Bake this cookie!

People, bake these cookies. Today.

Armed with the knowledge of my interest in cookie-baking, my colleague Kim Ode appeared at my desk, tempting me with "something I thought you would find interesting," she said. And how.

She handed me a catalogue-sized teaser from publisher Simon & Schuster, a promotion piece for the upcoming cookbook by the inventor of the Cronut, Dominique Ansel.

It's unclear if the recipe for the nation's most talked-about pastry (a kind of doughnut-croissant smash-up) will be included in "Dominique Ansel: The Secret Recipes." While the publisher's sneak peak includes the book's table of contents, and a subhead under Chapter 3 reads "The Real Cronut Lesson," my guess is that it doesn't reveal trade secrets. After all, the Cronut portion of Ansel's bakery's website is peppered with words like "proprietary" and "registered trademark."

Not that this home baker is particularly interested. The prospect of deep-frying laminated dough in my kitchen triggers the kind of anxiety I normally associate with watching Shelley Duvall cope with Jack Nicholson in "The Shining," so I'll leave that daunting task to the professionals, and enjoy -- from afar -- the ritual where fanatics queue up for hours outside Ansel's New York City bakery for a crack at the Cronut.

No, we didn't discuss the scalpers' market that has mushroomed in the wake of such insane demand. As former New York Post gossip columnist Cindy Adams would famously say, "Only in New York, kids, only in New York."

Instead, Kim directed my attention to the flyer's last two inside pages, which feature a recipe for a flourless chocolate cookie with pecans. Cronut, schmonut; one glance and I knew that I'd be first in line to buy Ansel's book upon its October release.

Yeah: Easy. Fabulous. And chocolate. Three of the best motivators for composing a shopping list.

I don't recall the last time that a rookie whirl through a recipe went so well, with so little effort. No electric mixer required, just a whisk. Sure, you'll need a double-boiler, but a rudimentary one suffices (I used a mixing bowl and a saucepan). As for the formula, it's the drop cookie at its most fundamental.

And wow, what results. I was bowled over by the cookie's intensely chocolate-ey flavor, which starts as a heavy perfume before it gets near your taste buds. Its gooey texture comes as close to voluptuous as a cookie can get. In contrast to all that melty chocolate is the barest, faintest trace of a crispy exterior. The way it collapses in your mouth is almost meringue-like.

Ansel -- who won the James Beard Foundation's coveted Outstanding Pastry Chef award earlier this month -- wisely suggests serving the cookies warm. "A glass of milk helps," he writes.

But eating them in their not-warm state isn't exactly shabby. It's a fairly perishible cookie, lasting about two days when stored at room temperature. Not that I can imagine a batch of them hanging around that long.

"Yet somehow an ocean away, there was an entire nation that shared a genuine and unanimous love for this one triumphant product," he wrote. "No single pastry in France unites the people in the same way."

He goes on to describe his cookie-related lightbulb moment, which came from polling his American customers on their cookie habits. He concluded that everyone's favorite cookies weren't the ones that they purchased, but the ones they've baked themselves.

"For many of these people, cookies were the very first things they'd baked as children," he wrote. "These people were no longer merely tasting the flavors; they were tasting a moment in time."

Nice, right? He concludes by describing the first cookies he baked in the United States; they sound quite a bit like these flourless chocolate lovelies. Not only can the guy bake, he's also a compelling storyteller.

As for baking tips, Ansel offers a few. The dough can be refrigerated for up to three days, or frozen for up to a week. For the latter, defrost the dough in the refrigerator for a few hours before baking.

There are two reasons why this is a prepare-the-day-before recipe. Initially, the dough feels more like a batter, so much so that you'll wonder, this is going to turn into cookies? Fear not. An overnight firming-up period in the refrigerator takes care of the problem.

But there's a second textural issue, one that comes into play once the cookies come out of the oven. "It's great to make sure your ingredients are mixed well, but too much mixing overworks the dough and causes it to become tough," Ansel writes. "That's why many great recipes call for a period for the dough to rest."

I have a few suggestions. Next time I make these cookies (which will probably roll around in the next few days because, yes, they ranked that high on the Delicious-O-Meter), I'm going to toast the pecans. (Here's how: Place pecans in a dry skillet over medium heat and cook, shaking the pan often, until the nuts begin to release their fragrance, about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.)

The recipe's directions call for forming balls from roughly 3 1/2 tablespoons of dough. That's a big cookie. Even when they're completely cooled, these cookies don't hold together terribly well, and I'm guessing that reducing their heft will make them easier to handle. Which is why next time, rather than using a 3-tablespoon scoop. I'm going to reach for the 2 tablespoon scoop.

You'll need roughly 15 ounces of dark chocolate. I bought two 10-ounce bags of Ghirardelli 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate baking chips at my neighborhood Lunds, at $3.99 per bag. I'll use the remaining five ounces for the next batch. But I'll probably test-drive the bittersweet chocolate chips that are sold in the bulk section at Seward Co-op.

FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE PECAN COOKIES

Makes about 16 to 20 cookies.

Note: This recipe must be prepared in advance. From pastry chef Dominique Ansel, a preview from his upcoming cookbook, "Dominique Ansel: The Secret Recipes" (Simon & Schuster).

2 c. dark chocolate chips (over 60 percent cocoa content), divided

3 tbsp. unsalted butter

3 tbsp. corn starch

3/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. kosher salt

3 eggs

4 tbsp. pecans, roughly chopped

Fill a saucepan with about 2 inches of water over medium heat and let it come to a simmer. Place a stainless steel bowl on top of the simmering water (making sure that the bottom of the bowl does not come in contact with the water) and add 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips. Stir slowly with a spatula to ensure that chocolate chips are completely melted before turning off heat.

In a separate microwave-proof bowl, melt butter in microwave oven. Stir melted butter into melted chocolate. Keep mixture warm over double boiler with heat turned off.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together sugar, corn starch, baking powder and salt.

Add eggs and whisk until fully incorpoated and batter resembles the consistency of pancake batter, making sure you incorporate any dry ingredients that may have settled on the bottom or side of bowl, using a spatula or scraper if necessary.

Slowly whisk in melted chocolate and butter mixture (if chocolate-butter mixture cools and begins to solidify, gently reheat it over the double boiler before incorporating).

Cover batter tightly with plastic wrap, pressing wrap to cover surface of batter. Refrigerate overnight.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Using your hands or a scoop, break dough into pieces roughly the size of your palm (about 3 1/2 tablespoons). Roll dough into balls. Place balls at least 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Using the palm of your hand, gently press the tops of the dough, forming it into a thick disk.