Back when I went to college at UT, way before Tiff's Treats was founded on the campus, the most famous cookies were probably the ones from Upper Crust Bakery. Being a poor college student I didn't make it to Upper Crust often, but I'd heard great things about their Black Gold Cookies. Years later I tasted one, then tried the copycat recipe to see if it was really like the originals.
Well, as you can guess the homemade cookies were better because they were fresh. I think the ones I got from the bakery had been sitting around too long, which is something you don't want to let happen with these cookies. If you are not serving them right away, wrap individually and freeze.
Use Good Chocolate For Black Gold Cookies
Also, what I learned while making this cookies is that it's very important to use great chocolate. I used "okay" chocolate (not the worst quality, not the best) and I got "okay" cookies. The cookies were good, but would have been so much better with something like Scharffen Berger or Green & Black's. So if you make these cookies, use high quality chocolate.
Update: Here's a new photo with unsweetened Callebaut and Trader Joe's semisweet chocolate pieces. With the new chocolate, the cookies went from good to great!
If you want to try the copycat Upper Crust Black Gold Cookies but aren't necessarily excited about spending all that money on chocolate and nuts, this recipe can be scaled down to ⅔ or ⅓ pretty easily. In fact, if you scale it down a third you basically get Maida's Chocolate Whoppers.
Recipe
Black Gold Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 stick unsalted butter, plus ½ tablespoons, softened
- 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate chopped
- 9 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chopped
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup sifted all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups 9 oz chocolate chunks or semisweet chips
- 1 ½ cups walnuts toasted and chopped (you can use more or less)
- 1 ½ cups pecans toasted and chopped (you can use more or less)
Instructions
- In a medium size microwave-safe bowl or a 2 cup Pyrex measure, melt the butter on high for about 30 seconds. Add the chopped unsweetened chocolate and semisweet chocolate. Stir well and microwave at 50% power, stirring every 30 seconds, until melted. Set aside to cool slightly
- In a mixing bowl using an electric mixer, beat the eggs with the sugar for about 4 minutes or until light and fluffy and slightly thick. Add espresso powder, vanilla extract and chocolate mixture, beating until smooth.
- In a small bowl mix together flour, baking powder, and salt and add to chocolate mixture, beating until just combined. Stir in the nuts. Chill for about 20 minute or just long enough to cool down the mixture (only if it is warm). When mixture is no longer warm, stir in the chocolate chips or chunks. If mixture is still soft, return to the refrigerator until it is scoopable.
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Scoop dough into 12 equal size mounds and arrange the mounds on a foil lined plate. Keep chilled until ready to use (or put them in a zipper bag, freeze them and bake as needed), or arrange 3 ½ inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake one sheet at a time for 20-25 minutes on center rack (check sooner if you made the cookies smaller).
- Bake cookies in batches in middle of oven 25 minutes, or until tops begin to crack (do not overbake). Cool cookies on a rack.
Mackenzie@The Caramel Cookie says
Mmm these look good! I agree, using better chocolate in recipes really does make a difference
Anna says
Martha, I think it just refers to the richness of the cookie.
Martha in KS says
Just curious - where does the Black Gold name come from? Does it have to do with the cost of the chocolate? Thanks!
Darlene says
Louise, your perspective on the cost of ingredients is very thought-provoking.
Cindi says
Anna,
Aren't *your* cookies the best cookies in Austin?! 🙂
Anna says
Yes! I emailed the winner Saturday morning.
TxPepper says
Off-topic.....did you ever make a selection in the food scale give-away?
On-topic.....they look yummy to me!
Lisa Ernst says
Looks like a good recipe. Yes, the better the chocolate the better the cookie, especially when chocolate is the star ingredient. 🙂
Emily says
Beautiful!!
Gloria says
This recipe is almost identical to the Black Angus cookies our Whole Foods store makes....the BEST chocolate cookies ever! I have them on my list of things to bake. They are almost like brownies. I agree you need to eat them fresh because they do seem to get stale fast. I wonder why??