Dark Chocolate Cabernet Cookies
These Dark Chocolate Cabernet Cookies feature a deep, chocolate flavor with a noticeable hint of red wine.
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So just the other day, my wife and I were talking about how well dark chocolate pairs with red wine. And then I got to thinking…what if I made a cookie that included dark chocolate and red wine? Red wine in a cookie? Is that even possible? Well, the answer is absolutely! And the result was an amazing cookie with a wonderful chocolate flavor and a hint of red wine. (I used a Cabernet Sauvignon, but you could use almost any red wine that you happen to have open. And if you don’t have any red wine open, then go open a bottle!) With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, these cookies are certainly a fun option. After all, they combine chocolate and wine into one delicious bite!
When I went into the kitchen to make these cookies, I’ll be honest that I had no clue whether this idea would even work. In fact, I gave myself about a 1 in 2 chance. I started with my basic chocolate cookie recipe and went from there. I knew the dark chocolate chips wouldn’t create a problem…but what about adding 1/2 cup of liquid to a cookie recipe? Cookie dough usually doesn’t call for much liquid, so I decided to increase the flour slightly. I figured the additional flour along with the cocoa powder would help absorb the additional liquid. Hmm, that sort-of worked. The finished dough looked like cookie dough…but it was incredibly sticky. I reduced my chances of success to 1 in 3.
I actually had two pans of cookies made and ready for the oven when I pulled an audible and put it all back in the bowl. The dough needed more flour. After the extra flour, it was still a very sticky dough, but I decided to go with it. Chances of success remained at 1 in 3 at this point. Once baked, these cookies looked amazing! They held their shape well and puffed up beautifully, and their texture was almost brownie-like. Chances of success up to 1 in 2 now. The only remaining question was how would they taste?
I’m happy to report that after tasting the cookies, the success rate went up to 1 in 1! These Dark Chocolate Cabernet Cookies started with a noticeable hint of red wine before the dark chocolate kicked in. And I didn’t find the dark chocolate to be overwhelming. (I used dark chocolate baking chips but regular cocoa powder.) I will warn you that the cookie dough is sticky…so sticky that you might think you did something wrong. It’ll be like trying to form balls of dough with a brownie batter. Just go with it. The result is well worth it!
Did you make these Dark Chocolate Cabernet Cookies at home? Leave a comment, or snap a photo and tag me on Instagram (@Spicedblog) – I’d love to see your version!
Dark Chocolate Cabernet Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup Cabernet Sauvignon wine
- 3½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 1½ cups dark chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Using a countertop mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla and red wine. Add the liquid mixture to the mixing bowl.
- In a medium bowl, sift together the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda, and cornstarch) and add to bowl in 2 additions. Mix on low after each addition until combined.
- Add the chocolate chips and mix on low until all ingredients are well combined.
- Roll about 2 Tbsp of dough into a ball and place up to 8 cookies on a parchment-lined sheet pan. (Note: This dough is very sticky! Refrigerating the dough for about 30 minutes before forming the cookies will make it a little easier to handle.)
- Using the heel of your hand, press each ball of dough down slightly. Bake at 375°F for 11-13 minutes or until edges of cookies begin to crack slightly. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack.
What a great idea! I’ve been playing around with a cake made with wine, but I’d never considered cookies. Quinn is a wine geek, so I’m sure he’ll have me making these before long. 🙂
Thanks, Jennifer! These came about kinda randomly…and I’m a bit surprised they worked. But they were a fun project in the end. I can’t wait to see what your version looks like!! 🙂
I’m loving your predictions throughout the experiment. Whenever I do a completely from on scratch recipe I always predict this and that. When my prediction is low I do one test cookie. I then hover around the oven for the 9-10 minutes while it bakes… because I’m sure my hovering is increasing my chane of success.
Haha…thanks, Laura! I had a blast making these cookies. But I was definitely worried they would be a complete failure. Like I said, I was about to put these in the oven when I decided they needed to go back to the mixing bowl! Not sure what would have happened with the first batch, but I know the second one turned out quite well…so I’m happy with it. 🙂 (And yes, hovering and staring definitely increases the chances of success when baking!)
I’m going to try these tonight! I have both cornstarch and arrowroot, which I know at times is a nice substitute for cornstarch. Do you think arrowroot would work as a substitute in these?
Hey Sarah! I’ve never tried using arrowroot in place of the cornstarch in this recipe. Since there is only 1 tsp of cornstarch, I would think it would be an acceptable substitute. With cornstarch, I know these cookies “puff up” (that’s a technical term) and remind me of a cake cookie. If you do use arrowroot, let me know how it turns out! And don’t forget the dough will be really sticky…almost like brownie batter. But the results are SO worth the pain of making the sticky dough balls. 🙂
The arrowroot seemed to work just fine! These were delicious! Thanks for the fun recipe.
Awesome…thanks for coming back and letting me know, Sarah! And I’m glad you enjoyed the cookies. 🙂 Happy Valentine’s Day!
Oh my word!!!!! Red wine + Cookie = Heaven…..just sayin’ 🙂 This wino is pretty excited to try this delicious recipe!!! Gorgeous, Take Care, Terra
Hahaha!! But you’ll have to part with some wine to make these cookies. (That’s the hardest part for me!) Thanks, Terra! 🙂