CHOCOLATE CORNMEAL COOKIES
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup yellow cornmeal
- 3/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
- 1/2 pound (2 sticks) cool, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- 11/4 cups sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons finely grated orange zest
- 1 teaspoon orange flower water or 1/2 teaspoon orange extract
Instructions:
These cookies are unusual but delicious all the same. The cornmeal makes them very crunchy—not like the snap of butter cookies, but stronger and heartier. The assertive flavor of cornmeal is balanced by orange zest and orange flower water.
- Position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Whisk the flour, cornmeal, cornstarch, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.
-  Place the chocolate in the top half of a double boiler set over about 2 inches of simmering water, or in a medium bowl that fits tightly over a medium saucepan with a similar amount of simmering water. Stir until half the chocolate has melted, then remove the double boiler’s top half or the bowl from the heat—be careful of any escaping steam, which can condense and cause the chocolate to seize—and continue stirring until all the chocolate has melted. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
-  Soften the butter in a large bowl, using an electric mixer at medium speed, about 1 minute. Add the sugar and continue beating just until fluffy, about 1 minute. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the egg yolk; continue beating until it looks fairly smooth. Beat in the melted chocolate by pouring it into the bowl in a thin, steady stream while the beaters are running at low speed; scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Beat in the orange zest and orange flower water or orange extract until smooth. Turn off the beaters, add the flour, and beat at low speed until a soft, workable dough forms. Gather into a ball in the bowl, then cover the bowl loosely with a clean kitchen towel and refrigerate just until firm, about 30 minutes.
-  Roll 2 teaspoons of the dough into a ball, then place on a large ungreased baking sheet, preferably nonstick. Continue making balls, spacing them 11/2 inches apart on the baking sheet. Press the balls with a fork, creating a cross-hatch pattern by pressing down one direction, then rotating the tines 90 degrees and pressing again. Press gently, just until the dough flattens somewhat and cracks a little at the edges.
- Bake for 11 minutes, rotating the sheet back to front halfway through baking, until the cookies are dry and somewhat firm to the touch. Cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Cool the baking sheet for 5 minutes before baking additional batches on it, or work with a second large baking sheet, making a second batch while the first bakes.