Week 23 of 52: Far East Dark Chocolate Cookies

This week's dessert is an east meets west...ginger and chocolate.

I got my inspiration from two places. The first was a recipe I found a long while back for a chocolate cookie that cracks and is covered with powdered sugar. I really had forgotten about it until I saw a post on MarocMama's website (www.marocmama.com). This blog is run by Amanda, another American married to a Moroccan. That is how I found her. So this past week, she posted a picture and a tease about some cookies that she baked and that she would be posting the recipe soon.

Well, one of the cookies looked like the cracked cookie, but another one was named "almond ginger sesame." A lightbulb went off, and in the kitchen I went. I only had the cracked recipe to work from, so I improvised with the spicing, and came up with this new cookie (a girl at the office said it reminded her of Chinese food!).

Enjoy!

Far East Dark Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients
1/2 c semi-sweet chocolate chips
8 0.4oz squares of unsweetened baking chocolate, chopped
1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 large egg whites, room temperature
2 c powdered sugar, divided
1/2 c unsweetened cocoa
1 T corn starch
1/4 t sea salt
3 t ginger, freshly grated
1 t almond extract

Coating:
1/2 c powdered sugar
2 T sesame seeds
Almond slices or slivers

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F. Prep cookie sheets with parchment paper or Silpat.

In a small bowl, melt 1/2 c chips and chocolate in the microwave using 20-second bursts, stirring until smooth. Set aside.

In another bowl, sift 1 c of powdered sugar, cocoa, corn starch, salt, and ginger.

In the stand mixer, using the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites to soft peaks. Add 1 c of powdered sugar and almond extract and mix until it looks like marshmallow creme. On low speed, add in the dry ingredients until just incorporated. Pull out bowl and hand mix in this melted chocolate and 1 c chips. The dough will be very stiff.

Using a cookie scoop, scoop out 1" balls, roll in hands, dip in powdered sugar with sesame seeds. Place on prepped pans, and press an almond in the top.

Bake for 10 minutes, cookies will crack.

Cool on racks and store in an airtight container.

Adapted from flourless deep dark chocolate cookie on www.picklee.com.