Chocolate? Yes, please! When I heard the name of this famous cookie, I knew I had to give it a go. So, I will take you along on my little adventure to create these amazing, melt in your mouth cookies.

Background:

These were originally created by French pastry chef Pierre Herme for his Korova restaurant in Paris. This version of a French shortbread cookie, or chocolate sable, was inspired by the American Chocolate Chip cookie with its addition of dark chocolate chips and brown sugar for a chewier texture. Dorie Greenspan originally published it in 2002 in Paris Sweets. She republished it in Baking From My Home to Yours(2006). But this time, it was renamed World Peace Cookie. The story behind that is that her neighbor was convinced that if everyone in the world could have them, it would ensure planetary peace. Doesn’t everyone need to be comforted by chocolate?

The Prep:

*(If you have a scale, measure for more accuracy where measurements are listed in parentheses.)*

Fluff the flour with a whisk. Then, spoon and level it in the measuring cups.

Place flour, cocoa and baking soda in a small bowl. Sift into another bowl and set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk the sugars together to help remove any lumps that may be in the light brown sugar.

The Mix:

Place one STICK plus 3 T of unsalted room temperature butter into the mixing bowl of a stand-up mixer. Add in the sugars and combine at medium speed for about 3 minutes, scraping once.

Add in the vanilla and fine sea salt and blend in briefly, scraping once.

On LOW speed, start adding flour. Scrape sides if flour remains to help incorporate it. When a curd-like dough forms, add in the chopped dark chocolate chips. Mix briefly on LOW until chips are evenly distributed throughout the dough. It should start pulling away from the sides 0f the bowl.

Break into 2 equal clumps. Weigh if possible. (Mine were about 335 g each.)

The Roll:

Roll each into a 1-1/2″ diameter roll. Length really doesn’t matter. Make sure it’s solid; compress any “weak” areas, before chilling and re-roll as necessary. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the fridge 3 hours or freezer for 2 hours before slicing.

The Bake:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees before starting to slice the roll.

Remove one roll at a time and slice into 1/2″ rounds.( I mark the roll at 1/2″ intervals before beginning to slice them.) Place 2″ apart on rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper. I put 12 onto a rimmed half-sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Place any unused portion in fridge until the next pan is ready to put in the oven.

*ALWAYS place cut dough on a cool pan.

Bake for 12 minutes, no longer. Place pan on cooling rack and DO NOT remove the cookies or they will break apart. (Yeah, I did that once…I was anxious to take a bite. ) Let them rest for a few minutes. They’ll firm up and still be warm. It will be worth the wait, I promise. Then, remove them from the pan to the rack to finish cooling.

As Dorie did with her neighbor, share a couple of these with yours. Chocolate may not solve the world’s problems, but a bite of these may soothe your worries temporarily and distract your soul. Peace be with you.