Happy Friday!
So since my last post, our littlest cakelet, Neve Winter (aka Lovie) turned 3. How is this possible, you ask? And that just yesterday she was a baby, you say, celebrating her very first birthday? And that I just posted this wee cake for her 2nd birthday? I know–it’s kooky the way time flies. Well, it’s true and what a curious, hilarious and lovie-licious little cakelet she has become. You might have noticed that she’s all me (sorry, Grant!) and even though I’m only 25% Irish, I can’t help but sense she’s a true Irish cakelet–everything from the hair to her humour, she’s got so much of my mom’s side of the family in her. Here are a few images from the past 3 years that I feel really capture her:
Sweet, sensitive, mysterious, mischievous, happy and humorous — that’s our Neve. ♥
When it was time to decide what birthday treats to make for her, of course my first instinct was cake (which I did do a few days after because, let’s be honest, birthday cake isn’t optional), but the truth is I am literally always making cake with the girls, and so albeit backwards, I felt that for her actual birthday, perhaps a real treat would be something we rarely make: decadent cookies.
Now the thing about Neve’s birthday is that it happened to be the same week as Reese’s first week in Senior Kindergarten and first day of ballet class, so there was a lot of excitement twirling, whirling and swirling around the house. I wanted to make a special treat that would make both of them happy, and Reese suggested “super chocolaty cookies with chocolate chips,” and Neve decided they should be “really sprinkly.”
Done, and done.
So we made super fudgy chocolate cookies using Callebaut melted bittersweet chocolate callets, Cacao Barry Extra Dark cocoa powder and more bittersweet chocolate callets, butter, brown sugar, pure vanilla and more, and then we made a quick and easy dark chocolate glaze using more butter and chocolate. Finally, we covered them in a sprinkle medley and edible gold stars. Everybody wins!
Neve had a few mini birthday celebrations filled with family, chocolate, sprinkles, cookies . . .
Birthday morning fairy bread . . .
And one seriously chocolate cake a few days later while she and her Grandpa celebrated their birthdays together (recipe to follow!).
These cookies are certainly decadent with their rich, fudgy, chocolaty, gooey, crunchy, sprinkly-ness, but I won’t lie–I love how quick and easy they are to make. ♥
Happy Birthday to our little cakelet, and Happy Weekend to you!
Here’s the recipe:
- 1-1/2 cups 280 grams quality bittersweet (extra dark) chocolate, chopped
- 3 tablespoons 45 grams unsalted butter
- 1 cup 215 grams light brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon 2.5 ml pure vanilla extract
- 1-1/2 cups 200 grams all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons 15 grams Dutch-processed dark cocoa powder (I use Cacao Barry Extra Brute)
- 1/2 teaspoon 2.5 grams baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon 3 grams sea salt
- 3/4 cup 140 grams quality bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
- 2 tablespoons 30 grams unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon 5 ml light corn syrup
- Sprinkles of choice
-
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, or a Silpat baking mat.
-
Place 1 cup of the chocolate and the butter in a medium heatproof bowl over a saucepan of an inch of simmering (not boiling) water, stirring occasionally until melted and smooth. Meanwhile, sift flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside.
-
In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or handheld mixer), beat the sugar, eggs and vanilla on medium speed, until well-combined. Add the chocolate mixture and beat until combined. Reduce mixer speed to low, and gradually add the dry mixture until everything is incorporated, occasionally scraping sides of bowl with a rubber spatula. Stir in remaining chocolate pieces/chips.
-
Using two spoons or cookie scoop, drop 12 equal amounts onto baking sheet. Be sure to space them a few inches apart to allow for spreading in the oven. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until tops have a cracked appearance. (Be sure to not over-bake, or cookies will be dry and not fudgy.) Allow to cool on baking sheet on wire rack for 15 minutes, and then gently transfer cookies to rack to cool completely.
