recipe: triple-chocolate cookies

The other week, Tony and I stopped in the library to pick up about a dozen books on DIY patio-building that I had requested. (I still am convinced that it's a project we can tackle.) And then I started wandering the aisles, greedily grabbing even more random books and adding them to my pile. Free books! I'd forgotten how fun it is to go to the library and just take whatever you want.

One of the cookbooks I checked out is the Cook's Illustrated cookbook, which, as far as I can tell, has a recipe for every single thing you would ever want to eat. Our Phoenix friends Ofelia and Nathan were coming into town to stay with us for the inauguration, and I thought it'd be nice to have cookies in the house, so Tony and I tried a recipe from the cookbook.

I know Tony's usually the one to speak in superlatives, but I'm going to acknowledge that I have never made a better chocolate cookie before. In fact, I can't even recall eating a better chocolate cookie that someone else has made. (Sorry, Mom.) They're that good.

Triple-Chocolate Cookies

Adapted from Cook's Illustrated

• 1 pound semisweet chocolate, broken into pieces
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons instant coffee
• 10 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 bag chocolate chips

Microwave chocolate at 50 percent power for 2 minutes. Stir. Heat for an additional minute on 50 percent power until melted. Set aside to cool slightly.

Whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in a bowl.

In separate bowl, whisk eggs and vanilla. Sprinkle instant coffee on top.

In stand mixer with the paddle, beat butter, brown sugar and sugar until just combined. On low speed, add egg mixture until just incorporated. Add chocolate until just combined. Add dry ingredients until just combined. Be careful not to overbeat the dough. With a spoon, stir in chocolate chips.

Cover dough with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes until dough is fudge-like.

For each cookie, roll 2 tablespoons of dough into a ball. Place cookies 1-1/2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets.

Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Edges should set, but centers will be soft. Let cookies cool on baking sheets for 10 minutes, and they will continue to firm up. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

Makes about 40 cookies.

things to do: library book sale

The good news: Tony and I discovered the monthly used book sale at the Northeast library and came home Saturday afternoon with a big haul. The bad news: the library's about to close for $10 million in renovations, so it'll be a year and a half before we can go back.

That's a good score, right? Everything pictured above, plus 10 comic books for Tony, came to $5.50. (The CDs were free.) Highlights include two Tennessee Williams plays and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as well as R.E.M., Elvis Costello, and Best of 80's Metal Volume Three: Bang Your Head. (Tony picked out the CDs.)

The other great thing about the Northeast library book sale is the books are so well organized. The fiction is alphabetized by author. The classics are in their own section. The nonfiction is categorized and clearly labeled. There's also a monthly used book sale at the Southeast library near Eastern Market, which Tony and I hit up every few months or so. It holds a special place in my heart, but if it has an organizational system, I don't understand it. Northeast sale, we've barely gotten to know each other, but I'm going to miss you.

The library is in Northeast at 7th and D streets. Just 18 months until we can go back.