Chocolate Chunk Cookies with Sea Salt

Tara O'Brady's Salted Chocolate Chunk Cookie recipe is my newest obsession. It has chunks of dark chocolate and flaky sea salt in every bite.

I have loved making chocolate chip cookies since about birth. I have many memories making them at different stages of my life. From the Nestle Tollhouse variety (that I made with my mom growing up) to the famous Neiman Marcus version (that I made for my friends in New York City), I liked to bake cookies to share with others. I just rarely made the time.

Tara recipe is one that caught my eye years ago. It seemed to follow me around for ages, begging to be made. Quarantine made it all possible. Within a day of being confined to home, I got the urge to bake. These chocolate chunk cookies were first on my list. I was drawn in by the fact that they looked beautiful and sounded easy. Both were true, but the taste is what keeps me coming back. Perhaps it is the delicious Ghirardelli Chocolate chunks, the hit of sea salt, or the chewy center with the perfect crackly top. All of these factors combine for the perfect bite.

Ingredients:

• UNSALTED BUTTER: 1 cup (225 g), chopped into pieces
• ALL PURPOSE FLOUR: 3 ¼ cups (415 g)
• BAKING POWDER: 1 ¼ teaspoons
• BAKING SODA: 1 teaspoon
• KOSHER SALT: 1 ½ teaspoons, medium-grained
• LIGHT BROWN SUGAR: 1 ½ cups (320 g), packed
• GRANULATED SUGAR: ½ cup (100 g)
• EGGS: 2
• VANILLA EXTRACT: 2 teaspoons
• SEMISWEET CHOCOLATE or BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE: 12 ounces (340 g), chopped (we used Ghirardelli Semi Sweet Baking Bar).
• FLAKY SEA SALT: for sprinkling

Today we are sharing this fantastic chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe with you. Strangely enough, there is no classic chocolate chip cookie recipe in my mother’s famous cookie archives. So I think I am on the quest to find one. Tara’s is definitely a contender.

How to make Chocolate Chunk Cookies:

1. Preheat an oven to 360°F. Line two baking sheets or sheet pans with parchment paper.
2. In a medium saucepan over the lowest heat possible, melt the butter. There should be no sizzle, crackling or pops. Let the butter ooze into liquid, without boiling, so minimal moisture is lost. Stir regularly, until the butter is almost completely melted. (This is a good time to chop the chocolate.)
3. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
4. Pour melted butter into a large bowl, and then whisk in the sugars. The mixture may look to seize, but will relax with a few seconds of stirring.
5. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking briskly after each addition, but only to combine. Stir in the vanilla.
6. Use a wooden spoon or silicone spatula to stir in the dry ingredients. Once mostly blended, fold the chocolate into the dough until the remaining flour is incorporated and the dough no longer looks dusty. Bring any stray ingredients up from the bottom of the bowl. Do not over mix.
7. Using two spoons or a #20 disher (ice cream scoop), drop 3 tablespoon-sized cookie dough balls onto prepared pans, leaving 3 inches in between. Sprinkle with sea salt, if using.
8. Bake in the hot oven until the tops are cracked and lightly golden, yet still soft at the center, 10 to 12 minutes, rotating pan halfway through cooking. Leave the cookies on the sheet pan for 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
9. Continue shaping and baking cookies with the remaining dough, making sure to use a cold sheet pan for each batch.

Expert tips:

• Cookies can be kept at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
• Use the best quality chocolate you can afford for optimum flavor.
• After the dough is mixed, it can be stored in the refrigerator for several hours (or overnight) until you are ready to bake.
• Be sure not to over bake! Tops should cracked and lightly golden, but cookies should still be soft at the center.

More great cookie recipes:

Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies
Chocolate Dipped Madeleines
Cornflake Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Cookies

Print