My favorite food blogger, David Lebovitz, posted this recipe earlier this week. I often use sea salt in my cookie recipes to give the cookies an extra bite and complexity. I found the notion of adding flaky sea salt and salted butter to chocolate chip cookies very appealing. Give it a try. (Photo from David’s blog.)
Salted-Butter Chocolate-Chip Cookies
Makes two dozen cookies
If you don’t have salted butter, you can use unsalted butter and add another 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
4 ounces (1 stick) salted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup packed dark or light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/3 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt or kosher salt
1 1/3 cups coarsely chopped bittersweet or semisweet chocolate
1 cup toasted nuts, coarsely chopped
In the bowl of a stand mixer, or by hand, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar just until smooth and creamy. Beat in the egg and the vanilla.
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
Stir the flour mixture into the beaten butter until combined, then mix in the chopped chocolate (including any chocolate dust) and the chopped nuts. Cover and chill the batter until firm. (It’s preferable to let it rest overnight.)
To bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Form the cookie dough into rounds about the size of a large unshelled walnut. Place the mounds evenly spaced apart on the baking sheets, and press down the tops to flatten them so they are no longer domed and the dough is even. Bake the cookies for ten minutes, rotating the baking sheet midway during baking, until the cookies look about set, but are not browned. Remove from the oven and quickly tap the top of each with a spatula, then return to the oven for two to five more minutes, until the tops of the cookies are light golden brown. Remove from oven and let cookies cool.
Storage: The cookies can be stored at room temperature for up to five days in an airtight container. The dough can be refrigerated for up to one week or frozen for one or two months.