I have been reading food blogs for almost a year now. The one consistent cookie that I seem to find in everyone’s blog is Dorie Greenspan’s “World Peace Cookies”, or originally called “Korova Cookies”. Supposedly, these cookies are so good that if everyone were to eat them, there would be world peace.
Well, since these cookies seemed to be a staple to some talented bloggers, I had to try my hand at them. I had many people who tried these cookies, my boyfriend, his friends, my family, and my grandmother who owned 3 bakeries in her day. Everyone loved them, they were extremely chocolatey and the quality chocolate is what takes these cookies up a notch.
Korova Cookies
adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Paris Sweets
makes about 36 cookies
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 stick plus 3 tablespoons butter, room temperature
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into little bits
Sift the flour, cocoa, and baking soda together in a bowl. Beat the butter in a mixer until it is soft and creamy. Add in the sugars, salt, and vanilla extract and beat for a few more minutes to combine. Add in the flour and combine on low speed just until the flour is combined. This is probably the trickiest part because the texture of the cookie depends on as little mixing as possible. The dough will be very crumbly; resist the urge to keep mixing until it all comes together because then the cookies will be too tough when baked. Add in the chocolate bits and mix just to distribute them.
If you have a scale, the easiest thing to do next is to divide the dough in half by weighing. If you don’t, just turn the dough out onto a flat surface, press together into a ball and roughly divide in two. With each half, press the dough together gently and form into a log about 1 1/2-in in diameter. In the past, for fear of overworking the dough, I would simply form rough cylinders, wrap in plastic, and chill. The cookies would not be perfect rounds but they tasted good! (There is actually opportunity to reshape the cookies when you’re getting ready to bake them). Now, I use the trick of rolling the dough into a log on a piece of parchment paper, folding the parchment in half over the log, and using a ruler to compact the log and smooth out its shape. Wrap the logs in plastic and chill for at least an hour; the logs will keep for up to 3 days in the refrigerator or you can freeze them for a month.
When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silpats. Take out the logs and let them sit for a little while to soften up, otherwise they shatter into pieces when sliced. Greenspan does not seem to be bothered by this and suggests you can just press the pieces back together. I have done this before and it does not appear to affect the result.
Slice the logs into rounds about 1/2-in thick. Place the cookies on the sheets with about an inch between them. Bake them one sheet at a time in the oven for 12 minutes. They will not look done but that’s ok – again, overbaking will give them a crispy texture instead. Let them cool on wire racks until just warm.
