Baking Up Some Chewy Goodness

I am a huge believer in cookies.

Cookies for breakfast (I blame my mother). Cookies for a mid-morning snack. Cookies for a late-night snack. You see where I'm going here, right?

I have plenty of tried and true cookie recipes, but I'm always willing to open the recipe book and welcome a new one into the fold. This summer I saw a recipe for "Chocolate Chewies" in the local newspaper that intrigued me. It was from a local baker and the idea behind all of the recipes featured was gourmet cookies at home. It only had 5 ingredients and no flour. I had to try it.

Since the recipe calls for egg whites and powdered sugar, the end product had a lightness to it that normal cookies don't seem to have. Just remember one thing when you are working with powdered sugar...it's powdery and can made a real mess if you get a bit crazy with the whisk!

The recipe called for toasted nuts - like walnuts - but I didn't have any so I just added extra chocolate chips. I also used Ghiradelli 60 percent Cacao (bittersweet chocolate) chips to punch them up a notch. Totally worth it!

This recipe is definitely going into the recipe book. And, Leah, these ARE making an appearance at the office this week!

Chocolate Chewies

3 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cup cocoa
5 ounces chopped chocolate or chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups toasted nuts (such as walnuts)
4 egg whites

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Combine sugar and cocoa, whisking well to combine. Add chocolate and nuts. Add egg whites, and mix until combined.

Scoop golf ball-size portions of dough and place on parchment-lined sheet tray. Bake for 25 minutes until the tops begin to show small cracks.

Makes 1 dozen cookies (or more if you scoop out ping pong-sized portions).

From August 20, 2010 Indianapolis Star