These chewy, fudgy Quick Chocolate Cookies have the fabulous glossy shine you get from egg whites—and yet they have no eggs at all. No eggs to beat, and as a bonus, no fat or sugar to cream. Behold a shockingly short ingredient list. So yes, these cookies live up to their name.
What’s the trick? One miraculous ingredient: sweetened condensed milk. The same creamy secret to our Caramel Custard Flan and Better-Than-Bailey’s Irish Cream can also double as an egg substitute. Its thickness creates body, and its caramelization punches up flavor as only that marvelous Maillard reaction can do.
Okay, if there are no eggs, no butter or oil, no added sugar, no flour, no baking powder, and no baking soda, what makes them cookies? Chopped nuts (as you might expect) and (surprise!) bread crumbs.
Who ever heard of bread crumbs in a cookie? But they create a nice chew. We use homemade toasted crumbs from leftover bread, but panko crumbs might work better, with their larger, airier structure. If you want a chocolate-oatmeal cookie, throw in quick oats.
A Sunset cookbook inspiration
These cookies leaped off the page of a classic cookbook published by Sunset Magazine. Sunset started in 1898 as a promotional magazine for the Southern Pacific Railroad, luring tourists to booming California with images of comfort, natural beauty, and trend-setting style. It busted the old clichés of the “Wild West.” Sunset continues to celebrate Pacific Coast food and lifestyle.
Lyn Hasselfeld (aka Granny Grace of “Granny Grace’s Garden” nursery in Walnut Creek, California) knows we like vintage recipes. So she loaned us her first edition of the Sunset Cook Book of Favorite Recipes, which has inspired her family’s cooks since it was published in 1949.
The cookbook’s introduction says we’ll “notice the emphasis on informality, with a profusion of dishes quickly and easily prepared.” Well, that sure applies to this one.
Quick Chocolate Cookies
Adapted from the Sunset Cook Book of Favorite Recipes, first edition, May 1949
- 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate (4 one-half ounce squares)
- 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 cup coarse, toasted bread crumbs or quick oats
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- Dash of salt
Makes 2 dozen
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Heat chocolate in microwave in 30-second zaps until just melted, about a minute and a half. (Or, melt over a double boiler.) Remove from heat, add sweetened condensed milk, and blend well. Stir in remaining ingredients.
- Drop from a teaspoon (or a small ice cream scoop) at least an inch apart onto greased baking or parchment-lined baking sheets. They will spread and look wet, but have faith, they will rise a bit during baking.
- Bake at 350° for about 15 minutes. Remove with a spatula at once to a cooling rack. Cookies may be too chewy out of the oven, so allow them to sit for a while before serving. They actually taste better after a day or two.
