World Peace Cookies
Adapted from Paris Sweets by Dorie Greenspan

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 stick plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel, or 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small bits

Preparation:

Blend the flour, cocoa and baking soda together.

Either with a stand or a hand mixer beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy. Add both sugars, then the salt and vanilla extract and beat for 2 minutes more until fully blended.

And this is here where most people will tell you to gradually add the flour using the said mixer, and I will tell you that it’s just easier to knead the flour mixture INTO the butter mixture BY HAND until it’s a homogeneous mass. Then add chocolate chips to the mix and work the dough just enough to incorporate chips in.

Transfer the dough onto a work surface and divide it in two equal parts. Shape each part into logs that are about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for about 3 hours or longer.***

When you’re ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 325 degrees F and line the baking sheets with parchment paper.

Slice the logs into rounds that are 1/2 inch thick – for this you will need a sharp knife, rather than a butter knife. If your pieces crumble or crack, just reshape the cookie back on the baking sheet. You should leave around 1 inch between the cookies.

Bake one sheet at a time, for about 12 minutes (but individual ovens vary a bit so you may have to adjust). You can either eat the cookies straight out of the oven (YUM!) or let them cool to room temperature (difficult to do because of the YUM! factor of warm cookies). Great with a glass of milk.

*** You can refrigerate the dough for 3 days or freeze for up to 2 months – which is an unlikely case given how unbelievably good these cookies are. Insofar as storage of these delicious cookies goes: 3 days at room temperature OR frozen up to 2 months, again, a rather improbable situation.