unsweetened cocoa

Glossy and near black in color, these intense, easy-to-make chocolate cookies are like a cross between fudge and the deepest of brownies -- and gluten-free to boot. We discovered them in "The Fearless Baker" by Erin Jeanne McDowell. A little cinnamon gives them a spicy complexity, but you can leave it out for a more purely chocolate flavor. Be sure to use bittersweet rather than semisweet chocolate, or they could end up cloying rather than balanced.

Flourless Cocoa Cookies

eggs

confectioners’ sugar

unsweetened cocoa powder

cinnamon (optional)

fine sea salt

vanilla extract

bittersweet chocolate chunks

Flaky sea salt,

Heat the oven to 350 degrees and line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs until well blended.

In another large bowl, sift together confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder, cinnamon and salt. Whisk into eggs, changing to a spatula when the batter becomes too thick to whisk. Stir in vanilla and chocolate.

Use a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop cookies onto prepared baking sheets, leaving 1 1/2 inches between them. Sprinkle with flaky salt.

Bake, rotating front to back, and top to bottom, halfway through, until set around the edges, cracked on top and slightly underbaked in the middle, 10 to 13 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool completely on the baking sheets. Store carefully in an airtight container.

This surprisingly tender vegan chocolate cake is made entirely in an 8-by-8-inch baking pan: Just toss in the ingredients, stir until you don’t see any flour streaks, then bake. For flourish, add a small handful of chocolate chips before baking or sprinkle the finished cake with a little confectioners’ sugar. Adapted from Mollie Katzen’s “Honest Pretzels: And 64 Other Amazing Recipes for Kids Who Love to Cook,” this recipe was developed for kids, but adults love it, too. It’s an ideal snacking cake, or you could gussy it up with a simple <a href="https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1016615-chocolate-ganache">ganache</a> frosting.

Made-in-the-Pan Chocolate Cake

all-purpose flour

granulated sugar

30 grams unsweetened cocoa powder

baking soda

salt

canola oil

apple cider vinegar vinegar

chocolate chips (optional)

Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting on top (optional)

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Add the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt to an 8-by-8-inch square glass or metal baking dish. Whisk the mixture together until uniform in color. Use your fingers to break apart any lumps.

Add 1 cup water along with the oil, vanilla extract and vinegar. Stir slowly with a fork or a whisk in small circles to blend. Mash, scrape and stir with a fork and spoon until the mixture becomes a smooth and uniform batter.

Scrape the sides of the baking dish with a rubber spatula and spread the batter in an even layer. Sprinkle with chocolate chips, if using.

Use a damp paper towel to wipe the edges of the baking dish clean. Carefully transfer the dish to the oven and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the batter comes out mostly clean, 28 to 33 minutes. (Instead of looking like you dipped the toothpick in chocolate frosting, it should look like it has some chocolate cake crumbs clinging to it.)

Remove from the oven, let cool, then cut the cake into squares. If you’re feeling fancy, this tastes good (and looks pretty) with some confectioners’ sugar dusted on top.

With homemade chocolate wafer cookies and a maple-laced butterscotch whipped cream, this recipe takes icebox cake to a more sophisticated level without sacrificing any of its lusciousness. You can build the cookies and cream into any shape you like — a round, a rectangle or a heart, which is what we do here. If you have cookies and cream left over, you can sandwich them together, whoopee-pie style. The wafers can be made up to a week ahead of when you’d like to assemble the cake. Store them airtight and try not to eat them all before you make the rest of the cake.

Chocolate-Butterscotch Icebox Cake

unsalted butter,

30 milliliters milk

baking powder

kosher salt

unsweetened cocoa, preferably Dutch-process

firmly packed dark brown sugar

maple syrup

heavy cream

bourbon

28 semisweet chocolate,

coconut oil,

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add egg yolk, milk and vanilla extract; mix until smooth. Whisk together baking powder, salt, flour and cocoa, then add to mixer bowl and mix until combined. Roll into a 10-inch-long log, wrap in plastic wrap or parchment paper and chill for at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Slice dough into 1/8-inch rounds and place on parchment-lined baking sheets. You should have about 48 cookies.  Bake for about 12 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through. Remove from oven and let cool.

Make the chocolate wafers:

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine brown sugar, maple syrup, butter and salt. Stir continuously until mixture is combined and sugar is dissolved. Continue cooking without stirring until mixture bubbles, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in 1/2 cup cream, then stir in bourbon. Let butterscotch cool completely.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine remaining 3 cups cold cream and the butterscotch. Whisk until stiff peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes.

Make the maple-butterscotch cream:

Divide wafers into six batches, about eight cookies per batch. On a serving platter, arrange one batch of cookies into a heart shape, breaking into pieces to fill in gaps if necessary. Top wafers with about 11/4 cups butterscotch cream, smoothing into a heart shape with an offset spatula. Repeat layers until cookies and cream are finished, ending with a layer of cream. (There may be extra cookies and cream; build the cake higher if you like.) Cover with plastic wrap and chill cake in the refrigerator until cold, at least 1 hour, before decorating the top.

Assemble the cake:

Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Stir in coconut oil. Let chocolate cool until lukewarm but still fluid. Drizzle over cold cake. Return cake to the refrigerator and let sit overnight or up to 2 days before serving.

Decorate the cake:

Making chocolate milk from scratch is fast, easy and delivers a deep chocolate flavor. The base syrup here doubles down on chocolate, combining unsweetened cocoa powder with chocolate containing 100 percent cacao. Their bitter edge balance the sweetness nicely. The syrup is also quite versatile: Feel free to use it in coffee, cocktails and even soda water if that's your thing.

Chocolate Milk

sugar

cocoa powder,

unsweetened chocolate, chopped (1 ounce)

cold milk, or unsweetened dairy-free alternative (see note)

Combine sugar, salt and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking to dissolve the sugar and salt, then add the cocoa powder while whisking. Whisk until smooth. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate. Whisk until melted, then whisk in the vanilla. Transfer to a jar and refrigerate until room temperature. If you’re in a rush, you can transfer the syrup to a heatproof bowl set in a larger bowl filled with ice and water. Stir until room temperature.

Stir or whisk 2 tablespoons syrup into 1 cup whole milk. Add more syrup to taste. Repeat with remaining cups.

Top 4 unsweetened cocoa recipes from across the web

The most viewed unsweetened cocoa recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine

Top Tags

Flourless Cocoa Cookies

Made-in-the-Pan Chocolate Cake

Chocolate-Butterscotch Icebox Cake

Chocolate Milk

Top 4 unsweetened cocoa recipes from across the web

The most viewed unsweetened cocoa recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Flourless Cocoa Cookies

Made-in-the-Pan Chocolate Cake

Chocolate-Butterscotch Icebox Cake

Chocolate Milk

The most viewed unsweetened cocoa recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine