Chocolate Jumbles

I was looking forward to this weekend all week long! Why? No, it's not because of the Superbowl. If you knew me, you would know that sports and I are not exactly the best of friends. ha. I do have to say, watching football on TV is better than watching basketball or baseball. But that's besides the point. I was excited for this weekend to bake up a storm!

It's been weeks since I've had the time to bake and actually enjoy it instead of rushing the baking process in some of my past posts. At last, no more tests to study for which means baking for fun! First up, these Chocolate Jumbles which comes from Tate's Bakeshop. When reading up on this recipe, it seemed like a great recipe. I mean, the name alone sounds fantastic. 'Chocolate Jumbles'? Such a great name! There's so much more food I want to bake up right now so I'm going to end this post short. I'm off for baking round 2!

Also, if you haven't entered my giveaway for CSN Stores, go ahead and do it! A $25 Gift Certificate towards CSN stores is on the line. Who knows, maybe you'll win. If you want to enter, click HERE to go to my blog post.

Tips
-If you can make a chocolate chip cookie you can make these.
-The recipe states to  flatten the dough slightly before baking, which is what I did. However, since the cookie barely spread while baking, the impression of my fingers remained on some. Maybe press down with the bottom of a glass or simply not press them down at all.

Results
Taste: Chocolate cookie filled with nuts to give 'nutty-ness' and even more chocolate.

Texture: Crunch from the nuts and creaminess from the addition of the extra chocolate. Overall, more of a cake-like cookie than chewy. It was somewhat crumbly as well. 

Chocolate Jumbles (Makes 36 Cookies)
By Kathleen King from Tate's Bake Shop Cookbook

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups AP flour
1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder (I only had Hershey's on hand)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup salted butter, softened to room temperature
1 1/2 cups firmly packed dark or light brown sugar (I used dark brown sugar)
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups white chocolate chips or chunks (I used semi-sweet chocolate)
1 cup pecans, chopped (I used walnuts)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease two cookie sheets, or line them with silpat.
In a lage bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
Cream the butter and the sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add the eggs and vanilla. Mix and scrap down the sides of the bowl.

Add the white chocolate chips and pecans. If the dough is too stiff, wet your hands and finish the mixing by hand. (Don't worry, it's not a big sticky mess.)

Using two tablespoons, drop the cookie dough onto the cookie sheets. Use and ice cream scoop if you have one. Wet it with warm water between scoops so the dough falls out easily. Press the dough balls down gently with your fingertips.

Bake the Jumbles for 20 minutes. The cookies will be soft when they come out of the oven. Do not overbake them.

Cool them on the cookie sheets for 5 minutes and remove the cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling.

-Aaron John