Ride Hard:Grow Forth with chocolate cookies!

About a year ago I helped to found a not-for-profit urban farming group called alleycat acres. During our first year we converted two vacant lots in the city of Seattle to urban farms, and harvested around 800 pounds of produce. Much of that fresh, healthy food was donated to the Beacon Hill Food Bank, the rest was enjoyed by our volunteers and neighbors of our farms. We are anxiously awaiting spring, so that we can do it all over again. As a 100% volunteer-based organization, we don't need much to operate, but we do need some money for seeds, water, and equipment. To raise money for our 2011 operating budget, we are hosting a bike ride. Each rider must raise a minimum of $60, but I challenged myself to raise $1000 (what did I get myself into???). To donate scroll to the bottom of this page, and click the donate button!
To help gain pledges from my co-workers, I've been baking cookies, and putting them out in the lunch room next to my pledge form. The Girl Scouts figured out this scheme long ago, and I'm not one to shy away from a good idea.  So far we have had a couple different types of chocolate chip, coconut macaroons, and triple chocolate. The triple chocolate is definitely my favorite.

This recipe is adapted from Ina Garten's 'Barefoot Contessa' show on the food network. Ina calls them "Kathleen King's Double Chocolate Almond Cookies". After making them the first time I tweaked the recipe just a tad, to my personal taste preference (less salt, fewer chocolate chips and almonds, and less baking time to yield a softer, more perfect cookie).

Double Chocolate Almond Cookies

Ingredients

• 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup firmly packed dark or light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3/4 cup white chocolate chips
• 1 1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup almonds, toasted and chopped

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream the butter and sugars. Add the egg and vanilla and mix together. Add the flour mixture and continue mixing until just combined.

Add the chocolates and almonds and mix until combined. Using two tablespoons or a small ice cream scoop, drop the dough two inches apart on sheet pans lined with parchment. Lightly pat down to a hockey puck shape with wet hands. Bake for 12 minutes.

Mostly cool the cookies on the cookie sheets, then transfer to a cooling rack. The cookies should be very soft when they are removed from the oven. They will firm up as they cool.