Layered chocolate chip cookies

As soon as I saw this post I knew that I HAD to try this recipe but for some reason or another I have postponing the moment. The main reason was that I was kind of unsure about making cookies with such a huge amount of sugar. I finally settled that it was best to do only half of the recipe and to cut down the sugar being used.
The original recipe calls for dark brown sugar but I didn't have any of it and instead I had a package of muscovado sugar therefore I substituted it. Another change that I made has to do with the number of layers, even though the original recipe states that 3 layers of cookie shall be made (with chocolate between them), due to the amount of dough that results from making only half of the recipe I only used 2 layers (it was like a cookie sandwich). The last change has to do with the type of the chocolate: the original recipe uses semisweet or bittersweet chocolate but I used milk chocolate (which I prefer).

The resulting cookies were a bit too greasy but delicious anyway. Next time I'll be cuting down the amount of butter to 100g to seen how the come out.

Ingredients:

140 g all-purpose flour
1/4 + 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 + 1/8 teaspoon salt
115g butter, at room temperature
75g muscovado sugar
50g granulated sugar
2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
85g milk chocolate, chopped into shards

Method:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together.
2. In another bowl, cream the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy. Then, add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating until combined and then add the vanilla.
3. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, beating just until incorporated.
4. Divide the dough into two equal portions and shape each into a ball. Then wrap them in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
5. Unwrap the dough and place one on a lightly floured work surface. Shape the balls into equal rectangles (don't make them too thin, its better if they're thick). Sprinkle the chocolate evenly over one of the rectangles and top with the second piece of dough. Dust the top piece of dough lightly with flour, then use a rolling pin to gently roll the stack of dough and chocolate into a 4cm thick rectangle. Use a round cutter to cut as many rounds as possible from the dough and transfer the rounds to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Gather the scraps of dough together into a 4cm thick mound and cut additional cookies out (most of my cookies were made from these scraps as I only managed to get 5 cookies in my first cut).
6. Cover the baking sheet loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate the unbaked cookies for at least an hour. The original recipe states that the more time they spend in the fridge the better they taste when baked but I couldn't wait so I juste left them an hour.
7. Preheat oven to 190ºC. If you're going to bake all of the cookies at once, separate them onto a few baking sheets, leaving at least 5cm between them because they'll spread a lot.
8. Bake for 14 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are set (rotating the baking sheets halfway through if you're baking more than one sheet of cookies). The centers will still seem really soft and underbaked but they'll set up as they cool. Transfer the baking sheets to wire racks and let the cookies cool for about 5 minutes before removing them to the racks to cool completely.

Chocolate torte soufflé

Actually, I made this cake last year but I completely forgot to upload the recipe -_-U

This recipe used A LOT of eggs so its packed with calories (yummy calories ^^). The cake had a very rich flavour and an airy and soft consistency that I loved. The original is here and uses Frangelico but I ommited it because I don't drink alcohol and my parents don't drink this tipe of liquor so I didn't want to buy a bottle just for the cake. Also, this recipe was enough to fill a round 22cm cake pan and a rectangular 15cm large bread pan so next time I'll be doing half of it.

Ingredients:

120g unsweetened chocolate, chopped
150g unsalted butter, cubed
7 eggs, seperated yolks and whites
170g caster sugar
1 pinch of salt

Method:

1. Preheat the oven at 150ºC. Line the base of a 22cm springform baking pan with aluminium foil, grease the pan well with butter and set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan, whisk the chocolate and butter together over low heat until a smooth mixture forms. Set the chocolate mixture aside to cool.
3. In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks together. Add 110g of sugar to the yolks, whisking well until the mixture turns thick and pale yellow. Gradually add the cooled chocolate mixture to the yolks mixture, whisking until combined.
4. Using an electric mixer, whisk the egg whites together with a pinch of salt until soft peaks form. Gradually add the remaining 60g of sugar and beat the egg whites till they hold their shape but are not dry.
5. Fold the egg whites in three batches into the yolk mixture only until just combined.
6. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for an hour before lowering the oven temperature to 120ºC and baking for an additional 30 minutes. When the cake is done baking, turn the oven off and leave the cake in the oven to cool, leaving the oven door slightly ajar until the cake comes to room temperature.