Fudgy Chocolate Cookies (Reduced Sugar)
By America's Test KitchenPublished on April 16, 2020
Time
40 minutes, plus 30 minutes resting and 20 minutes cooling
Yield
Makes 24 cookies
Sugar
9 grams (down from 15)
Ingredients
Before You Begin
You can learn more about Sucanat in this article. Do not skip grinding the Sucanat in step 1, or the cookies will be overly delicate. Do not substitute natural cocoa or the cookies will be dry and spread less. Our favorite Dutch-processed cocoa powder is Droste Cocoa and our favorite unsweetened chocolate is Hershey’s Unsweetened Baking Bar. Do not shortchange the dough's 30-minute resting time in step 3 or the cookies will be drier and slightly bland.
Instructions
- Microwave chocolate, cocoa, and butter in bowl at 50 percent power, stirring often, until melted and smooth, 2 to 4 minutes; let cool slightly. Working in 4 batches, grind Sucanat in spice grinder until fine and powdery, about 1 minute.
- Combine ground Sucanat, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in bowl. In large bowl, whisk cream, egg and yolk, and vanilla together. Whisk in cooled chocolate mixture. Stir in flour mixture using rubber spatula until combined; dough will be stiff and dry.
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Working with scant 2 tablespoons dough at a time, roll into balls and space 2 inches apart on prepared sheets.
- Bake cookies until edges have just begun to set but centers are still very soft, about 10 minutes, switching and rotating sheets halfway through baking. Let cookies cool completely on sheets. Serve.
Time
40 minutes, plus 30 minutes resting and 20 minutes coolingYield
Makes 24 cookiesSugar
9 grams (down from 15)Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
Since traditional recipes called for both brown sugar and sweetened chocolate, we had to change the type of sugar as well as the type of chocolate to sweeten these cookies naturally. Unsurprisingly, our first attempts using Sucanat and unsweetened chocolate were unacceptable: They lacked good chocolate flavor and had a pronounced bitter taste; plus, they were overly tender and cakey. The key to perfectly balanced chocolate flavor turned out to be doubling up on chocolate: Cocoa powder gave the cookies a bold hit of chocolate flavor, while the unsweetened chocolate, which contains cocoa butter, prevented the cookies from drying out. Next, we set our sights on improving the structure. Switching from all-purpose flour to higher-protein bread flour gave the cookies better chew, but didn't solve all our issues. The fat in the butter was making the cookies crumbly, but decreasing the butter resulted in cookies that lacked richness. In the end, adding a small amount of heavy cream provided moisture and richness without the high fat content of butter.
Before You Begin
You can learn more about Sucanat in this article. Do not skip grinding the Sucanat in step 1, or the cookies will be overly delicate. Do not substitute natural cocoa or the cookies will be dry and spread less. Our favorite Dutch-processed cocoa powder is Droste Cocoa and our favorite unsweetened chocolate is Hershey’s Unsweetened Baking Bar. Do not shortchange the dough's 30-minute resting time in step 3 or the cookies will be drier and slightly bland.
Instructions
- Microwave chocolate, cocoa, and butter in bowl at 50 percent power, stirring often, until melted and smooth, 2 to 4 minutes; let cool slightly. Working in 4 batches, grind Sucanat in spice grinder until fine and powdery, about 1 minute.
- Combine ground Sucanat, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in bowl. In large bowl, whisk cream, egg and yolk, and vanilla together. Whisk in cooled chocolate mixture. Stir in flour mixture using rubber spatula until combined; dough will be stiff and dry.
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Working with scant 2 tablespoons dough at a time, roll into balls and space 2 inches apart on prepared sheets.
- Bake cookies until edges have just begun to set but centers are still very soft, about 10 minutes, switching and rotating sheets halfway through baking. Let cookies cool completely on sheets. Serve.
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