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Made famous by Ina Pinkney, Blobbs are mounded cookies/brownies packed with pecans, walnuts, and two kinds of chocolate.

Blobbs on a blue plate.

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.

Ina Pinkney in a pink shirt.

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.”

“Over the top. Aside from the blobs being fantastic, they are so easy to make. Decadent.”

Lorena

What You’ll Need To Make Blobbs

Blobb ingredients including eggs, butter, and vanilla.
  • 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.

Bowl of melted chocolate and butter.

Set aside and cool to room temperature.

Unmixed dry ingredients in a bowl.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to combine and set aside.

Bowl of dry ingredients.

Add the eggs to the the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or a hand mixer).

Eggs in a stand mixer.

Beat on medium speed until light, creamy, and foamy, about 90 seconds.

Stand mixer of lightly whisked eggs.

Add the sugar.

Sugar in a stand mixer with eggs.

Continue whipping on medium speed until very light and creamy, about 90 seconds more. Add the vanilla and beat again quickly to combine.

Creamy egg and sugar mixture in a stand mixer.

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.

Melted chocolate in a stand mixer with a sugar mixture.

The mixture will look like brownie batter.

Brown batter in a stand mixer.

Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until incorporated, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary.

Flour in a stand mixer with a chocolate batter.

Add the chocolate chips, pecans, and walnuts and mix well.

Chocolate chips and nuts in a stand mixer with chocolate batter.

Finish by hand to be sure it’s all evenly combined, especially at the bottom.

Blobb dough in a stand mixer.

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.)

Scoops of blobb dough on a 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.

Lined baking sheet of blobbs.

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.

Blobbs on a wire rack.

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Blobbs

Made famous by Ina Pinkney, Blobbs are mounded cookies/brownies packed with pecans, walnuts, and two kinds of chocolate.

Servings: 26
Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Cook Time: 15 Minutes
Total Time: 35 Minutes, plus at least 30 minutes to chill

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

  1. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. 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.
  3. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until incorporated, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.)
  10. Position the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven, and preheat the oven to 350°F.
  11. 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.
  12. 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.
  13. 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

Powered by Edamam

  • 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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Comments

  • Hi!
    How long is the bake time if cooking from frozen?

    Thanks!
    Linda

    • — Linda on May 12, 2024
    • Reply
    • Hi Linda, they’ll take just a few extra minutes, but keep a close eye on them.

      • — Jenn on May 13, 2024
      • Reply
  • I recently baked the blobbs and they were a huge hit with our family. My daughter and her husband thought they didn’t care for nuts in cookies, that is until they tried these! I baked them in small batches several times so they were always fresh. Thank you so much, Jen, for sharing this recipe with us! It’s a definite keeper.

    • — Nancy W. on November 29, 2023
    • Reply

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