can't win 'em all

I had so much fun and success with the shortbread cookies I made a few days ago, I decided to try a different version. This one involved chocolate, so I felt sure it would be an upgrade. After all, chocolate can improve anything...


...or so I thought.

Although the end result looks fairly presentable (if you can get past the white splotches), these beasts gave me quite a bit of trouble. My mistake was using only the amount of flour in the ingredient list even though I thought the dough was too sticky. I ended up flouring as I rolled the dough out, thus giving me speckles of floury bits.

The good news:
-This baker has been humbled.
-They taste great.
-They gave me an opportunity to flex my cookie-decorating muscles, which were previously in a state of atrophy (and, some might argue, still are):

(the initials of the happy couple)

Moral of the story: Don't get cocky. Oh, and eat more cookies.

Fiendish and Fickle Chocolate Cookies
(from Smitten Kitchen)

3 cups all-purpose flour (possibly more)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk dry flour, salt, and baking powder in bowl and set aside. Mix butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and cocoa in mixer. Gradually add flour mixture, and mix until smooth. Add more flour until dough is no longer sticky. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least one hour.

Roll out cookie dough on floured counter. Cut into desired shapes, brushing extra deposits of flour off the top. (It does disappear once baked, so don’t overly fret if they go into the oven looking white.) Bake on a lined cookie sheet for 8 to 11 minutes (the former for 1/8-inch thick cookies, the latter for 1/4-inch cookies) until the edges are firm and the centers are slightly soft and puffed.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool.