Mocha Cookies With Dark Chocolate and Pistachios (gluten free)

Mocha Cookies with Dark Chocolate and Pistachios (gluten free)

By Irvin Lin

A fun mocha flavored cookie, I like to cut the cookies into strips and then snap them apart into bite size pieces. It gives the cookies a more casual look but if you prefer, feel free to cut them with a sharp knife into squares. If you aren’t sensitive to gluten, feel free to leave out all the whole grain flours and just use 1 3/4 cups (245 g) all-purpose flour in their place.

Adapted from a recipe for Mocha Toffee Cashew Bars in Gourmet magazine.

Ingredients
Cookie dough
1 large egg
2 teaspoon chia seeds, ground
1 tablespoon espresso powder or instant coffee
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (55 g) cornstarch
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon (60 g) teff flour
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon (45 g) sweet rice flour (sometimes called glutinous rice flour)
1/4 cup (40 g) buckwheat flour
1/4 cup (40 g) mesquite flour
1/4 cup (40 g) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
3/4 cup (170 g or 1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Topping
4 oz (3/4 cup) pistachios
8 oz (225 g) dark chocolate
1 teaspoon flaky sea salt (like Maldon)

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F and lightly spray a 10 x 15 inch rimmed baking sheet with cooking oil. Line the baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper that is hanging over the edges of the pan by two inches.

2. Place the egg, ground chia seeds, espresso powder and vanilla extract in a small bowl. Using a fork, beat together until the espresso powder starts to dissolve. Set aside. Place the cornstarch, flours, and cocoa powder in a medium bowl. Using a balloon whisk, vigorously stir until the dry ingredients are uniform in color.

3. Place the butter, sugar and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat the butter, sugar and salt together on medium high speed until the creamy, about two minutes or so. Add the egg mixture to the bowl and beat on medium speed until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Add the dry ingredients and mix on slow speed until incorporated. You may need to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure all the dry ingredients are incorporated, but since there’s no gluten don’t worry about overmixing.

4. Pat the dough down in the line baking sheet, making sure the dough is evenly distributed all the way to the edges of the pan (the dough will be thin). Bake in the oven for 16-20 minutes or until the edges of the cookie have darkened and are firm to the touch.

5. While the cookie is baking, roughly chop the pistachios and set aside in a bowl. Chop the chocolate into 1/2 inch chunks and place in a microwave safe bowl. Cook on high in the microwave for 30 seconds and stir. Repeat 2 more times, at 30 second intervals until the chocolate has melted, stirring in between cook times. If the chocolate still hasn’t melted after the third time, cook for 15 second increments until it smooth and melted.

6. Once the cookie is done baking, pull it out and pour the chocolate over the top of the warm cookie. Using a spatula or knife, evenly spread the chocolate all the way to the edge of the cookie dough. Sprinkle the chopped pistachios and sea salt evenly over the chocolate. Let cool in the pan, on a wire rack, until room temperature. Slice into 1-inch strips then break cookie pieces by hand or cut into squares.

Makes 48 square cookies or about the same amount of broken piece cookies.