Michael

July 27, 2008 at 3:51am

Sorry to say I tried these, and was very disappointed. I followed the recipe scrupulously, with the sole exception that I was unable to procure the Valrhona chocolate feves (our local Whole Foods didn't carry them) so I substituted same-size chunks made from Trader Joe's dark chocolate bars with an average of 60% cacoa. One huge problem with the recipe is the salt. I used varying amounts of Fleur de Sel, from only a few granules to a bit less than the amount shown in the picture above. In all cases, even a few salt crystals overwhelm the cookie taste. Three other people tried the cookies, and all gave a thumbs-down on the salt idea, and yet I see many reviews from people who wax lyrical about the salt, even going so far as to say they like the crunch of the salt crystals! Having tried it, I am baffled. I made the second batch without added salt crystals, and they were much better, but everyone agreed that while they were good cookies, they were not the best chocolate cookies we've ever had. The flavor of the dough is simply not strong enough or sweet enough to balance out the huge proportion of very dark chocolate (and we are all dark chocolate lovers). The cookie here is definitely secondary to the chocolate, which makes this an "extreme chocolate" specialty version rather than a replacement for the basic recipe. Hi Michael - To each his own, as usual in baking. We won't all like the same treatments of these classics. I've never tried the cookies with bittersweet disks; I can imagine that yes, they might be very overwhelming. More chocolate than cookie, as you say. I did very much like the salt, as did everyone here; the response was overwhelmingly positive. So if you want to try them again, I'd suggest you substitute plain chocolate chips, cut back on them if you like, and make normal-sized cookies using the regular "bake right away" method - don't chill the dough. I think you'll find a cookie that's much more to your liking. Cheers! PJH
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