There are crisp-and-thin choc chip cookies and there are soft-and-chewy ones.

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.

Mr Black Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur

Whip up an Espresso Martini and dunk a cookie.

Kahlua

A small splash over vanilla ice cream with a warm cookie crumbled on top.

Brown Brothers Prosecco NV

Sweet bubbles with the salt-flake top of the cookie.

Big Soft Choc Chip Cookies

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Prep Time 20

Cook Time 12

Total Time 10

Servings: 14 cookies

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American, Australian

Calories: 520

Ingredients Method Nutrition

Ingredients

170 g unsalted butter, softened
170 g brown sugar
80 g caster sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
260 g plain flour
0.75 tsp bicarbonate of soda
0.5 tsp fine salt
200 g dark chocolate (70%), roughly chopped
Sea salt flakes for the top

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.

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 520kcal

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Two things that go wrong

You didn’t chill the dough.

Skipping the rest is what gets you flat, greasy cookies. The chill firms the butter so cookies hold their shape, and develops flavour in the dough. Minimum 30 minutes; overnight is the proper move. Roll the balls before chilling so you can bake straight from the fridge.

You overbaked them.

Pull the trays at the moment the edges look done and the centre still looks slightly raw. The cookies finish cooking on the hot tray for another 5 minutes, that’s where the chewy centre comes from. If they look fully baked when you take them out, they’ll be hard biscuits within an hour.

Variations worth knowing

Tahini and dark chocolate

Replace 50g of the butter with tahini. Adds nutty bitterness that pairs beautifully with the dark chocolate.

Triple chocolate

Use 75% dark, milk, and white chocolate, all chopped, in equal parts. Variety in the bite.

Brown butter and miso

Brown the butter and dissolve a tablespoon of white miso paste into the dough. Sounds wrong, tastes incredible, the miso amplifies caramel notes.

Leftovers and make ahead

Cookies keep four days in an airtight tin. To freshen day-old ones, microwave for 8 seconds, they go right back to fresh-baked. Crumble stale cookies over vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce for a stupidly good sundae. Or stack two with ice cream between for a sandwich.

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Big Soft Choc Chip Cookies

Why you are cooking this tonight

Notes on method