NOVEMBER RECIPE MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: COCOA NIB & PECAN COOKIES

a stack of Cocoa Nib & Pecan Cookies

For my November Recipe Mission, Medrich's Nibby Pecan Cookie recipe was a cinch to make. I like the slice and bake method of making cookies, so I opted to do this rather than the roll & cut method, which to me seems like a whole lot of work. Besides, with a log in the freezer, I can make a few at a time so that my cookies will always be fresh. It's so convenient to have homemade cookies readily available.

the cocoa nibs are the darker bits while the pecans form a pretty mosaic

Anyone who knows me, knows that I hate nuts, raisins and other lumpy things in my desserts. However, in this case I made an exception because the nuts are not lumpy. The cookies themselves tasted sublime. They were delicate and crispy and short; not chewy at all. The cocoa nibs were distinguishable, but barely. I tasted primarily pecans. Next time, I would like to try an all cocoa nib cookie instead. Medrich has a few variations in her cookbook which call for different nuts to be used or for a chocolate cookie version. This to me sounds like overkill, but eh, it's chocolate, so it can't be that bad. I figure I would like the cocoa nibs to stand out because I paid an arm and a leg for them.

cross-section of the nibby cookies

In my version of the cookie, I employed all organic ingredients. I used organic cane sugar, organic flour etc and of course the cocoa nibs were organic too. What with my huge stash of vanilla beans, I think next time, I will scrape in a pod or two's worth of vanilla seeds into the batch of cookie dough instead of the vanilla extract. I'll omit the pecans and whatever else nuts 'cause they overpower the cocoa nibs and hopefully it'll taste yummy...we'll see how that turns out. I'm not particularly fond of chocolate cookies so most likely I'm not going to try Medrich's variation. I love dark chocolate (is there anything else worth eating?) and all chocolate desserts, but I prefer chocolate chunks in a non-chocolate cookie dough base because the quality of the chocolate chunks will stand out better and the non-chocolate cookie dough base is a better foil for the chocolate chunks.

This recipe is really nice and I appreciate how easy it was to put together. It's a keeper. I'll be looking for other ways to use these cocoa nibs I've got because they're a really cool ingredient to use. I love 'em 'cause they're crunchy and somewhat nutty in a chocolatey sort of way. Does that make sense? Ah well. They're good and good for you.

Check out the recipe here.