-
Place chocolate, butter and corn syrup in a medium heatproof bowl placed over a saucepan of an inch of simmering (not boiling) water until melted and smooth, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.
-
Line a baking sheet or tray with wax paper (or parchment or baking mat) and fill a medium plate or bowl with sprinkles of choice.
-
Dip each cooled cookie into the glaze so that half of the cookie is glazed and then holding the cookie over sprinkle bowl drop a handful of sprinkles over glaze and shake off excess. Place each one on prepared sheet until you have decorated all of them, and then place sheet/tray in the freezer or refrigerator for 10-15 minutes to set.
[cookie dough adapted from Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook]
Sweetapolita’s Notes:
- Since the chocolate is the star of this show, I recommend using the best quality bittersweet chocolate possible. I used Callebaut Dark Callets 70.4 %
, because I love the flavour, and the callets (chips) are so easy to melt and measure. If bittersweet is too dark for your taste, I recommend using it for the cookies, but using semisweet for the glaze.
- For measuring cookie dough and placing on the baking sheet, I always use this 50mm Cookie Scoop
–perfectly round and even cookies every time, which I love. I also swear by the Silpat Non-Stick Baking Mat
, but just note that they are a tiny bit too big for some cookie sheets. You want to make sure you have what they call a Bakers Half Sheet
. I use these for everything!
- For the sprinkles on my cookies, I used Rainbow Jimmies
+ Chocolate Vermicelli
mixed together prior to coating the cookies and then sprinkled edible Gold Stars
on afterwards. This is also the method I used for the birthday fairy bread–sprinkled it right on top of buttered toast. ♥
Good luck & enjoy!
Now I will have to make these for my own birthday… which is tomorrow lol and after the cake I’m making for my friend’s, little girl’s 3rd birthday. Maybe I’ll take them in to share with my co-workers… yes I’m working on my birthday. :)
I love these cookies! And the photos of your little cakelet are adorable. I also love the idea of the fairy bread for birthday breakfast. It’s a quick fix for sprinkle cravings.
What a shame it is not my birthday… :( But the good news is that everyday is a special ocassion for sprinkles! And cookies? Oh yes! I’m baking them tomorrow, so I’ll tell you how they turned out! Lovely as usual, Rosie. xo
P.S. Happy Birthday to your little cute cakelet! Lots of kisses for her. :)
She is so sweet. Happy birthday Neve :))
she is too cute! And those cookies look and sound great.
OMG – she’s so sweet and adorable!! Mouth is watering for those cookies – they look like bakery cookies but am sure taste better than that!!
These look absolutely amazing!! And happy birthday to your little girl. She is absolutely beautiful!
Rosie, you’re killing me here, Looks incredible!
These look absolutely beautiful, but I doubt I could share something so awesome…
I love the idea of a birthday cookie, and these are so pretty! Happy Birthday Neve! What a cutie :)
She is absolutely beautiful! Happy Birthday, Neve!
Happy Birthday to your little one. These cookies look like a fun and decadent way to celebrate the special occasion!
Neve is beautiful. Happy Birthday Neve.
We are celebrating a friends birthday at a Ping Pong club (real ping pong, nothing wierd; unless the idea of a bunch of grown ups going to a club to play ping pong is wierd). I think these cookies will be the perfect birthday treat to sneak into the club!
Neve looks just like you, for what I can see. She is absolutely adorable. I have all the ingredients for these cookies and can’t wait to make some tonight. I followed your steps for the perfect sugar cookie and my cookies came out perfect. Thank you.
She is so sweet!!!
what sweeties! they are so darling. those cookies look delicious, too! love the sprinkle touch.
Too adorable!! :)
Lovely pictures!!! Happy B-dayto your little princess and congrats to the proud parents too!!!
One tiny question about the recipe. The melted and smooth chocolate and butter from step number two shall be added to the mix of sugar, eggs and vanilla before adding the dry ingredients?
Thank you very much!
