Chunky Chocolate Nut Cookies

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces SCHARFFEN BERGER 62% Semisweet Chocolate, chopped*
  
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
  
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
  
• 2 large eggs
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  
• 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  
• Pinch of salt
  
• 3 ounces SCHARFFEN BERGER 70% Bittersweet Chocolate, cut into 1/2-inch chunks*
  
• 1 cup chopped pistachios or toasted hazelnuts

Directions:

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter 2 large baking sheets.

Melt the 62% semisweet chocolate with the butter in a medium heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of about 1 1/2 inches of nearly simmering water, whisking until smooth. Remove the bowl from the heat and let cool.

With an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the sugar, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl until thoroughly blended and smooth. Whisk in the chocolate mixture. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt over the mixture and whisk until well blended. Stir in the 70% bittersweet chocolate and the pistachios.

Drop the batter, using a scant 1/4 cup for each cookie, about 2-inches apart, in 16 mounds on the prepared baking sheets. Bake, one sheet at a time, for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the tops are slightly cracked and the surface has a dull sheen. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets on wire racks for 10 minutes, then transfer to the racks to cool completely.

Makes 16 cookies

*Note:  If you don’t have the specific chocolate called for, substitute another chocolate with about the same intensity - the higher the percent of cacao solids (labeled as % cacao) in a bar, the more intense the chocolate flavor.  Bars labeled simply as bittersweet, semisweet or dark can be used in any recipe calling for chocolate of less than 70% cacao.