Day 7 … Raspberry Chocolate Drops

A few posts back, I did a chocolate cookie. Well today, I do a CHOCOLATE COOKIE. This one is for those intense chocolate lovers out there. A soft chewy chocolate cookie filled with a puddle of raspberry chocolate filling. Amazing.

The filling is a ganache, typically made of equal parts chocolate to heavy cream. Except instead of cream in this one, I use straight raspberry purée. The result is delicious – deep, dark chocolate with an intense pop of raspberry without any dairy to mute the flavor. I sometimes use this little trick to get a more flavorful ganache and raspberry is one that works particularly well.

As I note below, start with a bag of defrosted frozen raspberries; they usually come in 10 ounce bags. Push the softened, defrosted berries through a strainer to remove the seeds and measure the purée. I usually find a standard 10 ounce bag of frozen raspberries yields around 5 ounces of purée. Then you simply heat up the purée as you would cream for the ganache, add it to the chocolate and stir until smooth. For this one though, melt the chocolate first. Because you don’t want to bring the purée up to a really rocking boil like you might with cream, it helps if the chocolate is melted first.

STRESS THERAPY BAKING FACTOR: RIGHT ON. This is an intense one. Strong flavors all around and a big crowd pleaser. The raspberry in the filling adds a brightness and a bit of acidity that works extremely well in the mix of a cookie platter. This one is no shrinking violet rather a bit of a sleeper – doesn’t look like much but packs a wallop of flavor.

2016 One Dough/12 Days of Cookies lineup: Butter Rum Bars, Candied Ginger Spice Buttons, Coconut Lime Sticks, Cranberry Pistacho Coins, Dark Chocolate Mocha Sandwich Cookies, Hazelnut Buttons, Jam Thumbprints, Mexican Chocolate Crinkles, Pecan Triangles, Peppermint Crisps, Rosemary Apricot Shortbread, Russian Tea Cakes

2017 One Dough/12 Days of Cookies lineup to date:
Basic Butter Cookie Dough + planning tips
Day 1 – Cream Cheese Wreaths
Day 2 – Raspberry Linzer Bars
Day 3 – Lemon Poppyseed Buttons
Day 4 – Chocolate Cocoa Nib Wafers
Day 5 – Mexican Wedding Cookies
Day 6 – Orange Sandwich Cookies

RASPBERRY CHOCOLATE DROPS
For the raspberry puree, a 10oz bag of frozen raspberries typically yields 5 ounces of puree once defrosted and pushed through a strainer.

Basic butter cookie dough – recipe here

1. For the ganache filling: defrost a bag (or two) of frozen raspberries – a 10oz bag of frozen raspberries typically yields 5 ounces of puree.
2. Place the defrosted raspberries in a fine mesh strainer set over a bowl and press through with a rubber spatula. Measure out the amount of puree needed for the desired ganache quantity.
3. Place the chopped chocolate into a medium bowl and melt in the microwave in 45 second bursts at 50% power, stirring between bursts. The chocolate should be smooth and fully melted.
4. In a small pan over medium-high heat, bring the raspberry puree to a low boil.
5. Pour the warm raspberry puree over the melted chocolate and stir until smooth.
6. Stir in the vanilla and salt.
7. Cover and let the ganache set at room temperature for at least 2 hours to thicken. Can be made up to 1 day ahead and left at room temperature or frozen up to 3 months. Let come to room temperature before using.
8. Preheat the oven to 350°F and position two oven racks, one in the bottom rack and one in the middle. Line 2-3 sheet pans with silicone baking mats or sheets of parchment paper.
9. For the cookies: In the bowl of a standing mixture, combine the water and espresso powder until dissolved.
10. Add the room temperature cookie dough, cocoa, sugar and baking soda to the bowl and with the paddle attachment, mix on medium until well combined.
11. Roll Tablespoon pieces of dough into round balls and carefully press your index finger into the center of each ball to flatten and make an indent. Try to make as even as possible without cracking the ball.
12. Place on a parchment lined sheet pan (you can pack them pretty close together) and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. (You can freeze the cookie balls up to 3 months. Bake directly from the freezer, adding a few minutes to the baking time.)
13. Place the cold dough balls 1” apart on the prepared sheet pans.
14. Bake 10-12 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through, until baked through and slightly firm to the touch.
15. As you remove the cookies from the oven and while they are still warm, press the round end of a wooden spoon into the indent to make larger.
16. Let cookies cool completely before filling.
17. To fill: with a small spoon, scoop about 2 teaspoons of the ganache into each cookie divot (or use a pastry bag if you prefer.)
18. Let the cookies sit at room temperature or chill to firm the ganache.
19. Store between layers of parchment in an airtight container up to 4-5 days.

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