flourless chocolate crackle cookies

Happy Friday! I hope you guys all had a great week, and a good Friday to top it off. I had a crazy, crazy week with four tests... glad that's over! Next week I have finals, and then I am finally OFF for summer! I am beyond excited to give my poor brain a break and have some time to go back to baking. What did you guys do on this glorious May friday? I personally got home from work, cranked out three miles, then got on Pinterest and found something to bake. What? Is that weird? I hope not. What probably IS weird is the fact that I embarassingly often end up baking in my sports bra and workout shorts. This is not a "secret diet strategy" (i.e. if your belly is out, you will not want to eat any of that cookie dough). I wish it was though. I wish that worked. Sadly (or not sadly?), it totalllyyy does not work. I ate so much of this delicious cookie dough that my stomach hurt. No regrets though, it was so yummy. 🙂

If you've ever made flourless chocolate cake, you know that this kind of cake is super light, airy, and fluffy, almost like a souffle! And if you haven't.. go make my flourless chocolate cake roll. LIFE-CHANGING. Anyways, flourless chocolate cookies are the complete opposite! Dense, thick, fudgy, and super rich. Total chocolate bombs. But so delicious! I am thoroughly ashamed to admit I have not tried one of these cookies yet because as stated shortly ago, I ate a bunch of dough and I wasn't able to even look at a cookie. Ugh. 

The dough tastes exactly like a chocolate truffle, in the best possible way. I mean, as if there is any negative way to say something tastes like a truffle, really... These cookies crackled fabulously in the oven, and were slightly crisp on the outside, with a gooey, chocolate chip-studded interior. Uh, droool. Definitely try these warm out of the oven, when the chips are still melty and the inside isn't fully solid yet. Perfect. I dare you to try to eat just one of these. Or just one leeeedle spoonful of dough. Not happening, of course. But you can try. 🙂

Flourless Chocolate Crackle Cookies
Adapted from Divine Baking
Yields: about 30 cookies

1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips, melted, plus more to stir in later
3 egg whites
2 ½ cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (dark cocoa powder is great if you have it!)
¼ teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 350F, with racks in the upper and lower thirds. Prepare two cookie sheets by lining with parchment paper or silicone liners. 
Melt your one cup of chocolate chips in a double-boiler or microwave, and set aside to cool a bit.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form, and the whites are slightly glossy. Add in one cup of the powdered sugar a little bit at a time until a meringue forms. It will look a lot like marshmallow fluff, like the original recipe says. In a separate bowl, whisk together 1 more cup of powdered sugar, along with the cocoa, salt, and cornstarch. Add the dry ingredients a bit at a time to the meringue, then stream in your cooled melted chocolate. At this point, if your dough is too runny, add in some of your remaining powdered sugar until the texture becomes thick and truffle-like. Keep in mind that as the chocolate cools further, the dough will become more stiff! Stir in about ½ cup of whole chocolate chips. In a small bowl, pour some additional powdered sugar. Scoop out tablespoonfuls of the dough into the bowl of powdered sugar, coating them generously. Place the sugar-covered dough balls on your prepared cookie sheets, at 12 per sheet. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until cookies spread and crackle! Do not overbake. Let cookies cool slightly before handling. Enjoy!