Salted Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Girls’ night!

Last month we had an epic girls’ night planned—the last Hunger Games movie, followed by stuffing ourselves to the gills with burgers and fries. As is our tradition, we snuck a bottle of wine into the theater, and I brought these beauties. I’m not really into the kinds of snacks that theaters sell, but a good homemade cookie will do the trick every time!

I was intrigued by Smitten Kitchen’s description of these, and in particular enjoyed her indictment of cookie recipes that insist you chill the dough overnight, because seriously, who plans their cookie cravings that far ahead?! Preach, sister.

I’ll be honest, these are a bit rich for my blood. I had one, and that was plenty (which, on second thought, is maybe a good thing…). But they are the perfect blend of sweet, rich, gooey, and a little crisp, and they got devoured by my compatriots. They are definitely going into the cookie rotation.

Heat the oven to 360°F (180°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat. I used a silicon mat and it was super easy to clean up, and I didn’t have to worry about soggy or browned bottoms.

In the large bowl of your electric mixer, cream the butter and sugars together until very light and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes.

Add the egg and vanilla, beating until they’re incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in a cup of the flour and the salt and baking soda until combined, then the rest of the flour on a low speed until just mixed. The dough will look crumbly at this point, but don’t panic.

Roughly chop up the chocolate into 1/2-inch (or slightly smaller) chunks. I’ve read that it helps to microwave the full bar for up to 10 seconds, just to soften it slightly, so I always do this to help the process go smoothly.

With a spatula, gently fold in the chocolate chunks. It’s still super crumbly and like 50% chocolate, so it’s not an easy dough to deal with—don’t panic!

Using a scoop (small, like #40), dip roughly 1 1/2 tablespoon mounds out and space them evenly on the prepared baking sheet. Yes, that’s small, but these are really rich and you don’t want them to spread out a lot. You’ll probably have to use your hands a little to make everything stick together.

Sprinkle those bad boys with some sea salt flakes.

Bake for 11 to 12 minutes, until golden on the outside but still very gooey and soft inside. Don’t expect to get a huge rise out of them, only like 50% dough—what they’ll yield is dense, gooey pockets of goodness.

Once out of the oven, let them rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Salted Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies

• 1/2 cup of unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons of turbinado sugar (aka Sugar in the Raw; adds a lovely crunch)
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of packed brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 3/4 teaspoon of baking soda
• Heaped 1/4 teaspoon (or, technically, 1/4 + 1/8 teaspoon) of fine sea or table salt
• 1 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1/2 pound of semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped roughly into 1/2-inch chunks with a serrated knife
• Flaky sea salt, for garnish

Heat the oven to 360°F (180°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat.

With your electric mixer, in a large bowl cream the butter and sugars together until very light and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla, beating until they’re incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in a cup of the flour and the salt and baking soda until combined, then the rest of the flour on a low speed until just mixed. The dough will look crumbly at this point, but don’t panic. With a spatula, gently fold in the chocolate chunks. It’s not an easy dough to deal with, because it’s like half chocolate and half dough.

Using a scoop (small, like #40) or just your hands, dip roughly 1 1/2 tablespoon mounds. Yes, small. Space them evenly apart on the prepared baking sheet and sprinkle each with a few flakes of sea salt.

Bake for 11 to 12 minutes, until golden on the outside but still very gooey and soft inside. Don’t expect to get much of a rise out of them, they’re 50% chocolate—dense, gooey pockets of goodness. Once out of the oven, let them rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Original recipe from Smitten Kitchen