Spiced Molasses Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Cookie w/Absinthe Orange cream
We made this incredible cookie with cream for the BruFrou craft beer and food pairings event several years ago. We were newbies in the food world and were alongside some of Denvers finest restaurants and frankly, we were a bit intimidated. We were paired with Crazy Mountain Beer Co, and thankfully they trusted us to do our thing and BOOM..we blew the doors off the place. Our cookie was ranked as the best dessert in the house and we had a line 10 deep until the drunks were forced to leave the building and the rest of the vendors had packed up to leave. It's a good one. Trust us. We considered making cookies instead of Deliciousness for a second..
Yields ~ 4 dozen
Ingredients:
•1 stick butter
•1/3 cup sugar
•1/4 cup molasses
•2 tsp water
•1 vanilla bean
•1 Tbsp cocoa
•1 1/2 cup flour
•3/4 tsp baking soda
•1/2 tsp nutmeg, ground
•1/2 tsp anise seed
•3oz dark chocolate chopped - we used our friend Ritual Chocolates chocolate..but whatever you use, make it a good quality one
•kosher salt flake
Cream:
•2oz goat cheese - chèvre
•1oz mascarpone
•1 tsp Absinthe Orange Deliciousness
•pinch roasted fennel seed, ground
•pinch roasted anise seed, ground
•pinch black pepper, ground
•pinch salt
•squeeze lime juice
Garnish:
•orange peel from Absinthe Orange Deliciousness
or
•candied orange zest
Cream butter with sugar until fluffy, then add molasses and water and combine. Add flour, baking soda, nutmeg, and anise seed and combine. Add chopped chocolate and mix just enough to blend into a dough. Roll dough into 1 1/2 inch diameter log, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Slice chilled log into 1/4 inch rounds. Place cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, sprinkle with kosher salt flake and bake for 14 minutes. Remove cookies from oven and place immediately on cooking racks.
Distract yourself from eating all the delicious cookies by making the cream topping. Pan roast the anise seed before grinding to a powder. Combine all ingredients, finishing with the squeeze of lime to make all the flavors pop. Make a piping bag by cutting the corner off a plastic sandwich bag and make dollops on top of the cooled cookies. Garnish with an orange peel fished from the jar of Absinthe Orange Deliciousness.
Serve at your next potluck and BLOW THEIR MINDS.