I’m guessing I’m probably the last member of the foodblogosphere to try out Pierre Hermes’s Korova cookies aka World Peace Cookies. I honestly have no idea what was holding me back, since almost every one of the admirable foodbloggers have attested to its divine indulgence. So yesterday (and today) was spent mulling over them.

Anyone familiar with the aforementioned cookies would, at first glance, realise something different from the photo I’ve posted. Any guesses? Well, they aren’t exactly the picture-perfect smooth chocolate rounds that they were meant to be. I was supposed to cut them into slices after having formed the dough into logs, but as luck were to have it, even after leaving them overnight in the fridge, the logs were still crumbly. And I’m not talking about we-can-just-piece-them-together crumbly, but as in these-look-like-grains-of-sand type of crumbly. I suspect it’s got to do with the step where I add in the flour. Maybe I didn’t mix enough, all thanks to the trepidations raised by the constant emphasis of not overworking the dough. So I just had to stick to the routine hand-shaping method as a last resort.

All that aside, taste-wise, everyone seemed to like it. Love the melted chocolate bits inside, and the overall chocolateyness. A great delight for any chocoholic, indeed! I’ll be sure to try this out again, and hopefully next time, not dishonour this brilliant recipe.

Korova cookies
(adapted from Doris Greenspan’s Paris Sweets)
1 1/4 cups plain flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
11 tablespoons unsalted butter
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel or 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped coarsely

1. Sift the flour, cocoa powder and baking soda together.
2. Beat the butter until soft and creamy. Add both sugars, the salt and vanilla extract and beat for a couple minutes more.
3. Pour in the flour, and mix just until the flour disappears in the dough.
4. Divide the dough into two, and form logs about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap the logs in plastic and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
5. Preheat oven to 325F.
6. Cut logs into slices of 1/2 inch thickness. Line the cookies on a greased sheet. Bake at 325F for 12mins.