Flourless Dark Chocolate Cookies-Cookie of the Month {Chocolate}

Michael's mom's family does a cool sort of Christmas gift exchange, it's called "Kris Kinder". In this exchange you must make something for the person whose name you've drawn. I was like "Uh...I'm not crafty," but once they reassured me that food counts I was on board! And, luckily for me, I got Michael's Aunt Alayne who LOVES chocolate.

Oh...you love chocolate, Alayne? Challenge accepted.

I decided I wanted to make cookies since I knew I'd be busy and cookies are fairly simple to make-plus they're easy to package and travel with!

Then I made this recipe. And they were delicious. And all was right with the world.

Look...I sampled a couple cookies before packaging them up for Alayne. I HAD TO! Quality control people. And I can attest that they are super chocolatey and rich and perfectly crisp on the outside and insanely gooey on the inside. They're everything I wanted them to be. They're even sturdy so absolutely perfect for gift giving! And I was right-Alayne went crazy for them! She insisted I give her the recipe and raved about how incredible they are.

She's right.

AND-as if everything else about these cookies isn't enough, myself and some of my blog friends have teamed up to share a different themed cookie each month! This month is chocolate (obviously) so these beauties fit right in. And here are the other cocoa-licious goodies shared by my fellow foodies:

Chocolate Lava Cookies from Jen's Favorite Cookies
Triple Chocolate Cookie Bars from Crumb: A Food Blog
Flourless Dark Chocolate Cookies from The Cooking Actress
Caramel Chocolate Chip Cashew Butter Cookies from Magnolia Days
Chocolate Orange Ginger Cookies from gotta get baked
Peanut Butter Compost Cookies (gluten-free) from Heartbeet Kitchen
Fudgy Kahlua Brownie Cookies from Bake or Break



Flourless Dark Chocolate Cookies

Adapted from Divine Baking's "Deep Dark Chocolate Cookies"

Makes 18-25 cookies.

Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/2 cups (about 9 oz.) bittersweet or dark chocolate chips, divided
• 3 egg whites, room temperature
• 2 cups powdered sugar, divided
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp. cornstarch
• 1/4 tsp. salt

Preparation:

• Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Coat 1-2 large baking sheets with nonstick cooking spray (you can use 1 sheet and do a couple batches or just 2 at once).
• Melt 1 cup chocolate chips in a microwaveable bowl on high in 30 second increments, stirring after each 30 seconds, until melted (this shouldn't take more than 2 minutes). Let cool slightly.
• In a large, clean, bowl, use an electric mixer to beat egg whites to soft peaks. Gradually beat in 1/2 cup powdered sugar and continue until fully combined and resembling marshmallow creme.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together 1 cup powdered sugar with the cocoa powder, cornstarch, and salt.
• On low speed blend the dry ingredients into the egg white mixture (which is a meringue, btw).
• Stir in the lukewarm melted chocolate and the remaining 1/2 cup chocolate chips (the dough will be stiff).
• Place powdered sugar in a bowl (you may not need an entire 1/2 cup so you can start with less and add more if necessary). 
• Roll dough into tablespoon sized balls and roll in the remaining powdered sugar to coat. Place on prepared baking sheet(s), leaving 2 inches of space in between dough balls.
• Bake about 10 minutes-until puffed with crackly tops. Cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Store any leftover cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.

Now I'm sort of wishing I'd just hoarded these decadent darlings allll for myself!