1/4 c Butter
1/4 c Vegetable shortening, such
-as Crisco
4 oz Semisweet chocolate, cutup
2 Eggs
3/4 c Brown sugar
3/4 c White sugar
1 1/2 tb Decaf coffee crystals
1 1/2 tb Boiling water
1 1/2 ts Pure vanilla extract
2 c Unbleached white flour
1/2 ts Baking powder
1/4 ts Salt
1/3 c Unsweetened cocoa (not
-“dutched”)
8 oz Best quality semisweet
-chocolate chips, su
6 oz Chopped pecans or walnuts,
-preferably toas
Pam, or other nonstick
-lecithin based cook
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine butter, vegetable shortening and
semisweet chocolate in a small saucepan. Heat over low medium until all
ingredients are uniformly melted, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat,
stir again to smooth, and let cool to room temperature. Meanwhile, whip
together at medium high speed for 5 minutes the eggs, brown sugar, and
white sugar. As eggs and sugar beat, make coffee concentrate by placing
decaf in a small bowl and pouring boiling water over it, stirring to
dissolve crystals. Stir in vanilla. After eggs and sugar have been beaten,
add the decaf vanilla mixture, and the reserved melted chocolate mixture.
Beat another 2 minutes. Combine the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder,
salt, and unsweetened cocoa. These ingredients need not be sifted, but they
should be stirred or whisked together well. Remove chocolate mixture from
mixer stand and stir flour cocoa mixture into it by hand. Lastly, stir in
chips and optional nuts. Spray two double insulated style cookie sheets
with Pam. To make ordinary sized cookies (about 3 inches in diameter), drop
batter by rounded teaspoons, about 2 inches apart, onto prepared cookie
sheets. To make the very large cookies about 6 to 8 inches in diameter,
such as we serve at Dairy Hollow House, scoop batter with a 2 1/2-inch ice
cream scoop, 3/8 of a cup capacity. You can get 2 to 3 of the large cookies
on a sheet. (There is no need to “splat” the cookies out with your hand;
they will spread while baking.) Bake small cookies in preheated oven for
about 10 minutes; large will take about 20. Let the cookies cool on sheets
1 minute before transferring to rack
Yields
1 Servings