Chocolate Marble Chunk Cookies

After checking this book out from the library and seeing a few recipes during Mel's sugar rush I knew this (The Good Cookie by Tish Boyle) was a cookbook I had to add to my collection. If I had to pick one treat that I had to survive on for the rest of eternity, it could very well be cookies. There's just something so homey and comforting about a good homemade cookie. These were no exception. Made up of half chocolate, half light cookie dough and loaded with chunks of chocolate and pecans. I took it a step further and toasted the pecans for a delicious cookie you've got to try!

Chocolate Marble Chunk Cookies

slightly adapted from The Good Cookie

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder, sifted

12 oz. bittersweet or semisweet bar chocolate cut into 1/2 in. pieces (I used Nestle's Semisweet Chunks)

1 3/4 cups pecans, toasted

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment beat the butter and sugars at medium high speed until light, about 2 minutes. Beat in the vanilla extract and eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping down the bowl as necessary. At low speed, add the flour mixture, mixing just until blended.

Transfer 1 3/4 cups dough to another bowl and set aside. Add the cocoa powder to the dough remaining in the mixer bowl and mix on low speed just until blended. Add half of the chocolate and half of the pecans and mix until blended. Stir the remaining chocolate and pecans into the light colored dough.

Fill one side of a 1 tbsp. measuring spoon with the light dough, making it well rounded, not level. Fill the remaining half with chocolate dough. Roll the doughs into a ball and place on an ungreased baking sheet. (Make sure you don't make your cookies too large. After your flatten and bake them, they spread quite a bit and you don't want them to stick together.) Moisten your palm to prevent sticking, and flatten the dough into a 1 1/2 in. disk. Repeat with remaining dough, spacing the cookies 2 inches apart. Bake, one sheet at a time, for 8-10 minutes, until the lighter dough just begins to color. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.

Posted by: Sallie