Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies
When I heard that today was the first official snow day of 2014, I decided that it should also be the first SnowBakeDay of the new year. Fortunately, I had just enough supplies on hand to make a batch of Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies. These should probably be called “Kim E’s Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies,” because I first developed this recipe for a former co-worker of mine, as chocolate chip cookies are his favorites. He loves the taste of the deep dark chocolate combined with the crisp, toffee-flavored edges and that pop that the sea salt gives to the cookies, as it dances on the tongue, highlighting even more of the richness of the chocolate along with the soft, buttery interior.
Chopped Chocolate
They were well-received when I brought them to an appointment I had this afternoon at the International Culinary Center. The staff had trudged in through the snow and the frigid temperatures to get things up and running for the students. It was a bit of a risk to serve them to folks who work at a culinary school, but as I wasn’t a pastry grad, I thought I could take that chance! These are a wonderful treat to make anytime, not just on snow days, so they are a great addition to your catalogue of cookie recipes.
Ingredients
Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies
Prep time: about an hour, including baking time
Serving size: yields 3 dozen cookies
Ingredients:
1/2 c. (1 stick) Unsalted Butter (I used Kerrygold), softened
1/4 c., plus 1 Tbsp. White Sugar
1/4 c., plus 1 Tbsp. Light Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp. Dark Brown Sugar
1 Large Egg
1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 c. All-purpose Flour
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 tsp. Kosher Salt
1.5 oz. 70% Cocoa Solids Chocolate Bar, chopped
Sea Salt (like Maldon) for finishing
Assembly:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine butter and sugars in mixing bowl until smooth. I am very low-tech about making cookies, preferring to mix everything by hand, using a wooden spoon. Then, mix in one egg and the vanilla extract and stir until the batter is light and fluffy.
Wet ingredients mixed together
Mix together the all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and stir to combine them thoroughly. Stir in the chocolate chunks.
Wet and dry ingredients mixed with chocolate chunks
Place a sheet of parchment paper on a baking tray. Scoop teaspoonfuls of cookie dough onto the baking sheet. I actually purchased a small ice cream scoop to try to keep the amount of dough I was baking per cookie consistent. When I made the Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies with Peppermint and White Chocolate Drizzle for the NYC food bloggers holiday cookie swap, I found that it helped me to create fairly uniformly-sized cookies.
Scooping out cookie dough
Then, sprinkle the sea salt on top of the cookies, after they are on the tray. I actually crumble the sea salt a bit, so that there aren’t large chunks of salt on the finished cookies. Bake them for 5 minutes, turn the tray around and bake them for 5 minutes more, until they are, as we would say in the prep kitchen, “GBD” (Golden Brown and Delicious). Remove them from the baking sheet to a cooling rack. Try to keep from eating too many of these, as you decide with whom you are going to share them.
Cooling cookies (spatula courtesy Kim E & Rich)
Buon appetito!
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