makes for a blissful cocoa moment with each bite that you take.
Ingredients
- For Cookies:
- 1 cup softened butter or shortening
- 2 cups packed brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 6 Tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup milk (I use 2 % or whole)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup finely chopped nuts (optional)
- For Frosting:
- 8 Tablespoons melted butter
- 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 6 cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 12 Tablespoons heavy cream (more or less to get the correct consistency)
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Step 2 Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Step 3 Whisk together the flour, baking soda and baking powder. Set aside.
- Step 4 In a separate bowl, cream together the packed brown sugar with the butter or shortening until fluffy using a hand or stand mixer on medium speed.
- Step 5 Add in the eggs and cocoa powder and mix until well combined.
- Step 6 Add the vanilla to the milk in a liquid measuring cup.
- Step 7 Alternately add flour mixture (about 1/2 cup at a time) with small amounts of the milk mixture until everything is combined and mixed together with no streaks of flour remaining. If you are using nuts, fold them in now.
- Step 8 Drop by 2 Tablespoon mounds on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 11 minutes.
- Step 9 If the first batch of cookies are flat then add another 1/2 cup of flour to the remaining batter.
- Step 10 Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes then move to another parchment or wax paper covered surface.
- Step 11 While the cookies are cooling prepare the frosting using an electric mixer.
- Step 12 Add the cocoa and vanilla to the melted butter on low speed until well combined.
- Step 13 Add the powdered sugar gradually with the mixer on low speed. Alternate with small amounts of the heavy cream. Beat until you get the consistency that you want. It should be like cake frosting that can be spread without tearing the surface of the cookies.
