Dark Chocolate-Almond Cookies

I finally made these cookies. I have had Bakewise for a long time, and I finally made the chocolate chip cookies.
I made them in this:

My new baby. Isn't she gorgeous?
Of course, before she went in we had to do this:

because this awful and barely functional thing was in the way, circa 1977:

Along with its mate, a wall-mounted Magic Chef oven and broiler, also from 1977, that would consistently burn the outside edges of every cookie while leaving center ones pale and underdone, no matter how many times I turned the trays. You wouldn't believe some of the misshaped loaves of bread I pulled out of that thing--and it didn't even go up to 500 for decent pizza. It's still installed, though unplugged, and the rest of the remodel will take place in March. Point is, I got my new convection oven in, and I'm very happy. Of course, having it gives me motivation to bake, but not much more time, since I still have this to take care of:

which is actually great-- look at that face.

I changed the recipe just a little from the original, using purchased nut meal to save a step and some time, but next time I might toast and grind them myself, to see if there's much flavor difference. I also swapped almond meal for pecans, and didn't add more nuts (though I would have liked to, they were going to work with the husband and you can never can tell about nuts.) I used my favorite chocolate chips in the world, Ghirardelli 60% dark chocolate. They are bigger than tollhouse, creamier, and just taste so good. One more thing--I have made a lot of Shirley's recipes, and she has "an extreme sweet tooth" as she puts it. I reduced sugar by 1/4 cup, because I hate cookies that are too sweet.
These are incredibly tender cookies. Replacing some of the flour with nut meal not only adds a wonderful flavor that you can sneak by the nut-haters, but it inhibits some of the gluten from forming and leaves you with a fantastic texture. Of all the tinkering I've done with my own recipe, I'm just mad I didn't think to do this sooner.

Dark Chocolate-Almond Cookies

150g (1 1/2 cups) almond meal
285g (2 1/4 cups) all-purpose flour
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp baking soda
pinch cinnamon
2 sticks (8oz) butter, softened to about 65 degrees
250g (1 1/4 cups) white sugar
1 tbsp molasses
1 tbsp vanilla
2 eggs, room temp
12 oz (2 cups) 60% dark chocolate chips

In a medium bowl mix flour, nut meal, salt, soda, and cinnamon well.
In a large mixer bowl, cream together the sugar and butter til very light and creamy, about 4-5 minutes. Add molasses, then eggs, and vanilla, scraping well. Turn speed to low and add dry mixture in about 3 additions, beating til just blended. Remove from mixer and beat in chocolate chips.
Cover and chill dough for 30 minutes, or up to 2 days. (Can also portion into cookies, freeze on a tray, and pack into a ziploc for future baking at this point.)
Preheat oven to 350.
Line tray with parchment or silicone, and arrange 2 inches apart, 12 to a sheet. Bake for 9-12 minutes, until just colored. You wat them to look just slightly underdone--they will stay nice and soft that way. Leave on hot tray at least 5-10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool.
Makes about 3-4 dozen, depending on size.

This has become my new favorite cookie recipe....at least until my uncle can find it in his heart to share his.