Ménage à Trois Cookies
Did the name get you? These combine dark, milk and white chocolate, hence their name. They are rich and decadent. Heed the serving size of 1 cookie - and assess your tolerance.
Low FODMAP Serving Size Info: Makes 30 cookies; serving size 1 cookie - try one and see.
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup (36 g) gluten-free all-purpose flour, such as Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder, use gluten-free if following a gluten-free diet
- 6 ounces (170 g) semisweet chocolate, (maximum of 55% cacao), finely chopped
- 2 ounces (55 g) unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
- 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into tablespoons-sized pieces
- 3/4 cup (149 g) sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 12 ounces (340 g) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chunks (equals about 2 cups; 1/2-inch size)
- 4 ounces (115 g) milk chocolate chunks (equals about 3/4 cup; 1/2-inch size)
- 4 ounces (115 g) white chocolate chunks (equals about 3/4 cup; 1/2-inch size)
Preparation:
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Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C. Line 2 baking sheet pans with parchment paper.
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Whisk flour, salt and baking powder together in a small bowl to aerate and combine; set aside.
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Melt semisweet and unsweetened chocolates together with butter in top of double boiler or in microwave. Stir occasionally until smooth. Cool slightly to a warm room temperature.
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Place sugar, eggs and vanilla in stand mixer's bowl and beat on high-speed using balloon whip attachment. Beat until light and fluffy, approximately 2 to 5 minutes. (You can use a regular bowl and electric hand mixer, too. Just go with the visual cues). Gently fold in the barely warm chocolate/butter mixture until a few chocolate streaks remain. Fold the flour mixture into the batter until just combined.
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Toss all of the chocolate chunks together in a bowl and remove about one-quarter of them and reserve - just do that by eye. Fold the large portion of the chocolate chunks into the batter. Drop by tablespoons 2-inches (5 cm) apart on prepared sheets. Take reserved chocolate chunks and press at least one of each type onto each cookie top, so that they will show off the white/milk/dark chocolate trio when baked.
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Bake for about 10 minutes or until tops look and feel dry but the insides are still soft and creamy. The edges will be slightly firmer than the rest of the cookies. They firm up tremendously upon cooling; do not over bake. Place sheet pans on racks to cool cookies completely. Make sure these cookies stay flat while cooling. They are delicate while warm; do not try to move them until completely cooled. Cookies are ready to eat or can be stored flat in single layers separated by waxed (or parchment) paper in an airtight container for up to 2 days (see Tips).
Notes:
Tips
There are three major things to pay attention to with this recipe. It can be a picky recipe, but the results are world-class bakery worthy:
- Follow directions. Fold where it says fold. Make sure everything is the temperature that is recommended. Don’t overwork the batter.
- For the semisweet chocolate that is melted for the batter, do NOT go over 55%. Higher percentage cacao will wreak havoc and leave you with a dry crumbly cookie. I use a 52% Callebaut in the Test Kitchen. For the chocolate chunks that are folded in you can use whatever you like and I often use a combo of a few.
- Do not over-bake. They should look and feel soft to the touch when you pull them from the oven. They continue to “bake” on the hot sheet pan as they cool down. Do not try to lift them off the pan until they are completely cool.
These are delicate. Make sure to store them in single layers and keep the layers flat! They will keep longer than 2 days, but the texture will be less creamy and become more crumbly.