chocolate brutti ma buoni
August 16, 2011 § Leave a Comment
You know when you go into a store to buy a shower caddy and you come out with a kitchen scale and plastic, eco-friendly mug instead? Oh…that doesn’t happen to you? Well, I lose my trains of thought way more than a normal person should, maybe I should get tested for ADD, I wonder what raw eggplant tastes like a lot.
I like meringues see what I did there? and I had extra egg whites leftover from the s’mores ice cream, so I was well pleased to find Deb’s recipe for her mom’s chocolate chip meringues while I clicked through her ample chocolate chip cookie recipes. For two days, I was dead set on making those meringues with the cocoa nibs I’d purchased here. So from Sunday until Tuesday, I have literally no clue how I got onto brutti ma buoni. They’re not even easier to make!
I think it might have been the name. In Italian it roughly means ‘ugly but good’ and I am a firm, firm believer that ugly food is always better and I’m glad the Italians are behind me on that! Also the siren call of carbohydrates addition of flour that promises a chewier texture might’ve been a selling point. Either way, things went where they went and I ended up with a batch of lumpy and streaky, but arguably not-ugly cookies that disappeared so fast I hardly knew what had happened.
This time around I used a combination of chocolate chips and cocoa nibs, but next time around I’d definitely give it a go with just the nibs, as the meringue is sweet enough already. But meringues always are, so I’m more than happy with how these turned out.
Chocolate Brutti ma Buoni
adapted from Joy of Baking
4 large egg whites
1 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp flour
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup cocoa nibs
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a heatproof bowl, placed over a saucepan of simmering water, cook the sugar and egg whites, whisking constantly, until opaque in color and hot to the touch (about 5-10 minutes).
Remove from heat, transfer to the bowl of your electric mixer (can use a hand mixer), and beat until thick and glossy like a thick meringue (about 5 minutes). At this point beat in the vanilla extract and then fold in the flour, chocolate chips, and cocoa nibs.
Place heaping tablespoonfuls (or use a small ice cream scoop) about two inches apart onto your prepared baking sheets.
Bake cookies for about 20 -25 minutesor until light brown. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Dust with confectioners sugar before serving.
