Salted Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Is there ever such a thing as too much chocolate in a chocolate chip cookie? The simple (and obvious answer) is no.
I love the buttery bite of a homemade cookie, so I admit I do like a nibble here and there that’s just cookie and has no other embellishments. It gives me a chance to take in all the vanilla essence and brown sugar.
In that moment I think wouldn’t it be great to bake a batch without the chips, but then I snap out of it realizing how totally boring that would be.
Of course there are plenty of cookies I adore that don’t need anything else folded into the batter. They deserve so much respect! Here are a few:
Peanut Butter Cookies
Brown Butter Snickerdoodles
Gingerbread Cookies
I’ve experimented with the chips in chocolate chip cookies. One of my favorite tricks is to use a combination of bittersweet and milk chocolate. When is comes to chip shape, I’ve included standard chips and those high-priced, fancy chocolate discs. Between the two, I can’t decide if I like one more than the other.
Often my chip decision is based on what I have in my pantry, so there isn’t any debate.
For this batch of salted chocolate chunk cookies, I took my serrated knife to a big hunk of chocolate and ended up with a range of sizes. I loved that no chip was exactly the same.
The cookies had everything from chocolate dust to monster hunks. There was a surprise of chocolate in each bite. I know it sounds extreme, but I thought about banishing chips from my cookies forever. The chunks were just so good.
I can’t resist anything salty and sweet, so these cookies weren’t finished until they were sprinkled with flaky sea salt while they were still hot from the oven.
Salted Chocolate Chunk Cookies
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10-12 minutes
- Total Time: 30-35 minutes
- Yield: 28 cookies 1x
Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cubed
3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1-1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate roughly chopped
Flaky sea salt
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 360 degrees F. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.
In a skillet over low heat, melt the butter, stirring occasionally. Make sure that it does not sizzle or bubble while melting.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and kosher salt. In a separate large bowl, whisk together the melted butter and both sugars. Beat in the eggs one at a time followed by the vanilla extract. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredient. When the flour mixture is almost blended in, stir in the chocolate.
Roll the dough into balls about 3 tablespoons each. (It helps to use a cookie scoop). Arrange the dough 3 inches apart on the prepared sheet pans. Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown. Sprinkle the cookies with sea salt and wait 2 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.
Notes
Adapted from Once you roll the dough into balls, you can loosely cover them and refrigerate overnight. Before baking, let them sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.
Adapted from Seven Spoons by Tara O’Brady
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