Brownie Thins

Cookies that taste like brownies, use only one bowl to mix, and take less than 30 minutes to bake: my weekend gift to you.

Warning: have some milk on hand – you will need it!

Ingredients:

– 6 T butter, cut in to a few pieces
– 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped roughly
– 1/2 c sugar
– 1 egg
– 3 T + 1 t flour
– 1/4 t vanilla
– pinch of kosher salt
– {for almond variation: 1/4 t almond extract}
– {for almond variation: 1/4 c almond slices}

How do I make it?

• Place butter and chocolate in a medium-sized, microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on medium-high power until almost completely melted, which should be about a minute, but keep an eye on it and stir after 30 seconds.
• Whisk by hand until smooth. Add the sugar and egg, whisk by hand until smooth.
• Add flour, vanilla, and salt {and almond extract if using}, and whisk by hand just enough to blend the ingredients together.
• Let the batter stand for 10 minutes. While you are waiting, preheat oven to 350, with the rack in the lowest third, and butter 2 baking sheets.
• Scoop rounded teaspoonfuls of batter on to the buttered baking sheets, spacing them apart a few inches.
• Spray a piece of plastic wrap with nonstick cooking spray, and place it (sprayed side down), over the cookies. Use your fingers to press the cookies in to 2 1/2″ circles. Remove the plastic wrap!
• {If using almonds, sprinkle over the rounds.}
• Bake until slightly darker at the edges and firm in the center, about 7 minutes.
• Remove from oven and cool on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes.
• Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack – it may work best for you to use a metal spatula, and turn the spatula upside down to slide under these very thin cookies. (And my mom thinks she didn’t teach me anything in the kitchen!)

More info please?

I have not buttered a baking sheet in ages, and I wondered if that was necessary. This recipe is from a 2007 magazine edition, before silpats were as popular as they are now, so I tried an experiment: I buttered one baking sheet and used a silpat on the other. While both were fine, I found that the cookies from the buttered baking sheet held their circle shape better when removed… I am guessing it had to do with the cooling, but I was too busy eating the cookies to pay much attention.

Original link: http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2007/12/brownie_thins