Chocolate Marble Chunk Cookies

One of the yummy cookbooks I got for Christmas was Tish Boyle's The Good Cookie. Over 250 cookie recipes, how could I resist? I went through and picked 3 cookies to start with but only ended up making 2, this being one of them, the other being caramel-almond tiger cookies that I'll be posting about soon and you can see in the blurry background.

Usually I'm not really a fan of chocolate dough cookies, except I've really fallen for the Andes Chocolate Mint Cookies (which use actual chocolate in the dough instead of cocoa powder). And I also usually don't like nuts in my cookies, so I'm not sure what drew me to this recipe that uses cocoa powder and pecans. I was really happy with how they turned out though. Very chocolatey. This cookie seems to benefit from using chocolate chunks instead of chocolate chips, and was the perfect excuse for me to use up the last of my Callebaut chocolate (which was quite possibly one of the reasons I loved these cookies.) And the pecans added the perfect bit of crunch and something special.

I love how cute these cookies are (not traditionally cute no but to me they are!) and I loved how they were soft throughout and stayed soft for days. They also freeze really well. And I have now begun my love affair with pecans. Okay so I've only made 2 baked goods with pecans so far (I added them to a muffin) but I predict good things in our future. Butter pecan biscuits from Dorie's book for one, and also pecan pie cookies.

Chocolate Marble Chunk Cookies
Adapted from The Good Cookie

Makes about 34 3-inch cookies or 55-60 small cookies.

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/4 cup dutch-processed cocoa powder, sifted*
12 ounces bittersweet or semisweet bar chocolate, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 cup pecan pieces

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

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

3. 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 sides of th ebowl as necessary. At low speed, add the flour mixture, mixing just until blended.

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

5. Fill one side of a measuring spoon*** with the light dough, making it well rounded, not level. Fill the remaining half with chocolate dough. Roll the dough into a bowl and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Moisten your palm to prevent sticking, and flatten the dough into a 1 1/2 inch disk. Repeat the remaining dough, spacing the cookies 2 inches apart. Bake for 8 to 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.

*I used regular cocoa.
**Don't be like me and put less than 1 3/4 cups because it looks like too much. You'll end up with more chocolate dough, which was actually quite tasty on its own.
***I used a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop but the recipe recommends a 1 tablespoon scoop.