Chocolate Oatmeal Drops

I have to admit, I like cookies, but I love cookie dough. I usually have very few problems only tasting half or even less of one of the cookies I bake once they come out of the oven. Usually just a quality control bite out of a cookie shortly after coming out of the oven (while they're still warm and gooey) and then another small bite the next morning to see how they hold up once they've cooled down.

There are a few cookies that are more challenging (the salted oatmeal cookies come to mind) but I will likely have no trouble resisting these chocolate oatmeal cookies. It's not that they're bad -- far from it -- it's just that the cookie dough was so much better to me. I had a lot of trouble resisting the dough as I was making it -- a nibble here, a glop on my finger, the spatula, the bowl, the spoon... all covered in yummy, chocolaty goop. In fact, the cookie dough reminded me a lot of no-bake chocolate cookies before they set up. Actually, truth be told, every single time I have made no-bake cookies, the cookies have never set-up properly, always leaving me with lumps of gooey, chocolaty goodness. Which is actually fine, because I never really like no-bake oatmeal cookies much to begin with... but I digress.

These cookies are pretty good -- rich chocolate with a hint of cinnamon and a slightly chewy texture from the brown sugar. They are a bit of a pain to make, but that's only because you have to chop the chocolate and then heat it with the brown sugar and butter over the double boiler which is a little time consuming. Dorie Greenspan gives rather specific directions for adding the ingredients to the double boiler bowl (first the butter, then sprinkle the water over that before adding the brown sugar and the chocolate) -- I'm not exactly sure why she wanted it done that way, and I didn't do it that way. I kind of threw things into the bowl as I got to them and as far as I can tell the cookies turned out fine. Any ideas? Other than that they are actually a cinch to make. Mix everything up and throw them in the oven.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 sticks (8 oz) unsalted butter cut into pieces
1 tbsp water
1 1/2 cups (packed) light brown sugar
9 oz bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats

Preheat oven to 350. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.

Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Put the butter in the bowl and sprinkle over th 1 tablespoon of water, then add the brown sugar, followed by the chocolate. Stir occasionally until everything is just melted. Don't let the ingredients get so hot that the butter separates from the sugar and chocolate, and don't be concerned if the mixture looks grainy.

Remove from the heat and whisk in the eggs, one at a time; the mixture will look shiny. Whisk in the dry ingredients, stirring only until they disappear into the dough. Stir in the oats. Drop the dough by tablespoonfuls onto the baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between each spoonful.

Bake for about 12 minutes, rotating the sheets from the top to bottom and front to back at the midway point, until the cookies are dark around the edges and just slightly soft in the middle. Using a wide metal spatula, transfer the cookies to a rack to cool to room temp. (if the cookies are difficult to lift from the baking sheet, wait a minute and try again.)

Repeat with the remaining dough, cooling the baking sheets between batches.