classic chocolate cookies

To be honest, I shied away from making these cookies at first because they seemed almost boring. I thought, 'Just plain chocolate cookies? Where's the mint? Where are the chunks of quality dark chocolate?'

But I guess some cookies don't require sprinkles and chips to shine, 'cause these. are. delicious.

Besides rich chocolate flavour, these cookies have got other things going for them: they're thin, yet chewy, and they have a slightly crispy sugared outside with a slightly gooey center.

I've read somewhere that adding a bit of coffee to chocolate cake enhances the flavour of the cocoa so I figured the same would be true of cookies that are flavoured with cocoa. A bit of instant coffee was the only thing extra I added to the dough and I'd like to think it was partly responsible for kicking the chocolate up a notch.

'grammy's chocolate cookies'
Martha Stewart's Holiday Cookies (2001) special mag
makes 2-3 dozen

2 C plus 2 Tbs all-purpose flour
3/4 C dutch-process cocoa powder
1 teas baking soda
1/2 teas salt
1 1/4 C (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 C granulated sugar, plus more for dipping (or use coarser sanding sugar instead)
2 large eggs
2 teas pure vanilla extract
1 teas instant coffee granules
1 teas warm water

Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In small bowl, combine instant coffee and warm water. Stir to dissolve, then set aside.

In large bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, vanilla, and coffee. Gradually add dry ingredients and combine well. Form dough into flattened disk, wrap with plastic wrap and chill until firm (1 hour).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet(s) with parchment paper. Shape dough into balls, a little larger than 1", and roll in sanding sugar. Place a couple inches apart on baking sheet and bake until set, 10-12 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer cookies to a wire rack.