Coco would be proud of these cookies

Chocolate cookie recipes are, for me, like those little black dresses the ladies are always yammering on about--you can't have too many of them.

Continuing the analogy, I consider the following recipe to be akin to something the pioneering French fashion designer Coco Chanel would have produced in her prime--simple, sleek and elegant. 

If you're looking for a cookie with a bit more bling, check out this recipe, which includes all sorts of accoutrements (in the form of almonds, chocolate chips and white chocolate chips).

Grammy's Chocolate Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups (2 sticks plus 4 tablespoons) butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar (plus more for dipping)
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and then set aside.

Then, in the bowl of an electric mixer (fitted with the paddle attachment), cream the butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla until light and fluffy. With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill until firm (about one hour).

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Roll dough into two-inch balls and then dip in reserved sugar. Place about two inches apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper--you should be able to fit about six cookies on each sheet--and bake for about 12 minutes. Cool on baking sheets for five minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Yield: 18-20 cookies.

Black and white and yummy all over

Chocolate chip cookies are all well and good, but every now and then you need a cookie that grabs you by the short and curlies, you know?

Well, the following recipe, shared on a recent episode of Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa television show, fits that bill and then some.

(BTW, these really should be called triple chocolate almond cookies, as they have cocoa, semisweet chocolate chips and white chocolate chips, but I'll leave the name as is out of respect for Ms. King.)

Kathleen King's Double Chocolate Almond Cookies

2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) salted, room-temperature butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup firmly packed dark or light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup almonds, coarsely chopped

After you preheat your oven to 350 degrees, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.

Meanwhile, cream together the butter and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer that's been fitted with the paddle attachment and then add the egg and vanilla. Once those two ingredients have been incorporated, add the flour mixture and continue beating until just combined. Finally, add the chocolate chips and the almonds and mix until combined.

Using a small or medium ice cream scoop, drop the dough about two inches apart on sheet pans that have been lined with parchment paper. (You should be able to get about six cookies on each sheet if you use a medium ice cream scoop.) Bake for about 15 minutes.

Don't worry if the cookies seem a bit soft when they're pulled from the oven; they'll firm up nicely as they cool. Speaking of which, allow the cookies to cool on their cookie sheets for about 10-15 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack.

Yield: Approximately 20 four-inch cookies, if you use a #16 (1/4 cup) ice cream scoop.

Chocolate + pistachio = one heck of a birthday cake

I've always loved pistachios, but I didn't love combining those waxy, green nuts with chocolate until earlier this year, when I tried to make a batch of chocolate-pistachio biscotti. 

Somewhere along the way I screwed up the recipe, as the biscotti "loaf" fell apart when I tried to slice it after its first trip to the oven.

I tasted a bit of the crumbly batter before pitching it into the trash can, though, and the flavor nearly knocked me out of my socks.

So, when I went to make myself a birthday cake a few weeks ago, I knew it had to include those same flavors.  Thankfully, an old issue of Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine had just the recipe I was looking for.

Chocolate-Pistachio Torte

For the cake:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces (plus more for pan)
1 cup all-purpose flour (plus more for pan)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/2 cut low-fat buttermilk
1/4 cup shelled unsalted pistachios, coarsely chopped

** Note: If you're like me and you tend to use salted (rather than unsalted) butter, decrease the salt to 1/4 teaspoon, if not less.

For the frosting:

1/2 cup heavy cream
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup shelled unsalted pistachios, coarsely chopped

Start with the cake: Preheat your over to 350 degrees. Butter and flour an 8-inch round cake pan and then line the bottom with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder and set aside.

In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the butter and chocolate, stirring frequently to avoid scorching. Remove from heat and whisk in the sugar and vanilla, then the eggs, buttermilk and pistachios. Fold in the reserved flour mixture just until it's combined.

Pour the resulting batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 60-70 minutes--until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached to it. Let the cake cool in its pan for about 5 minutes and then run a knife around the edge and invert it onto a wire rack. Remove the parchment paper and let the cake cook completely (2-3 hours).

To make the frosting: In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a simmer. Remove from the heat and then add the chocolate. Let stand for about 5 minutes, then whisk until smooth. Cool the mixture until it falls back in ribbons when lifted with a spoon, about 5 minutes more.

Set cake on a serving platter and tuck strips of parchment paper around the edge to prevent the ganache from dripping onto the platter. Pour ganache onto the center of the cake and, using a spatula or even a butter knife, spread it evenly over the top and sides of the cake. (If you push the ganache to the edge of the top of the cake, it will naturally drip down the sides and cover them naturally.)

Let the ganache set for about 30 minutes and then remove the parchment paper from under the cake. Sprinkle the top with the reserved pistachios and serve.