Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sea Salt
There are a million ways to make a chocolate chip cookie. My grandfather used to sprinkle a pinch of salt on top of each one, and it’s my favorite way to make them too. This recipe is my preferred combination of sweet and salty, chocolatey and chewy. I usually bake half of the cookie dough and freeze the other half; that way I can bake them just when I need to and serve them warm.
TIP: Using an ice-cream scoop is helpful to make the cookies uniform in size and shape. Chilling the formed cookies for 30 minutes before baking keeps them from spreading too much during baking.
Special Equipment: a large ice-cream scoop.
Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sea Salt
Ingredients:
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup lightly packed light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 12 ounces semisweet baking chocolate, roughly chopped
- Flaky sea salt, for topping the cookies
Directions:
- Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- In a stand mixer, cream the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together until the mixture looks whipped. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing on medium speed. Add the vanilla and mix for 1 minute more.
- In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, and kosher salt together. With the mixer on low speed, add a third of the dry mixture at a time to the wet ingredients. Mix until fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and mix again. Mix in the chopped chocolate with the spatula, scraping the bottom of the bowl.
- Use a large ice-cream scoop to form a heaping scoop of dough for each cookie. Place on the prepared sheet pans, making sure the scoops are well spaced. Cover the trays of unbaked cookies with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes before baking.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Remove the cookies from the refrigerator and remove the plastic wrap. Top each cookie with a generous pinch of salt flakes. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the cookies are just beginning to turn a light golden brown. Let sit on the cookie sheet for 2 to 3 minutes, then transfer cookies to a cooling rack.
Recipe first featured on Ranch To Table Season 3 Episode 9: "Twin Celebration" on the Magnolia Network.
Enjoy!
Elizabeth
Photographs by BJ Golnick and Brian Skope