While I cook I like to reminisce about the people who inspired the recipe I’m preparing. Baking these cookies gave me time to think about the women in my life – family and friends – who have been affected by breast cancer and in my own small way pay tribute to them during Breast Cancer Awareness month.

I used a wonderful chocolate chip base that Nigella Lawson created after many attempts (hard work, but someone has to do it!). By melting the butter you get a well-balanced cookie – both thick and moist. I substituted pink chocolate candies (think M&M’s) for chocolate chips for this recipe, but I have made them the traditional way before and they are equally wonderful. I also added coarse sea salt to bring out the chocolate flavor – don’t skip this ingredient as many people commented on how good it was.  I recommend chilling the dough for at least an hour to ensure that they cookies hold their shape when cooking.

I baked these cookies for two Council for Women events this past weekend at my alma mater, Franklin & Marshall College. They were enjoyed by many (and gone before those treats prepared by food services), but especially by a woman who starts treatments for breast cancer this week. A fitting recipient and I was thrilled when she took two!

Gluten-Free/Wheat-Free Options: You can make these using gluten-free flour (such as Cup4Cup’s Original Flour Blend) and they’re just as good as the “with gluten version.” Chilling the dough is especially important when using gluten-free flour.

Pink Cookies

 

Pink Cookies

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Course Dessert

Ingredients
  

  • 1-1/4 cup 2-1/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1-1/3 cups light brown sugar packed
  • 1 cup superfine sugar
  • 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 eggs refrigerator cold
  • 2 egg yolks refrigerator cold
  • 4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons coarse sea salt
  • 20 ounces pink chocolate covered candies or 24 ounces chocolate chips

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 325°F.
  • Cut butter into pieces and place in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat on medium heat for a 2 to 4 minutes until melted. Let cool 10 minutes.
  • Combine brown and white sugars in a mixing bowl. Pour the butter over the sugars and mix until well combined, about 2 minutes.
  • Add vanilla, eggs and egg yolks and mix until well combined, about 2 minutes. Batter will be creamy with a caramel color.
  • Slowly mix in flour, baking soda and salt. Mix until just blended. Fold in chocolate candies (or chocolate chips).
  • Refrigerate dough for at least an hour before baking. If you refrigerate it much longer or overnight (both are fine) you'll need to leave it out for a half hour or so as it will be too hard to scoop.
  • Shape into rounded tablespoons and drop 1-1/2 inches apart on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
  • Bake for 12-14 minutes. Edges should be slightly golden.
  • Let cookies cool on cookie sheet for about 5 minutes then transfer to racks to cool completely.

Notes

* This cookie freezes well.
* Make this gluten-free by using Cup4Cup original flour blend.
* I had trouble finding pink M&M's (for years they were plentiful at this time of year) and I didn't have time to order them online. I was able to find pink chocolate covered candies at Wegmans - they worked perfectly.

 

Adapted from Nigella Lawson’s Nigella Kitchen: Recipes from the Heart of the Home (2010)