Eva
So sorry about that, Eva! Yes, that’s correct–the chocolate mixture is added to the mixer bowl and combined before the dry ingredients. I’ve just added that to the steps (I somehow omitted that when I drafted the post!). Thanks for letting me know!
O My!
This entire post made me smile…
and drool. Xx
So yet again, more proof that you are the world’s best mom! Triple chocolate and sprinkles? That’s what I want for my birthday too!
Beautiful cookies! What a presentation!
She is SO cute ! And the cookies… yum I will definetely try that recipe !
For the first time, I did not even look at the recipe or the cookies and cake (I still havent!). I am so busy admiring your cakelets. You have BEAUTIFUL children. God bless you all. :)
You have the most beautiful family and these cookies are adorable as well!
She certainly does take after you, especially in that fifth picture with her little birdie apron on! Yummy looking cookies. I know your little cakelet had a very special day…even more special when she shared that soon to be revealed cake with her Grampa!
Oh I feel like a little girl all over again.. then again there are days I think there’s still a kid in me. I can’t resist good cookie with sprinkles and and these look so chewy and moist too. Delish! Dunking in milk would be perfect too. Beautiful stunning photos Rosie!! Have a great week ahead. Cheers, Jo
could your family be any more beautiful? oh my gosh i love you guys.
These look amazing! Definitely putting them on my “to bake” list!
The cookies looks so yummy and the babies sooo precious!! :)
The fairy bread is such a great idea for a birthday, and these cookies are absolutely amazing. I just made them and ate three!
And Neve is so beautiful. Happy birthday to her!
Oh my goodness….your children are SO beautiful! ♥ (As are the cookies.) ;)
Your daughters are too adorable and will be such heart breakers when they get older! I want my own little girls now! haha
Thank you for the sweet cookies, I’m sure your little ones enjoyed them and the cakes!
ditto all the comments about how adorable your kids are. love it!
Rosie,
BEST photos EVAH. Whenever I need to put a smile on my face (and even if I don’t) I nip into your site and bask in the happy, girly, bakey, cakey goodness. Thank you! Can’t wait to make these cookies for the little farmer =)))
All Best,
Imen x
OH Neve!!! I am late you little lovecakes!!! Happy Happy Happy Birthday sweet baby!!
Oh Rosie, in the little white and black polka dot dress, she looks sooooooo grown up! She went from a baby to a little girl in a snap, you are so right.
WOwie!!
What decadent treats!! Give Lovie a HUUUGEmongous hug from me, okay?
Love, Vanessa
ps: It is so funny how each lass looks like each one of you, Grant and you I mean!
I hardly noticed the cookies once I saw the pictures of the beautiful babies! My goodness they are pretty children! It gives me baby fever.
I made these while babysitting last night. They are HHHAaaamazing. Mine were still a bit soft in the middle when i tried lifting them off the tray, so I cooked them a bit longer, let them cool an lifted them. Still gummy in the centre but set when cooled. Absolutely delicious. One for the books.
I’ve nominated you for an Inspiring Blog Award – Congratulations!
http://cupcakeartist.wordpress.com/2012/09/23/inspiring-blog-award/
I hope to someday have children and maybe, MAYBE be able to take photos of them like you have. So precious! Thanks for sharing.
Red!!! It’s one sexy color for a mixer lol
Imnotarunner at gmail dot com
So so cute!! (the cookies and the kid) :)
You make beautiful desserts and beautiful children!!!!!
These looks so amazing. And your kids are growing up so pretty! I can’t believe the blog has been going 2 years! I’ve been following almost all that time and really can’t thank you enough for all you have shared with us.
She is just so adorable! I’m sure she loved this cookies.
I made these cookies today. While they tasted good, they didn’t spread at all and didn’t get the same sheen. I did do all my measurements by weight. I have the Hummingbird Bakery Book and I pulled it out after I made these. I saw that it used only 2/3 cup of flour to your 1.5 cups. But, your cookies still look like theirs- flat and shiny. Most of the rest of the recipe is similar (except you added cocoa), so I wanted to double check if the amount of flour was correct. Thanks!
