CHOCOLATE!!!

Yesterday I had one of those insane chocolate cravings that I FREQUENTLY get, but didn't have any chocolate in the house. So, I did what any desperate woman would do and hopped on PINTEREST to find a quick chocolatey recipe to save the day.

It didn't take long before I stumbled on THIS chocolate gem that just happens to be LOADED with chocolate, and at the same time, its gluten and lactose FREE! (But I assure you, it is NOT fat free!) Enjoy!

Flourless Fudge Cookies

• 2 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon espresso powder (optional, I didn't use any and the cookies were still incredible)
• 1 cup cocoa powder, Dutch Process preferred (For darker, richer-looking cookies, substitute 1/4 cup black cocoa for 1/4 cup of the Dutch-process cocoa)
• 3 large egg whites
• 2 teaspoons gluten-free vanilla extract

Directions

1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease two baking sheets. Or line with parchment, and grease the parchment.

2) Stir together all of the ingredients till smooth. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl, and stir again till smooth.

3) Drop the soft, batter-like dough onto the prepared baking sheets in 1 1/2" circles; a tablespoon cookie scoop works well here.

4) Bake the cookies for 8 minutes; they should spread, become somewhat shiny, and develop faintly crackly tops.

5) Remove the cookies from the oven, and allow them to cool right on the pan.

6) Yield: 16 large (3") cookies.

Nutrition information

 

Serving Size: 1 cookie, 29g Servings Per Batch: 16 Amount Per Serving: Calories: 80 Calories from Fat: 10 Total Fat: 3g Saturated Fat: 0g Trans Fat: 0g. Cholesterol: 0mg Sodium: 47mg Total Carbohydrate: 18g Dietary Fiber: 1g Sugars: 17g Protein: 1g. 

Hints: I read through the comment section of the original recipe and saw that tons of people had trouble with the batter being too thin. I did NOT have that problem. When I mixed the ingredients I used my Kitchen Aid at top speed with the whisk attachment. It made my batter stiff and sticky. The result? Instead of having flat cookies that spread, my cookies held their shape EXACTLY as I had placed them (so if you try this you might want to shape them better than I did) and had a crispy outer shell with a fudge-like interior. AMAZING!

Also, I had to cook my cookies for 12 minutes instead of 8, but I've found that I almost always have to cook longer than recipes call for in my oven, so I'm not sure how that will work out in another kitchen. Anyway, good luck and have a chocolate filled day!