Low-Cal Chocolate Cookies

I found a recipe for a low-calorie chocolate cookie – originally, it was meant as a Valentine’s treat, but really, you can use whatever cookie cutter shape you want and make them for any (or no) special occasion. I thought they were really good, but the problem is all the leftover dough: it has to be thawed, rolled out and frozen before it can be cut out into shapes, which seems like a lot of trouble, so I ended up baking some pretty shapes along with pieces of the leftover dough. It all tasted good! I didn’t get anywhere near the 40 cookies mentioned in the recipe, though, but it all fits on two baking sheets.

1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
4 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
4 Tbsp unsalted butter or margarine, cut into pieces
½ cup packed light-brown sugar
1 large egg

In a bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.



In another bowl set over (not in) a saucepan of simmering water, place chocolate, butter, and brown sugar; stir frequently until almost completely melted. Remove from heat, and stir until completely melted; let cool slightly.




Add egg to chocolate mixture. Beat until well blended.



Gradually stir in flour mixture (dough will form a ball).



Divide dough in half; roll out each half on a sheet of parchment paper to a ¼-inch thickness. Transfer each half (still on paper) to a baking sheet; freeze until firm, about 20 minutes.



Preheat oven to 350 °F. Using a 2-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter (or the cutter of your choice), cut out cookies; place, ½ inch apart, on two baking sheets.





Bake until firm and fragrant, about 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer cookies to a rack to cool.