it was so good i made it two ways.

 

you know when you have the craving for a really good cookie?
i have been having those lately. like really bad.
but i wanted something different. something you don't see everyday.
i was taken back to a cookie i made in the summer and remembered how much i really did enjoy them and i can't believe i haven't let you in on the secret till now.

while i was wiping up a batch, june clever style, i was thinking about what types of variation i could make for these. what else would work here.....nuts? yes. marshmallows? without a doubt. graham crackers crumbs? heavenly. all really good candidates but.......then i saw it and remembered a thunk i had thunk before.....coconut.

i had spied this recipe from the {full sized} everyday food magazine my mom brought out in the summer. this magazine is packed full of spring/summer style foods that i WILL be sharing with you in the upcoming months......get ready to channel your inner foodie.......you will thank me.
but for today i will treat you with the one for black bottom cookies.

my only criticism about this is i don't think they tested it before releasing it to hounds. or maybe they make it in a deluxe convection oven and forget that us not-so-swanky-upper-west-side-new-yorkers may not have one of those contraptions. for me the middle didn't seem to get cooked as the outside started to get to brown. on my second batch i figured it out - i added 5 minutes of baking time, turned off the oven and left them in there as the oven cooled. done. cooked. phew! problem solved.

here you go.......and make both so you can compare. also i think chopped pecans would be AWESOME with some sprinkled over the top for good measure and cause it would look so darn pretty!

black bottom cookies
adapted from everyday food.

1 cup of unsalted butter, melted, plus more for the pan.
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
1 teaspoon of salt
1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1) preheat oven to 350 degrees. lightly butter an 8-inch square baking dish and line with parchment, leaving a 2-inch overhang on two sides. butter the parchment and set the dish aside.
2) in a large bowl, whisk together the butter and sugars until smooth. add the eggs and vanilla. whisk together till incorporated. add the flour and salt, stirring until just moistened. transfer half of the batter to another bowl and add in the cocoa and chocolate ships until well combined.
3) place chocolate mixture into prepared dish and spread out with a rubber or an offset spatula to smooth top. transfer plain batter on top of chocolate and again smooth out the top. bake until top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean - about 35 minutes. ***this is where i found i had to then turn off the oven and leave the cookie in there for about another 20 minutes or so to make sure the center was cooked - your oven may vary and you might not have to do this step. let cool completely in dish on a wire rack before cutting it into the 24 bars. store in an airtight container, at room temperature, up to 3 days. they also freeze beautifully.

coconut version:

1. i swapped out the unsalted butter for salted. i may do this for the original version next time as well {yes here will definitely be a next time!} i like a bit of salty in my chocolate chip cookies - love the contrast.
2. then add 1/2 cup of chocolate chips and 1/2 cup of the coconut. that's about it.

more notes on the subject.......

the original recipe called for 1 1/4 cups of chocolate chips and i scaled it back to 3/4 cups. for us it was enough but by all means pump it back up again.

for a nuts version: i would use the same ratio for the coconut or if you were using the pumped up version just make sure you have 1/2 cups of nuts in there. also before you pop it in the oven, sprinkle it with chopped nuts or whole halves decoratively. baking time does not adjust.

for a s'mores style: you would swap in half a cup of graham cracker crumbs for half a cup of the flour in step 1, and in the last 5 minutes of baking time, sprinkle mini marshmallows over the top and pop it back in the oven. could even throw on the broiler when it's done to get a toast on the mallows.