Cocoa Crackle-Tops

These dry, but nonetheless rich, cookies give the subtle, bitter end of the chocolate spectrum a chance to shine.  They're adapted from Chocolate: Cooking With the World's Best Ingredient, by Christine McFadden and Christine France.  It's a downright beautiful book with a great section on technique (indeed, a number of the recipes are showpieces for technique more than they are practical desserts for the home baker).  Anyway, these are great teatime cookies, and quite easy.

6 oz. bittersweet chocolate
1 oz. unsweetened chocolate
7 Tb butter
1/2 cup table sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
1 cup confectioner's sugar
semisweet chocolate chips		 1.  Chop the chocolate into small pieces and melt with the butter in a saucepan over low heat, stirring until all is melted and smooth.
2.  Remove from heat.  Stir in table sugar.  Add eggs one at a time, beating well.  Add vanilla.
3.  Sift flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt into a bowl.  Stir in the chocolate mixture in batches; this will yield a doughy mass.
4.  Cover and refrigerate dough one hour.
5.  Preheat oven to 325.
6.  Form the dough into ping-pong-ball-size orbs around individual chocolate chips.  With several fingers, gently flatten each ball slightly.
7.  Using a slotted spoon, roll the dough-discs around in a bowl containing the powdered sugar.  Tap the spoon against the side of the bowl to shake off excess.
8.  Bake 9-12 minutes on greased cookie sheets, until tops are just getting firm to the touch.  Let sit out 2 minutes, then transfer to wire racks.

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