This recipe for chocolate cookies comes to us from Alice Medrich and Renewal Mill. Several years ago Todd was introduced to Alice, and he invited her for a tour and tasting at our Valencia Street factory shortly after it had opened its doors. Since then, Alice has been a kindred spirit in chocolate and she was also part of our 12 Nights of Chocolate event back in 2015. She is a celebrated cookbook writer specializing in chocolate, and we are constantly inspired by her work. She makes us blush when she tells us how she’s enjoyed watching us grow up. For this recipe, Alice is working with Renewal Mill, makers of okara flour, a gluten-free and grain-free ingredient upcycled from the pulp left after making fresh soy milk, and she’s combined it with our single-origin dark chocolate, nuts, and coconut to make this delicate, decadent cookie. Alice writes, “If chocolate mousse married a brownie, these cookies would be their offspring. Note: To measure okara flour, spoon it lightly (don’t pack it) into measures and sweep it level—or better still, use a scale.”

Makes 30-36 cookies

• 1 cup (100g) toasted pecan halves
• ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons (22g) Renewal Mill okara flour
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
• 8 ounces (225g) Dandelion 70% Chef’s Chocolate, either Camino Verde, Ecuador or Kokoa Kamili, Tanzania
• 6 tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter
• 1 cup (200g) sugar
• ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract 
• 2 large eggs
• 2 ½ teaspoons water
• About 1 cup (42g) unsweetened dried shaved/flaked coconut
• Flakey sea salt for topping (optional)

First, toast the pecans. Spread them on a sheet pan and bake in a 325°F oven for 9-12 minutes until fragrant and toasty. Cool them until crisp, then break or chop the nuts into coarse pieces. Set aside.

Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven, and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the okara flour with the baking soda and fine grain sea salt and set aside.

Put the chocolate and the butter in a medium stainless steel bowl. Set the bowl in a wide skillet filled with about one-half inch of water. Heat the water over high heat until it’s just barely simmering, then turn off the heat. Stir the chocolate and butter until they are melted and smooth.  

Remove the bowl from the water. Stir in the sugar, salt, and vanilla until thoroughly combined. Add the eggs and the water and stir until well blended. 

Stir in the flour mixture. Stir vigorously for a few seconds to aerate the batter slightly. Add the pecans. For shapelier cookies, refrigerate the batter for a few minutes to firm it slightly before baking.

To bake, scoop slightly rounded tablespoons of batter and place them 2 inches apart on the lined baking sheets. Top each scoop with a few crushed flakes of the sea salt if desired, and lots of coconut pieces. Bake 10-12 minutes or until the cookies are puffed, slightly cracked, and dry on the surface (though they should still feel soft when touched with a fingertip). Rotate the sheets from upper to lower and front to back about halfway through the cooking time to insure even baking. 

Cool the cookies in the pan on a rack; the cookies will firm a bit as they cool. The cookies will keep in an airtight container for 2-3 days.