Double Chocolate Cookies With Raspberry Icing

I made these to send to friends for birthdays. The original recipe did not have the icing or the raspberry flavor, but to be honest, when I tried one without the icing, it needed something. So I started adding. In addition to the flavor, I think it makes them much prettier. You could use other flavors, of course, depending on your taste. Kirsch would make for nice cherry flavor, but no color. Bailey's would be a nice pairing. And of course there are a myriad of non-alcoholic flavorings. I just happen to have a well-stocked bar. The texture is similar to those Crinkle Cookies that are very chocolatey and covered in powdered sugar. Don't worry if you don't know what I'm talking about, I'm sure I'll make them at some point.

Double Chocolate Cookies With Raspberry Icing

For the Cookies:

1 lb. semisweet chocolate, chopped (I used a mix of a bag of semisweet chips and some chopped Ghirardelli semisweet from a bar to help cut down the time and effort.)
2 cups all-purpose flour (Do NOT use cake flour here. It would make the dough far too sticky.)
1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa powder (Ok, so if you can't find full Dutch process cocoa, Hershey's is now making something you can use in a pinch. It is their Special Dark Cocoa and it is part regular cocoa and part Dutch process. I am nearly out of my Dutch process so I used part full Dutch process and part Special Dark.)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
10 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp instant coffee granules (These can get kind of grainy in the cookies. I suggest running them through a grinder/chopper to break them up further. It's not necessary, but I would do it in the future for my cookies.)
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp raspberry liquor

For the icing:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1-2 tsp milk (I used whole milk as I had some on hand.)
1-2 tsp raspberry liquor

1- Melt the chocolate either in a double boiler or the microwave. Set aside.
2- Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Set aside. (This step is very important as the cocoa and baking powder tend to clump.)
3- Cream together butter, white sugar and brown sugar. Beat in the eggs, instant coffee granules, vanilla and raspberry liquor. Stir in the melted chocolate. Using a spoon (as the batter will be incredibly thick and could burn out the motor in a mixer), stir in the dry ingredients. Do not overmix. Cover and let sit for 35 minutes (I put mine in the fridge and this seemed to help with the set up though it did make scooping the dough a little more difficult).
3- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper and drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto the sheet with 2" between them. Do not overcrowd your sheet.
4- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Cookies will be set but soft. Leave the cookies on the sheet for 10 minutes before transferring them to a rack or plate to finish cooling.
5- Make the icing by combining all the ingredients in a small bowl. Add more powdered sugar or liquid to reach preferred consistency (I like being able to drizzle the icing and so like it to be thinner). Spread or drizzle icing over mostly cooled cookies and let set until dry.