BA’s Best: Salty Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Here we are – the first BA recipe to step up to the plate. And what better recipe to lead such a triumphant brigade than the beloved and cherished chocolate chip cookie? Or in this case, chocolate chip cookie’s smart-mouthed, more attractive cousin: the salty chocolate chunk cookie. Plus it seems only fitting that the first recipe to be featured on a blog written by a salt fanatic such as myself should have the word “salty” in its actual title.
These cookies contrast nicely with my longtime-favourite chocolate chunk cookie recipe, providing a distinct difference in texture that will surely be appreciated by those who prefer a crispier, almost crackly, cookie with a soft gooiness that is confined to only the very centre.
I have nearly no tweaks to add, as part of this exercise is to trust that the BA recipe does indeed contain all of the elements required to consider itself a “best” recipe within its category. Really my only change involves refrigerating the dough before baking, which may not even be necessary, depending on the ambient temperature of your environment. I made these cookies on a particularly warm day (Remember? That one we had that got everyone all jazzed up before it then rained again for the rest of the April?), which likely affected the butter temperature and made for a stickier, softer dough than I wanted to be working with. If you find that you can immediately scoop and round your cookies without too much bother, you can probably go ahead and stick to the original instructions. Being that these cookies seem to bake out a bit thinner and crispier anyway, my gut instinct is to refrigerate the dough regardless to avoid over-spreading.
BA’s Best: Salty Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Taken directly from "BA’s Best" arsenal, with just the smallest of tweaks
Makes about 2 dozen cookies
Ingredients:
1 ½ cups AP flour (measured correctly)
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp baking soda
1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
½ cup white sugar
¼ cup icing sugar
2 large egg yolks
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
8 oz (about 1 ½ cups) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
Flaky salt, like Maldon
Directions:
Place racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat to 375 degrees F. Whisk flour, baking powder, kosher salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl; set aside.
Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter, brown sugar, sugar, and powdered sugar until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Add egg yolks, egg, and vanilla. Beat, occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl, until mixture is pale and fluffy, 4-5 minutes. Reduce mixer speed to low; slowly add dry ingredients, mixing just to blend. Using a spatula, fold in chocolate. This was the point where I decided to refrigerate the dough for 30-45 minutes, just to let it firm up a bit as it was slightly stickier than I thought was acceptable for oven-readiness.
Once the dough is a bit easier to work with, spoon rounded tablespoon-fuls of cookie dough onto 2 parchment paper-lined baking sheets, spacing 1-inch apart. Sprinkle cookies with sea salt.
Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until just golden brown around the edges, 10-12 minutes. Check after 10 minutes and peek at the underside of a cookie to ensure that the bottoms are golden but not dark. The cookies firm up as they cool, so it’s okay to take them out when the centres still have some give. Let cool slightly on baking sheets, then transfer to wire racks, and let cool completely.
