While on vacation (or not) I like to cook. I wanted to share some of my favorite local recipes with all of you. I am going to start off with the Kauai Mint Mudslide Cookies! These are a favorite amongst my family and I know yours will enjoy too… sure to impress!
INGREDIENTS:
3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp cake flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1 Tbsp powdered instant coffee
1 Tbsp boiling water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp peppermint extract
7 oz unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
6 oz bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
8 Tbsp unsalted butter
7 large eggs
2-3/4 cups sugar
2 cups chopped walnuts
1-1/2 cups chocolate chips
PREPARATION:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray cookie sheets with cooking spray or line them with parchment paper. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl and set aside. Combine the instant coffee and boiling water to make a paste. Blend in the vanilla extract. Melt the unsweetened chocolate, chopped bittersweet chocolate and butter in a saucepan over low heat or in a bowl in the microwave in 15-to-20 second intervals. Gently stir to blend. In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat together the eggs, sugar, peppermint extract and coffee paste mixture on high speed until light in texture and thick, 6-8 minutes.
Add the chocolate mixture with the machine running on medium speed. On low speed, mix in the dry ingredients until just blended. Mix in the walnuts and chocolate chips until blended. Scrape down the bowl as needed during mixing to blend evenly.
Using a 1/4 cup measure or a small ice cream scoop, fill with the dough, level it and drop onto a prepared cookie sheet, leaving 3-4 inches between the cookies. In batches, bake the cookies until they are cracked on top but still slightly moist, rotating the pans as necessary to bake the cookies evenly, around 14 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool slightly on the baking sheet before transferring them to wire racks to cool completely.
Enjoy….