Snow Day Cookies

Technically this recipe is not called Snow Day cookies--but that is how I will always think of them.  I had a snow day Friday.  Yes, that's right, a snow day!  I slept in a little bit, made these cookies, some soup and then watched a great movie, it was lovely.  I'd definitely been itching to make these cookies for a while now and I'm glad I did.  Not only are they very good, but they are also gluten free so my roommate can eat them!  Now of course this recipe has a story, so let me start at the beginning.

About a year and a half ago, I found a recipe in New York Magazine called "Flourless Chocolate Walnut Cookies".  I cut it out and put it in my recipe binder, the place where recipes I love or recipes I really want to try all live.  Then a few weeks ago, I was perusing 101cookbooks.com and saw Heidi's Chocolate Puddle Cookies which looked very familiar.  Someone in the comments section of the website wrote that they they saw this recipe in NY Magazine a while back.  After I saw that, I went and found the old torn out recipe and lo and behold, they are the same cookie!!  Ok, well the recipes are a tiny bit different--Heidi's calls for 4 cups of sugar while NY Magazine's recipe calls for only 3.

Friday I had the time and energy to tackle this recipe--and tackle is the operative word here!  This is the type of recipe that requires care and attentiveness.  If you click the link above to 101cookbooks, you can read Heidi's recipe and her lengthy explanation about the temperamental nature of this cookie.  Basically, the cookies are finicky because they don't have flour.  You need to pay attention to two things--consistency of the batter and baking time.

Notes about consistency: Depending on the size of the eggs you use, you need to alter the amount of powdered sugar you use.  If you use jumbo size eggs, you will need to add more sugar, if you use smaller eggs, use less.  So I would advise starting with 3 cups of sugar (what the NY Magazine recipe calls for) and then if the batter is super runny, add more sugar about 1/3 a cup at a time.

Notes about baking: I added in a dash of cinnamon which I think gives them a nice flavor.  I also substituted pecans for walnuts since I had a bunch left over from Christmas baking.  I think they turned out really well with the nut substitution.  Spoon the batter out onto the parchment paper about 1 and 1/2 tablespoons per cookie and space them far apart since they spread.  Keep watching them once they go into the oven--although both recipes say to leave them in 12-16 minutes, I ended leaving them in for about 18-20 since they were still raw.  It is tricky to know when the cookies are ready, but here are the basic stages--first they will spread out, then they will get cracks on top but they will still have puddles of batter in the middle.  Once they sort of puff up on the top and middle and almost have the consistency of meringues, they are ready to come out.  Make sure you let them cool for a very long time.  You'll get the hang of it after a while and believe me, it is worth it.  The cookies are crunchy on the outside and soft and sort of gooey on the inside.  My roommate told me they tasted like brownies, which I think is a good description.

They are the perfect treat for a snow day, but would be perfect any day.  Enjoy!!