Died and gone

Martha knows her cookies (and her serving plates)

For me, the past few days have required an extra boost of emotional fortitude. I finally finished a huge project at work, caught a cold on Monday, and slogged through election night with a Vitamin Water and a microphone in hand. The elections really got to me -- would that jerk Tiahrt get re-elected? (yes) Would we elect Barack Obama or John McCain (or Ralph Nader, for that matter?) Would Kansas turn red or blue? Would the school bond pass? I just couldn't deal with these and the rest of life's little stresses without chocolate.

It wasn't until today, though, that I could take the time to get a real dose of that soul-soothing substance.

I'm such a chocolate junkie that I no longer get cravings for just chocolate, I get cravings for the style and texture in which the chocolate should be delivered. Some days, I need the smooth predictability of a Lindt truffle (though the shiny little wrappers help, too.) Some days, the chocolate gets melted and mixed in espresso and milk. Other times, I just carry a bar of Green and Blacks in my bag for square-at-a-time doses.

Today, I needed cookies, and as usual, Martha was there for me. In fact, the very cookie I'd been dreaming of -- dense, intense, chewy and chocolatey -- was today's Cookie of the Day. Perfect timing as usual, Ms. Stewart.

If you're in need of a lift, please make these cookies. Make them now. And enjoy them with a glass of Iwig milk, if you live in Kansas. These cookies are so magical, so blissful, so appropriate for the hard times in which we live, that when my husband ate one, he said:

"Oooh. Oh. Oh. Oh, Jesus. I have died and gone to chocolate."

Dark Chocolate Cookies with Espresso
(lightly modified from marthastewart.com)

• one cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch cocoa (also spooned and leveled)
• 1//2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups sugar (I used a mix of cane and sucanat)
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 tsp. kick-in-your-pants good vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. ground espresso
• 8 oz. bittersweet chocolate (4 oz. melted, 4 oz. coarsely chopped)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and place oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of your oven. In a bowl, mix together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Set that stuff aside.

Beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy (this is where the room temperature butter thing comes in handy.) Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the vanilla. Add in your melted chocolate and espresso, and mix well until your batter looks ooey, gooey, and very, very good.

With your mixer set on a low speed, mix in the flour mixture until just combined. Then, fold in the chocolate chunks.

Drop the dough by two heaping tablespoons-full, three inches apart, onto two baking sheets. I lined my sheets with parchment paper, and the cookies turned out just fine. Bake the cookies for 14-15 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are dry. Be sure to switch the sheets on the oven rack half-way through cooking. Transfer your cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. They should have a shiny, crinkly texture when finished, and a heavenly, full-bodied taste.

These babies will keep well in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to three days. Not that they will last that long...