Chocolate Malted Whopper Drops (TWD)

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie (TWD) recipe was chosen by Rachel of Confessions of a Tangerine Tart: Chocolate Malted Whopper Drops. They're cocoa cookies studded with chocolate chips and chunks of chocolate covered malted milk balls.


It's funny because I grew up eating Whoppers. They were my favorite candy to snack on at the movies. Yet when I told my coworkers what was in these cookies, no one knew what I was talking about. One person even asked, "You mean like at McDonald's?" Ha! First of all, those whoppers are found at Burger King, not McDonald's. Secondly, why would I put a burger in my cookies?!



Let me just start by stating that I do not like chocolate cookies. I love cookies with chocolate chips or chocolate chunks in them, but I do not like chocolate based cookies. So I wasn't sure if I would like these.


Boy did Dorie surprise me with this one! I loved these and simply could not get enough of them! I'll be pretty surprised if I ever come across another chocolate cookie that I like as much. Some of the Whopper candies kind of melt and caramelize in the oven, so some bites are crunchy and others a bit more gooey. I was worried about the candy pieces being too big, so I quartered most of them, with some pieces being even smaller. I think the smaller pieces were the ones that caramelized. I think next time I make these (and trust me, there will be a next time!), I will just halve them.


There is actually an error of omission in this particular recipe. Dorie fails to note at what temperature to bake the cookies! I baked mine at 350F and they were done in 13 minutes, just as Dorie notes.


Thanks Rachel, for choosing this recipe. I've finally found a chocolate cookie that I not only like, but love! If you would like the recipe for these cookies, you can find it here on Rachel's blog. Make sure you visit the TWD Blog Roll to see how everyone else enjoyed this chocolately treat.

*A few additional notes about this recipe:
- I could not find malted milk powder so I used chocolate Ovaltine
- I used 7.5 ounces of whoppers instead of 6 ounces
- I used semisweet chocolate chips instead of bittersweet chocolate

*Update (9/12/08) - I just made these again and discovered the following things:
- The whoppers are not better when chopped in half - they were hard and unpleasant to bite into after being baked; if you make these, at least chop them into quarters (or smaller).
- The cookies flattened out more when I tried making larger cookies; for the best results, use a small or medium cookie scoop.
- I think the next time I make these, I will increase the whoppers to 10 ounces and decrease the chocolate chips to 1/2-3/4 cups.
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Before ending this post, I also need to take a moment to wish my dear husband Happy Anniversary! Today marks 3 years since we said 'I do' :) Here are a few photos to help commemorate the occasion.