Dear Girl (that sat next to me on the plane last night),
Hi. How are you? This is just a quick note to let you know that you sat on my glasses. I know that you know that you sat on my glasses. You did, after all, hand them back to me crazy mangled. I trust that you know what shape glasses generally assume.
I understand that there are two active parties in this tragedy. There’s the person that accidentally left her glasses in the middle seat next to her while she properly stowed her purse under the seat in from of her…. that’s me. There’s also the person that was in such a hurry to get into that second row middle seat, that didn’t let the girl with the glasses on the aisle properly acclimate before barging in… that’s you. So, you sat on my glasses.
My favorite part about you sitting on my glasses, was how you showed exactly zero remorse for the damage you caused. That was awesome. Hey… remember that part when I was very obviously trying to bend them back in shape in front of you? Yea… that was pretty fun too. That was me being passive aggressive. I bet that was your favorite part.
Oh well, they’re just glasses, right? Next time, I’ll watch where I put my glasses if you watch where you put your body. Deal?
Sincerely,
Joy
And now… dark chocolate cookies. Let’s do this.
I love big, soft, brownie-like cookies. These are them. Hot dang they’re satisfying. Get your hands on some good chocolate for these beauties. I used a Valrhona 70% chocolate. When it comes to mix-ins, I went for walnuts and golden raisins. Maybe you want to try dried cherries and white chocolate, or pecans and walnuts, or chocolate chunks and dried apricot. Dream it up and go nuts. Thanks for the Twitter inspiration on these Roberta!
Dark Chocolate, Walnut and Golden Raisin Cookies
adapted from King Arthur somewhere
8 ounces good quality bittersweet chocolate , 60%-72%(chopped or in chips)
3 Tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) butter
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon espresso powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoons salt
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 cup golden raisins
In a double boiler, or in the microwave, gently melt together the chocolate and butter. To avoid heating the chocolate too much and possibly burning it, the best method is to heat till the butter is melted and the chocolate has partially melted, then remove from the heat. Stir until all the chocolate melts.
In a separate bowl, beat together the sugar and eggs till they’re thoroughly combined. You don’t need a mixer, just do it in a medium sized bowl with a wooden spoon. Add the melted chocolate mixture, then stir in the remaining ingredients, including the chocolate chips, walnuts and raisins, if you’
re using them.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets, three if you have them.
Drop the cookie dough by the tablespoonful (about the size of a small ping pong ball) onto the prepared baking sheets. A tablespoon cookie scoop makes this task extremely simple. Leave about 2? between the dough balls, as they’
ll spread as they bake.
Bake the cookies for 11 to 12 minutes, until their tops are shiny and cracked. They won’t crack until the very end, so keep a close eye on them; when they’re cracked all the way across the top surface, they’
re done. The point is, you want these baked all the way through, but just barely; additional baking makes them more crisp rather than chewy. Remove the cookies from the oven. Wait 5 minutes then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool.
Elena
Your aisle mate sounds like a real wiener. I’ve been saying for a few months now that I am losing faith that the number of nice people is dwindling.
On the other hand, there is you, who so kindly shared this recipe. I have been on a search for a great dark chocolate cookie. Some highlights: weird (no eggs!), good right away, then dry and crumbly, not enough chocolate flavor, etc. I tried these today and so far, these are the best! I have two of the KA baking books, but somehow missed this one, if it is in one of those. I used white and milk chocolate chips because I know my husband wouldn’t go for the fruit and nuts with his chocolate cookies. Thanks!
Jenny
As a fellow glasses wearer I feel your pain… it always happens that the nice pair get mangled while the rubbish pair you keep for emergencies stays pristine…
These cookies look yum, I love squidgy brownie style ones too!
kevin
Big bummer. I’d say next time afier you bend them back into some kind of reasonable shape you hand them to her and ask how they work now.
Willow Drinkwater
Chocolate solves everything!
Lauren
Joy I’m so sorry about your glasses – how someone sits on a pair of them and doesn’t have any remorse I can’t understand! However, your retelling of it cracked me up! The cookies look delicious though.
April
This reminds me of the girl who ran her shopping cart into the back of my flip-flop clad ankles last night. She barely noticed when I yelped and hopped away on one foot. Again, it was the rush that did it. The cashier lines were crazy full, and she was sprinting to the nearest line. Ouch!
jolynn@thedish
Sorry to hear about your glasses!! Once a lady spilled juice all over me at the beginning of a trans-Atlantic flight. She was not sorry either.
Can’t wait to try the cookies!
The Duo Dishes
The raisins are an interesting addition. Definitely would not have thought to add those. But, sounds like it works! But the smushed glasses=not cool.
Jill in Atlanta
I wish you could have slowly nibbled on many of those fudgy cookies right in front of the glasses breaking girl, then finished up the last cookie and licked your fingers with a sigh of satisfaction.
Jessica
Yum, yum, yum! Anything dark chocolate automatically makes my mouth water. And, I’m so sorry about your glasses. If it makes you feel any better, once on a red-eye from LA to NY, this woman sitting in front of me somehow spilled her coffee all over me and my laptop. Ugh….
Stefanie
so sorry to hear about your glasses, but way to go on the passive-aggressive move! i would have just been all out aggressive.
the cookies look divine! may i ask what the espresso powder does? i don’t drink coffee (its yucky), so how essential is this ingredient?
and just because i’d like to share my story…. united now has their flight attendants going down the aisle with cups and a water bottle, which i think is a great service. so while i’m holding my cup and the guy is pouring away, the plane has a little hic-up or maybe one of us did, in any case, the girl sitting next to me got watered. i was all “ohmigosh so sorry” and handed her a napkin, while the flight attendant said “its just water.” the girl was cool about it, but if that had been me i would have had a few choice words for that way too laid back flight attendant.
GS
I’m sorry to hear about what happened to you on the plane. I live in a large and rapidly growing city with a predominantly young population and disrespect seems to be the fashion of the day around here. So, my heart-felt sympathies go out to you.
I suspect, though, that you did the right thing because, frankly, if that woman was narcissistic enough to not issue a simple “I’m sorry” who knows what she would have done if confronted with the reality of her own poor behavior? Well handled Joy!
HoneyB
The cookies look amazing!
Lisa
People are so disrespectful. Anyway, another boring day at work dreaming about having a big kitchen and a big oven to make these cookies. They look decadent and yummy!
Sue
I would have pretended to snore incredibly loudly the whole journey. After all you would otherwise have read to keep yourself awake except your goggles got broke by a lady sitting next to you! Great cookies Joy.