I don’t usually like double chocolate style cookies very much. I often find them to be cloying and lacking in necessary flavour contrast. And so I would probably never have made these, if my sister hadn’t made them a few years ago and completely won me over to these odd, delicious little cookies. I should have known that anything from the undisputed cookie genius Dorie Greenspan would be a winner.

These are all about texture. They are a modified version of french sable cookies, which means sand cookies, with the untraditional addition of brown sugar. They are somehow sandy and chewy at the same time, which might not sound delicious (sandiness not usually being a plus in cookies) but it is. They are delightfully sandy and nubbly, and with a rich chocolatiness that isn’t overwhelming or cloying.

world peace cookies:

adapted from Dorie Greenspan

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ cup + 3 tablespoons butter, cut into big chunks, at room temperature
⅔ cup packed light brown sugar
¼ cup sugar
1 tsp flaky sea salt (like Maldon or fleur de sel)
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 milk chocolate, either chips or a chopped-up bar

With the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugars together in the bowl of a stand mixer (or with a hand mixer) until fluffy, around 3-4 minutes.

Add in vanilla and salt and beat briefly to incorporate. Add in dry ingredients and mix on the lowest speed to avoid flour explosions. Mix until all flour is incorporated. This dough is a little unpredictable. Sometimes it comes together into big buttery lumps, sometimes it stays crumbly and dry looking. Either way, the cookies will work, but if you have a crumbly dough, you will need to give it a gentle knead to bring it together.

Shape the dough into two logs about 2 inches in diameter. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least three hours.

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Slice cookies and bake on parchment lined cookie sheets for 12 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack.