Blobbs
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Made famous by Ina Pinkney, Blobbs are mounded cookies/brownies packed with pecans, walnuts, and two kinds of chocolate.
One of the highlights of my book tour was meeting Chicago’s “Breakfast Queen,” Ina Pinkney, a remarkable woman, restaurateur, and cookbook author. I was so enamored with Ina that as soon as I got home, I started making recipes from her cookbook and memoir, Ina’s Kitchen. Ina is probably most famous for her Blobbs, mounded cookies/brownies with pecans, walnuts, chocolate chips and two kinds of chocolate. The rich chocolate treats were so popular in her Chicago bakery, The Dessert Kitchen, The New York Times printed an article about them. After the article appeared, Ina shipped thousands of Blobbs all over the country.
My family loved them too. My son, Zach, even requested them for his birthday instead of cake, so we piled them on a platter, stuck candles in them, and called them “Birthday Blobbs.”
Table of Contents
“Over the top. Aside from the blobs being fantastic, they are so easy to make. Decadent.”
What You’ll Need To Make Blobbs
- Butter: Gets combined with the chocolate to add richness to the batter.
- Semi-Sweet Chocolate: Provides deep chocolate flavor. Use best quality such as Ghirardelli.
- Unsweetened Chocolate: Intensifies the chocolate taste. Use best quality such as Ghirardelli.
- All-Purpose Flour: Gives structure to the cookies. Measure by spooning it into the measuring cup and leveling it off to ensure accuracy.
- Baking Powder: Helps the cookies rise just slightly.
- Eggs: Provide structure and moisture.
- Sugar: Sweetens the dough and helps achieve a creamy texture when whipped with the eggs.
- Vanilla Extract: Enhances the flavor of the cookies with its aromatic richness.
- Chocolate Chips: Add additional bursts of chocolate to every bite.
- Pecans: Add crunch and a buttery flavor.
- Walnuts: Provide texture and a rich, nutty taste.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-By-Step Instructions
To begin, melt the butter and chocolate together slowly in the microwave or in a double boiler on the stovetop.
Set aside and cool to room temperature.
In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to combine and set aside.
Add the eggs to the the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or a hand mixer).
Beat on medium speed until light, creamy, and foamy, about 90 seconds.
Add the sugar.
Continue whipping on medium speed until very light and creamy, about 90 seconds more. Add the vanilla and beat again quickly to combine.
Change the whisk attachment to the paddle attachment on the mixer (if using a hand mixer, leave the beaters). Gradually add the melted chocolate mixture and mix on medium speed to combine.
The mixture will look like brownie batter.
Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until incorporated, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary.
Add the chocolate chips, pecans, and walnuts and mix well.
Finish by hand to be sure it’s all evenly combined, especially at the bottom.
Use a 2-inch ice cream scoop to scoop the batter, packing the mixture in and scraping off any excess. Place the mounds of batter onto the prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. (Leave the remaining batter at room temperature on the countertop, or scoop and chill on a separate lined baking sheet.)
Bake the chilled blobbs for 15 to 17 minutes, rotating the pans from top to bottom and front to back half through the baking time.
Let cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then use a spatula to transfer to a cooling rack. Repeat with the remaining batter, or freeze the unbaked blobbs and bake them frozen another time.
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Blobbs
Made famous by Ina Pinkney, Blobbs are mounded cookies/brownies packed with pecans, walnuts, and two kinds of chocolate.
Ingredients
- 1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter
- 8 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
- 3 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs
- 1¼ cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 12 oz chocolate chips (semi-sweet or milk chocolate both work well)
- 1¼ cups pecans, coarsely chopped (see note)
- 1 heaping cup walnuts, coarsely chopped (see note)
Instructions
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Place the butter in a medium microwave-safe bowl and heat in the microwave until melted, about 1 minute. Add the chopped chocolate and stir to combine. Heat the melted butter and chocolate in the microwave for 20-second intervals, stirring between each bout of heat, until almost melted. Stir, allowing the residual heat in the bowl to melt the chocolate completely. (Alternatively, the butter and chocolate can be melted together slowly in a double boiler on the stovetop.) Set aside and cool to room temperature.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or a hand mixer), beat the eggs on medium speed until light, creamy, and foamy, about 90 seconds.
- Add the sugar and continue whipping on medium speed until very light and creamy, about 90 seconds more. Add the vanilla and beat again quickly to combine.
- Change the whisk attachment to the paddle attachment on the mixer (if using a hand mixer, leave the beaters). Gradually add the melted chocolate mixture, mixing on medium speed to combine.
- Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until incorporated, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary.
- Add the chocolate chips and nuts and mix in on low speed. Finish by hand to be sure it's all evenly combined, especially at the bottom.
- Use a 2-inch ice cream scoop to scoop the batter, packing the mixture in and scraping off any excess. Place the mounds of batter onto the prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. (Leave the remaining batter at room temperature on the countertop or scoop and chill on a separate lined baking sheet.)
- Position the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven, and preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Bake the chilled blobbs for 15 to 17 minutes, rotating the pans from top to bottom and front to back half through the baking time. Let cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then use a spatula to transfer to a cooling rack. Repeat with the remaining batter, or freeze the unbaked blobbs and bake them frozen another time.
