Today's recipe was given to me by a reader named David who says that without a doubt, these are the best cookie he's ever eaten. He got the recipe years ago from the Raleigh News and Observer which credits the source as The Guglhupf Bakery in Durham. David, thanks so much for this recipe! The cookies are puffy, crackly, shiny, soft in the center and pretty much everything one could ask for in double fudge cookies. They're easy to make and a great way to showcase good chocolate.
Jump to Recipe
David's Double Fudge Cookies Notes
The full batch makes about 40 cookies and calls for a full pound of chocolate, but you can easily halve or quarter the recipe and make fewer cookies. David mentioned in the notes that he has successfully substituted self-rising flour, so if you have a bag of that lying around and want to use it up, you can take out the baking powder and salt and use that. David has also substituted chocolate chips for the pound of chocolate.
Let Chocolate Cookie Batter Stand
This recipe is pretty reliable, but in general, when you are making cookies with a lot of melted chocolate the batter is likely to be runny. This is especially true when using high quality chocolate or chocolate with a lot of cocoa butter. I used a brand called MIA for my last batch and the cookies were so good. But again, good chocolate means a looser batter. If you get a runny/loose batter, let it stand for about 10 minutes at room temperature. When ready to bake, do your best to spoon neat circles onto the parchment. They should puff up in the oven. I try not to refrigerate these types of chocolate batters because the cookies tend to lose their shine, but if you need to you can.
More Updates
Since posting this we've moved to North Carolina, and the famous Guglhupf Bakery is not too far from our house. I need to get over there and see just how close David's Double Fudge Cookies are to the bakery's.
Recipe
David's Double Fudge Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 pound semisweet chocolate chopped
- 6 tablespoons butter (unsalted or salted (84 grams)
- 4 large eggs
- 1 ⅓ cups sugar (270 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¾ cups all-purpose flour Trader Joe's gluten free flour can be used
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- ½ cup chopped nuts
- Small candy bars (fun around Halloween) optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 or 3 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- In the top of a double boiler, combine semisweet chocolate and butter and melt over simmering water. Alternatively, melt gently in the microwave using a low setting and stirring often. Let cool slightly. It shouldn't be too warm when you add it to the egg mixture.
- Combine the eggs and the sugar in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until thick and pale. Add the melted chocolate-butter mixture and vanilla and beat until mixed.
- Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl, then stir into the chocolate mixture. Fold in chocolate chips and nuts. If for some reason your dough is too soft too scoop (mine wasn't, but it happens with some recipes), just let it sit for a few minutes and it should thicken slightly as it cools.
- Drop the batter by heaping tablespoonfuls onto the parchment paper lined cookie sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Bake until cookies are puffed and their surface cracked, about 10 minutes.
- Optional: About 2 minutes before you feel the cookies are going to be done (the 8 minutes mark), stick a fun size candy bar on top. Let the cookies finish baking.
- Slide parchment off tray and onto the counter and let cookies cool for about 10 more minutes. Carefully remove and put on a rack.
Anna says
Nancy, we all get loose with the 3 hole punch sometimes. I'm glad this recipe was useful for you!
Nancy says
Thanks for this. Was looking at my recipe notebook and realized that when I 3-hole punched the "Guglhupf shares it sweet success" article torn from the 2008 N&O, I'd obliterated the # of cups of sugar. The recipe itself is no longer available from the link in the online article. This saved the day, as well as offering gluten free tips.
Anna says
Over Whoppers? That's a tough one. I like them both. This one is, to me, more reliable for some reason.
Stephanie says
Hi Anna, Would you say prefer these over Maida Heatter's recipe?
Anna says
Hi Cara,
Thanks for taking the time to post a review. Glad you liked the recipe!
Cara says
These were fabulous! I used dark chocolate for the base (Trader Joe's Pound Plus bar) and then made half using milk chocolate chips and half with peanut butter chips. My family LOVES chocolate peanut butter so these were a hit. Thanks David and Anna for the recipe! I think I may try some in the future with orange extract instead of vanilla as I love orange/dark chocolate.
Katrina says
If I would have known this was a guilt free zone, I would have been back more often. 😉
Anna says
Katrina, thanks for trying the gluten free version. No guilt allowed! This is a guilt-free zone.
Katrina says
Okay, I just made these--HEAVENLY! I feel like I'm "cheating", well, because I kind of am, but all I did was use gluten free flour, Enjoy Life, soy, sugar, everything free chocolate and organic cane sugar. Hey, I deserve a treat now and then. I don't want to share and I made these for company today. 😉 Maybe they won't eat them when I tell them they are gluten free.
Next is to go for coconut oil instead of butter (but I sure liked the butter/chocolate melting smell, and coconut sugar for the sugar. THEN I won't feel quite so bad. Happy Labor Day, Anna!
Katrina says
Did someone say gluten free? These should be a splurge for me if/when I make them (SOON!) with organic cane sugar.
Leigh says
Oh my....these are incredible! I halved the recipe (didn't have pound of chocolate on hand) and like you Anna, I ended up adding a little more flour because the batter seemed a bit loose. I used Trader Joe's semi-sweet chocolate chunks for the batter and regular semi-sweet chips to add-in. I let them chill in the fridge for about 30 mins and then baked them at 350 for 11 minutes. They puffed up beautifully and taste so incredibly rich and chocolately. They are my favorite new cookie, hands-down! Thank you SO much for sharing.
Anna says
Asha, that's great news! I'll go ahead and add a note saying you tested it with Trader's Joe's gluten free flour and that it worked. Thanks so much for experimenting.
asha says
My brother is gluten free so, since I had such good success with the recipe (I meant to write that I used 8 tbsp butter instead of 6 above, not 4), I tried again with Trader Joe's gluten free flour without any changes to the recipe. Also works great!
Darlene says
These look absolutely incredible!
asha says
I mistakenly used 8 tbsp of butter instead of 4, and used mini chocolate chips to make smaller cookies (got about double your yield), still turned out great. It's tough to find a satisfying chocolate cookie, in my opinion- this one really does it. Thanks for the recipe!
T. Martin says
I know about the half cookie, half brownie combo that you're thinking of but the recipe I use was also definitely called/titled "Brookies". I think with the recipe I have, the chef meant "Brookies" to mean cookie-like brownies vs. half cookie, half brownie.
Erin says
These look like the perfect chocolate cookie
Anna says
Taneka, are you referring to another recipe? The "Brookies" that I know of are half brownie and half chocolate chip cookie. These are just good old double fudge cookies.
T. Martin says
I know this recipe as "Brookies" which I originally found (smaller batch recipe) one holiday season via the now defunct 🙁 DailyCandy
Sue says
These are really attractive and sound delicious.
Lisa Huff @ Snappy Gourmet says
Ohhh, these look incredible Anna!