Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cookies

Remember my Blueberry and Cream Cookies from Milk Bar? The gigantic, pillowy, highly addictive treats I ate half of on my own? Yeah. I just cannot get enough of Milk Bar-style cookies, so they’re a regular event in my kitchen. I noted briefly in that post an idea about using other fruits in place of the blueberries, and what do ya know, the very next week I had a surplus of strawberries to work with! I snapped the oppurtunity right up and came up with these.

At a time when I had been out of chocolate chips for a few weeks and had no white chocolate to make milk crumb with, I decided to use chocolate crumb. The crumb first incorporated like chocolate chips- not folding into the batter. But I stepped away from the counter for a second, and when I returned the cookie dough had turned brown! The chocolate crumb integrates itself into the cookie when mixed for a just a little bit longer, to produce a chocolate cookie that exceeds all expectations.

This development was surprising but very fruitful. Without compromising the texture, a new chocolate flavor is created that works beautifully with the strawberries. I was so happy with this cookie, I had to give the batch away (to stop myself from eating the whole thing).

What else can you do with a cookie? The limit does not exist.

Chocolate Crumb

Ingredients

2/3 cup flour
1 tsp cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp salt
6 tbs melted butter

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F and line a cookie tray with foil or parchment paper.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, cornstarch, sugar, cocoa powder, and salt until homogeneous.
On low speed, paddle in the butter until it is evenly distributed and the mixer forms clumps.
Spread the clusters onto the cookie tray and bake for 20 mins.
Cool completely before using. Store at room temperature for up to 1 week or in the freezer for 1 month.

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cookies adapted from Momofuku Milk Bar

Ingredients

2 sticks butter (1 cup)
3/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup glucose, or 2 tbs corn syrup
2 eggs
2 cups bread flour, or 1 cup bread 1 cup all purpose
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 recipe Chocolate Crumb
3/4 cup chopped strawberries

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter, sugar, brown sugar, and glucose on medium-high speed for 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula and add the eggs, then beat for 7 to 8 minutes on medium-high.
On low speed, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix for no longer than thirty seconds, just until the dough comes together. Do not walk away, or you could overmix it!!!
Still on low speed, add the crumb, then the strawberries, mixing both until just incorporated.
Use a 2 3/4 cup measure or a 1/3 cup measuring cup to scoop the dough onto cookie sheets lined with foil or parchment. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour or up to a week. This step is essential!!
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Bake cookies for 18 minutes. They will be slightly browned around the edges.
Cool the cookies completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for five days, or in the freezer for up to a month.

Conclusions:

These cookies resemble the Blueberry & Cream ones they are based off- a bit chewy on the outside, velvety in the center, and of course, delicious. It’s a bit challenging to tell whether the cookies are done or not, since they are dark, but in this case it’s best to error on the side of undercooking. You don’t want to compromise the unique texture, or ruin the flavor, by burning the bottoms. My original idea was for the chocolate crumb to incorporate like chocolate chips, but since that was not the case, I’m happy that this was the alternative! If you mix the dough for just a few seconds, it will be spotted with crumb instead of incorporating. And if you do it for about twenty seconds, the dough would be swirled- some parts the original buttery flavor and others chocolate. Another note I have for these is that I used sugar in the raw instead of granulated. Sugar in the raw crystals are a lot bigger than table sugar, so the texture is a bit sandier. I like this effect and have continued using this type in more recipes, so I encourage you to experiment!!

What other combos of crumb and fruit could work?