- Note: Since one of my kids does not like nuts, I experimented with a few nut-free versions and found that you can leave the nuts out, but it's best to replace them with something else, like more chocolate chips or peanut butter chips. Since blobbs are made with very little flour, the uncooked mixture is more like brownie batter than cookie dough and you need all those add-ins to thicken the batter, otherwise the blobbs won't hold their mounded shape in the oven.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: These can be frozen after they are baked, but for best results, freeze them raw and bake them straight from the freezer. The blobbs keep well for a few days in a covered container at room temperature.
Nutrition Information
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- Serving size: 1 blobb
- Calories: 288
- Fat: 19 g
- Saturated fat: 8 g
- Carbohydrates: 30 g
- Sugar: 24 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 4 g
- Sodium: 49 mg
- Cholesterol: 33 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Made these this afternoon for Valentines day but like others mine turned out more like a cookie.
I really wanted them to look like in the picture and even went out and made sure I had fresh nuts etc and good chocolate. I don’t usually measure and put things together before I start but I did and followed the recipe to a T.
Upon reviewing the recipe the only thing that was not the same was the fact that I used a smaller cookie scoop instead of the ice cream scoop. 1″ instead of 2″ …didn’t think that would make a difference but it seems it did.
They still tasted excellent though and because I saw they were flattening when I turned the pans I kept an eye on them to make sure they didn’t burn.
I’ll try these again using the bigger scoop. I share your web site with lots of friends and have even bought your cook book for myself and friends.
A suggestion for when you reprint your cookbook. They should make the page numbers darker and larger. Just a suggestion.
Hi Carol, I’m sorry these came out flat for you! What brand of flour did you use? I always use King Arthur with good results. If you make these again, I’d try the larger scoop and King Arthur flour (or just add 2 extra tablespoons of whatever brand of flour you use to the mixture). You should get a fuller result. Also, thanks for the nice words about the book and for sharing it with others! (And I agree that the page numbers are too light!!)
Have you or any of your readers used a gluten free flour/product in place of all purpose flour?
Hi Betsy, I haven’t made these with gluten-free flour, but think you could get away with it. Please LMK how they turn out if you try them!
Another reviewer shared that she used Bob’s Red Mill 1 – 1 GF flour blend (my go to GF blend when I don’t have time to make my own), and she let the dough rest in fridge overnight before forming the balls and baking. She said they were “undetectable” from regular flour cookies.
What I do differently: I form the balls and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Then place the sheet(s) into the FREEZER, making sure they lie flat so that the dough balls don’t “slide” and bunch together. I let them sit in freezer for no more than 10 minutes. Bake in preheated oven as directed. Hint: I do transfer the dough balls to another tray that is room temp.
Or you can place the bowl of cookie dough in the FRIDGE, to allow to chill but I would do no more than 25 to 30 minutes. I like to work with dough that is firm but not hard.
Either way, the GF version of this recipe is sinfully good! Enjoy!
P.S. I do the same for my GF chocolate chip cookies. I do flatten them just a tad before baking, doing the same for this recipe. I’ve had lots of success making the GF version of any of Jenn’s recipes that I’ve made. The latest was the Chocolate Marble Banana Loaf. OOTW (Out Of This World)! I often make substitutions for butter, sweetener, with great results.
¡Mil gracias, Jenn!😊
These make wonderful treats encased in small colorful paper cups. Try adding a dash of red pepper and some instant espresso to taste for more zip, but these are great as is!
These are ADDICTIVE! I’ve made them without nuts for a bake sale and had people ask if I would bake and sell them as they couldn’t be without them! They are chocolatey, moist and melt in your mouth luscious. And so easy to make. My advice is to make sure you don’t over bake them. They are my go to everyone loves them cookie recipe.
These came out very tasty but they were flat. I can’t use nuts to stiffen them up due to allergies. How much more chocolate do I need to put in to make up for that? I can’t imagine putting in two more cups to replace the nuts as they’re so wonderfully chocolatey already. Could there be such a thing as too much chocolate?
Thanks
Hi Sid, What about white chocolate chips?
That sounds delicious. How much should I use?
Thank you!
I would suggest using about a cup. You could also supplement with something else. Broken up pretzels would get a good addition here too. Hope that helps!
Just had my first blob; now going for my second.
They are Blobbalicious!!!
You don’t indicate oven temperature.
Hi Zira, the blobbs should be baked at 350°F/180°C. Hope you enjoy!
Thank you
Blobbs are amazing. I used 3 Tbs as you suggested since I didn’t have a 2 inch scoop. Perfect. Re remark by Lya: substituting pecans for almonds. Since there are no almonds in the recipe , that makes no sense. Perhaps it should have been substituting almonds for pecans? Also, if baking frozen blobbs, does the baking time change? Thanks for another great recipe.
So glad you liked them, Maralie! Baking time will be a few minutes longer if frozen.
I love your site and all of your recipes. I’ve always had luck with all of them … until now. I don’t know what I did wrong. I followed the recipe and instructions to a T. They spread and came out dry and crumbly. Parts of the edges burnt 🤦🏻♀️
The batter tasted good but other than that it was a bust.
I’m sorry to hear you had a problem with these, Ashley! Did you refrigerate the batter before baking?