Hi Rosie,
I made these cookies yesterday, but as a previous post mentioned, they didn’t spread at all… They still tasted good, but I’m wondering what went wrong, as I followed the recipe to a tee.
Thank you for all your recipes, I always look forward to your blog posts :)
After thinking about it, I wonder if it is supposed to be 1/2 cup flour since this would be about 64 grams flour plus the 15g additional cocoa would be ~ 79 grams, which is very close to the 85 grams of flour in the original recipe. I think I’ll try that next time.
Hi ladies! For my version, I do use 1-1/2 cups of flour, so I’m not certain what could have been the cause of your cookies not to spread. When I originally made the cookies with the Hummingbird flour quantity, they were so goopy that they were unworkable. I made them a second time upping the flour considerably, I believe over 2 cups, and they were as you mentioned–puffy and didn’t spread. I met in the middle at 1-1/2 cups of all-purpose flour (I weigh mine, so 200 grams, and they were the ones in the photos. Flour is so easily over-measured when it’s by volume–did you measure it this way, or did you weigh? I’m sorry I can’t solve the problem for you!
Hmmm…I did mine by weight too. I’m not sure what could have happened either. I will try to work with the recipe a bit. I love your addition of the melted chocolate and sprinkles. Like your daughter, these cookies are just too cute! :D
Absolutely gorgeous children and cookies!
All flour has eggs…bug eggs try and think about it next time your making those delicious cookies
your little cakelet is adorable! my little baker will be 3 in two weeks and these look like lots of fun to bake with her.
Thanks for sharing, just linked to them in my 100 chocolate recipes from 100 bloggers post
Hey!
I tried these out.
Simply delicious!
x
Nawwwwwww! Your daughter’s are such a gem. The photos are so adorable. What a special way to celebrate birthdays with cookies and sprinkles. Love it!
Thanks so much, Hazel!
Children grow up so fast don’t they? The cookies look great. I bet they taste even better.
I have to say this blog post is absolutely PRECIOUS! Not only is your photography absolutely stunning, you seem to capture every single part of your little girl’s personality that you mentioned. Love Love Love!!! I can’t wait to try these cookies, they look amazing! And Happy Birthday to your little one! I have a little boy about to turn 2 this weekend, it makes me so sad how fast he is growing up!
Hi Rosie! I am pretty new to your site and I have to say that I adore your style of presentation. Your recipes and photos are devine, and your children are absolutely and completely adorable. Lucky little sweeties to have such a fantastic Mom and what appears to be a lovely childhood. Wonderful recipes and instruction from you, giving your followers every opportunity for success!
Rosie, Jenna, and Kim.
I finally had a reason to make these cookies. They are beautiful and, of course, delicious.
I had the same problem of the dough being more like a brownie and less like a thin cookie. I have a couple of thoughts on the issue, though please note that I don’t have a scale to weigh ingredients, and I doubled the recipe.
1) I was pressed for time and the chocolate mixture was still warm so I tempered the eggs/sugar mixture to safely add the chocolate.
2) I was out of baking bars and substituted chocolate chips (Ghiradelli brand). In the US chocolate chips have a stabilizer added to them and I’m fairly certain this could be reason for the texture change.
For the second tray I rounded and flattened out the dough a bit to make wider circles.
In the end these were a huge hit. Thanks for another winning recipe Rosie. I’m looking forward to your book.
I made these cookies and had the same problem – not spreading flat. I made smaller sized cookies for an event and by the second and third tray, I flattened them a bit before baking. That seemed to do the trick. I think I may try them again with a bit less flour. I found the dough a bit sticky to work with so I just dipped my fingers in water and that did the trick. Otherwise, a huge hit and delicious!!! And so festive.