Chocolate chewies are a rich, fudgy almost brownie-like cookie. These ultrachocolaty treats are inspired by a popular old recipe from Gottleib’s, a beloved bakery in Savannah, Georgia. While many versions of the chocolate chewy exist and can be found in bakeries across the country, we wanted a refined recipe for a simple-to-make cookie so we could get our chocolate fix any time. True chocoholics, we first worked to ramp up the cookies’ fudgy character by using both cocoa powder and bittersweet chocolate. We grated the bar chocolate to give the cookies a velvety melt-in-the-mouth quality. Recipes for chewies usually include upwards of 3 cups of confectioners’ sugar to bring the largely flourless cookies together. With the right combination of structure-building egg whites, cocoa, and a scant amount of flour, we were able to use just 2¼ cups of sugar; less sweetness allowed the fruity notes of the chocolate to come through more readily. A simple addition to the recipe—a little salt—also heightened the chocolate notes. Stirring in 2 cups of toasted, chopped pecans gave the soft, chewy cookies some heft and substance and introduced a welcome crunch.
Ingredients
- 2¼ cups (9 ounces) confectioners’ sugar
- 6 tablespoons (1⅛ ounces) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 large egg whites
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups pecans, toasted and chopped fine
- 1 ounce bittersweet chocolate, grated
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Whisk confectioners’ sugar, cocoa, flour, and salt together in bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle. With mixer running on medium speed, add egg whites to sugar mixture, one at a time. Add vanilla and beat for 3 minutes on high speed, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Stir in pecans and chocolate. Drop 1-tablespoon portions of batter onto prepared sheets, spacing them 1 inch apart.
- Bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until dry at edges but soft in centers, 15 to 18 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through baking. Slide cookies, still on parchment, onto wire rack. Repeat with remaining batter. Let cookies cool completely before peeling from parchment and serving.
