Why you are cooking this tonight
There are crisp-and-thin choc chip cookies and there are soft-and-chewy ones. This is the soft-and-chewy one: golden crisp edges, a fudgy almost-underbaked centre, huge chunks of dark chocolate puddled through, sea salt flakes on top. The kind of cookie that makes people stop mid-sentence.
Chilled dough is non-negotiable. At least thirty minutes in the fridge before baking – ideally overnight. The butter firms up, the flavour develops, the cookies spread evenly. Use chopped dark chocolate from a block not chips – the irregular chunks melt into fault lines.
Notes on method
Brown sugar dominated. A little more flour than you expect. Don’t overbake: pull at the moment the edges look done and the middle still looks slightly raw. Carryover heat finishes them on the tray. Sea salt flakes as soon as they come out of the oven.
What to pour with it
A glass of cold milk or a shot of cold espresso. For cocktails, an Espresso Martini after dinner.
The recipe
Ingredients
Method
- Beat butter and both sugars until pale and fluffy, 2 minutes. Add egg, yolk and vanilla; beat to combine.
- Sift in flour, bicarb and salt. Fold until just combined. Fold in chopped chocolate.
- Chill dough at least 30 minutes (overnight is better).
- Preheat oven to 180°C fan-forced. Line 2 trays with baking paper.
- Scoop heaped tablespoons of dough, roll into balls (about 50g each). Place well apart on trays - they spread.
- Bake 10-12 min until edges are golden but centres still look slightly underdone.
- Immediately sprinkle sea salt flakes on top. Cool on the tray 5 min before transferring to a rack.
- Eat warm. Keep for 4 days in an airtight container.