Yes, I know that people can't get enough of the fancy sea salts these days. I think people's taste buds are evolving. We tend to gear towards the exotic but that's a good thing. It means that we always want to explore and try new things. I can image how different kitchen essentials are from 10 years before. I like the modern kitchen pantry. It will be filled with ingredients and pantry essentials from all over the world. 20 years ago, I will raise my eyebrow when I see a sea salt topped chocolate chip cookie but now, I'm very excited by it.Let me tell you about my very first chocolate chip cookie experience. When I was younger, my aunt would always put a bright blue packet of Chips Ahoy chocolate chip cookies into my lunch box. I always felt like it was a good school day. As the weekend rolls by, a big bag of Chips Ahoy was part of the grocery list. My cousins and I would sneakily open one bag up and yeah, after a few hours, that very same bag would be empty. A few years after that, once I learned how to bake, I used to make chocolate chip cookies from a certain Mrs. Fields cookbook. I used to be a fan of Mrs. Fields's treats. That cookbook taught me to make banana bread, double chocolate chip cookies and these awesome marshmallow filled craters. But I have to say, the very disappointing recipe was the chocolate chip cookies. I'm never a fan of the cake-y, chewy cookies. I'm a crispy cookie girl. I felt sad then because I thought that no matter how hard I try, I'll never ever make crispy chocolate chip cookies. I WAS WRONG.
A few years ago, I started watching Good Eats and I have to say, I'm quite a fan of the show. I think every single recipe that I made there did not disappoint. It was perfect every time. The best recipe that I got from the show though was Alton Browns #10 Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, also known as The Thin Cookie Recipe. After this recipe, I never followed another chocolate chip cookie recipe - not until today.
I recently became a fan of Joy The Baker's blog and recipes. One very particular recipe made me a follower - her Browned Butter Blueberry Muffins. After that, I think I have looked through all of her recipes and have convinced myself that I should get her cookbook - Homemade Decadence. Note that I'm a Dorie Greenspan fan and I believe that she's the goodness of all things sweet and baked so buying a sweets cookbook from another author is well, a first for me.
Joy Wilson's book has an entire section dedicated to cookies - which all sweets cookbook should rightfully have. With that, I decided to try one of the "basic" recipes - chocolate chip cookies. Her version though is a dark chocolate, pistachio and smoked sea salt cookies. Joy said not to skip the smoked sea salt. which led me to go hunting for smoked sea salt yesterday! What attracted me right away was how short the list of ingredients and steps were. Being a sort-of experienced baker, I can easily follow the steps after reading through it twice.The end result was a really perfect chocolate chip cookie - thin and crisp on the outside and still chewy in the middle. I changed the recipe from pistachios to walnuts of course but I followed the exact recipe otherwise. The smoky sea salt added an interesting touch to the cookies. There was that element of surprise when you bite into a salty morsel. It will be a shock if you're not ready for it but I have to agree with Joy that it's an indulgent chocolate chip cookie reserved for "those days", or maybe everyday....
Walnut and Smoked Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from Joy the Baker - Homemade Decadence - Dark Chocolate, Pistachio and Smoked Sea Salt Cookies
Makes around 24 cookiesIngredients:
125g unsalted butter - at room temperature
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 egg - at room temperature
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 salt
1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips
1 cup walnuts chopped
Let's do this:
Preheat your oven to 170C or 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a small bowl, mix all the dry ingredients - flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a medium sized bowl, beat the butter and sugars using a hand held mixer on medium speed for 3 minutes until fluffy. Add the egg and beat for 1 minute. Add the vanilla extract and beat for 30 seconds.
Add the flour in 2 batches on low speed, making sure that the flour disappeared into the batter before the next addition. Switch to a spatula and fold in the chocolate chips and walnuts until combined.
Scoop the dough onto the baking sheet - I used 2 spoons to do this. I like my chocolate chip cookies medium sized than large, which is about a tablespoon of the cookie dough. If you have only 1 baking sheet, like I do, wait until the sheet is cool enough before scooping the next batch of dough onto the sheet and baking. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Mine took 10 minutes to reach golden brown and delicious. Store in an airtight container. Usually keeps for 5-7 days.
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