Sometimes you come across a recipe that’s so good you know it’s going straight in your recipe box. This is what happened the first time I made Dori Greenspan’s World Peace Cookies. It’s from her book, Dori’s Cookies. She named them World Peace Cookies because they are good enough to bring world peace. A buttery chocolate shortbread cookie that full of chopped chocolate – what’s not to love!
Dori is a big fan of chopping a bar of chocolate instead of using chocolate chips. This gives you lots of different size pieces of chocolate in the cookies instead of the standard chips. Obviously this is amazing but I just use a mix of dark and milk chocolate chips because I want to eat my chocolate bars as they are. You can use semi-sweet, dark, milk, or a combination of those to make your cookies just how you like them.
Another great thing about this recipe is that you make the dough in advance and roll it into logs that you chill or freeze. When you are ready to bake the cookies, just slice as many as you need and bake. There’s nothing like having a couple dozen cookies stashed in your freezer ready to go! I share my method and ideas for freezing cookie dough in this post.
Dori’s World Peace Cookie Recipe
- 1 1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt or 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup cocoa powder
- 10 ounces chocolate chips
Note: In these photos I made a double batch of World Peace Cookies. I baked a quarter of the dough and froze the rest. Later in the recipe I’ll give instructions for freezing the dough.
In the bowl of a stand mixer or large mixing bowl combine the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, baking soda, and salt. Beat to combine. Mix in the vanilla extract.
Measure the all-purpose flour and cocoa powder into the mixing bowl and mix just to combine. The dough will be very stiff. Be careful to not overwork your mixer. I run mine on the lowest setting just to be on the safe side.
Tip in the chocolate chips and gently mix to distribute them evenly through the dough. Here I used half dark chocolate chips and half milk chocolate chips. Again, mix on low speed so it won’t hurt your mixer.
Shape and chill the dough
Divide the dough into 2 portions and set each ball of dough on a sheet of plastic wrap. Shape into a rough log, 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter. Wrap the plastic around the dough and roll back and forth to shape the roll of cookie dough.
The plastic wrap will help shape the dough into a uniform cylinder and smooth out any inconsistencies. I make sure to flatten the end of each portion of dough so the end slices will be the same diameter as the rest of the cookies. With anything you’re baking in batches, having uniform size and thickness will ensure that they all bake evenly.
Wrap the plastic around the cylinder of dough and roll back and forth to smooth it out. Tuck the ends under and roll up to seal the dough in the plastic wrap. Now firmly roll to fill out the plastic and make sure the cylinder is an even size.
The dough needs to chill for 3 hours before baking. You can also freeze World Peace Cookie dough for several months until you’re ready to bake the cookies. If you choose to freeze the dough, let it thaw overnight in the refrigerator or for a couple hours on the countertop before slicing to bake.
Slicing your World Peace Cookies
Above you can see my World Peace Cookie dough ready to chill. Again, I made a double batch so don’t worry that you have only 2 rolls of dough. Of course, you can double the recipe and have even more chocolate shortbread goodness stashed in your freezer. On things like this it makes sense to double the recipe since it takes the same amount of effort to make more.
When you’re ready to bake, gently but firmly slice the dough into 1/2 inch thick slices. The chocolate chips will be cold and not easy to slice through but persevere. The slices of dough may crack or break but don’t worry, you can just reshape them before baking. Another thing you may notice is that the pressure of the knife can squish the dough down into more of an oval than a circle. This is easily fixed by reshaping each cookie on the baking sheet.
Baking the cookies
Place each slice of cookie dough on a parchment lined baking sheet, reshaping the circles of dough as needed. Gently press any crumbled cookie dough back into the slice and flatten if needed into an even disc. These cookies spread a bit so place them 2 to 3 inches apart.
Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes. These can be tricky to tell if they are finished baking since you can’t go by color. If the centers are set and don’t look wet, then they are done. I lightly press the center of a cookie and see if it feels firm. If it deflates or feels puffy I let the cookies bake 2 more minutes and check again.
When the cookies are fully baked, set the baking sheet on a cooling rack and let the cookies fully cool on the tray. They are very delicate when they come out of the oven and will break apart if you try to move them too soon. Above you can see that I moved them onto the rack, parchment paper and all, once they were cooled. This way you can make sure they are fully cooled and set.
Once they are cooled they can be stored in an airtight container. Extra points if you have a vintage cookie tin to store them! They will keep for a week at room temperature but I’m sure they won’t last that long!
Variations on basic World Peace Cookies
There are lots of variations you could make for these cookies. I mentioned making them with half milk chocolate chips and half dark chocolate chips. Using only one kind of chocolate chips is an option. Adding chopped pecans or walnuts would be delicious. You could add toffee chips or chopped dried cherries in place of or along with the chocolate chips. Try adding instant dried coffee to the dough along with the flour and cocoa powder. Use your imagination and make your own signature cookies!
Dori’s World Peace Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 cup butter room temperature
- 1 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp kosher salt or 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup cocoa powder
- 10 ounces chocolate chips mix of milk and dark chocolate
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, baking soda, and kosher salt on medium-low speed until smooth and fluffy.
- Add the vanilla and mix thoroughly.
- Stir in all-purpose flour and cocoa powder and mix on low speed until just combined.
- Add chocolate chips and mix on low speed to incorporate.
- Separate into two portions and roll into logs 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and chill for 3 hours. Dough can also be frozen for up to 6 months. If frozen, allow the dough to thaw before slicing and baking.
- To bake, unwrap cookie dough and slice into 1/2 inch thick slices. If the cookie is misshapen or breaks, reshape into a circle.
- Bake on a parchment lined baking sheet in a 350° oven for 12 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet.
- The cookies will be very delicate while they are hot but will firm up when they are cool.
