SALTED CHOCOLATE-RYE AND PECAN COOKIES

SALTED CHOCOLATE-RYE AND PECAN COOKIES image

Yield 48 cookies

Number Of Ingredients 10

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Ingredients

1 pound bittersweet chocolate (70 percent cacao), chopped
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 cup whole-grain dark rye flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups muscovado sugar (may substitute turbinado or other raw coarse sugar)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups pecan halves, toasted (see NOTE)
Good quality sea salt, such as Maldon or flaky fleur de sel, for topping

Steps:

Place a saucepan filled with 1" of water over medium heat, bring to a simmer. Set a heatproof bowl on top of the saucepan, bottom of the bowl not touching the water. Combine the the chocolate and butter in the bowl, stirring occasionally. Cook until melted. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly. Whisk together the rye flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Place the eggs in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat on medium-high speed, adding the sugar a little bit at a time, until all the sugar is incorporated. Increase the speed to high; beat until the eggs have nearly tripled in volume, about 6 minutes. Stop to scrape down the bowl. Reduce the mixer speed to low; add the cooled chocolate-butter mixture and the vanilla extract. Beat until well incorporated. Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add in the flour mixture; beat on low speed just until combined. Fold in the pecans by hand. At this point the dough will be soft and loose, which is normal; it will firm up as it chills. Cover and refrigerate dough until it just firm to the touch, about 1 hour. (The longer you chill the dough the harder it is to scoop; if it is too firm to scoop, let it rest at room temperature until it is easier.) Position oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop the dough using a #40 disher or a heaping tablespoon onto the baking sheets, shaping the balls of dough into rounds if necessary and spacing them 2 inches apart. Top each mound of dough with a few flakes of sea salt, pressing gently so it adheres. Bake until the cookies have puffed up and have a smooth bottom and rounded, slightly cracking top, 12 to 14 minutes, rotating the sheets from front to back and top to bottom halfway through. Remove and let cool slightly (the cookies may flatten a bit) on the sheets, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool complet