Today's recipe is a riff on one of my favorite cookie recipes ever: Alison Roman's salted butter chocolate chunk shortbread cookies. Shortbread, to me, is simply a perfect baked good -- soft yet crumbly, sweet yet salty, and oh so buttery. I set out to make the cookies recently but found myself without a few key essentials, namely the demerara sugar, plastic wrap for rolling, and chocolate chunks. So what did I do? Pulled a Ross Geller moving the couch in Friends and heckin' pivoted! I present Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Recipe here, and more information after the jump. I’ve been on the internet long enough to know that the most common gripe with food blogs is that the blogger rambles on for too long before sharing the recipe. But if you happen to enjoy rambles, there will be some below!
📖 Recipe
Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoon (2¼ sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt
- 4 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
- 4 ounces sea salt caramel chips
- Flaky sea salt for sprinkling before baking
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla on medium-high speed until super light and fluffy, 3–5 minutes.
- Scrape down sides of the bowl with a spatula, then turn mixer to low and gradually add flour and sea salt until just combined.
- Next, add chocolate chips and caramel chips, beating just enough to combine but not overworking the dough. Roughly 30 seconds!
- Using a cookie scoop or tablespoon, begin scooping 2 tablespoon sized balls of dough and rolling briefly in your hands to shape, then arranging on a baking tray. Cover with a plastic bag or plastic wrap, then chill for 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 350°. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and arrange cookie balls 1 inch apart on sheets. They don't spread much if at all in the oven! Sprinkle liberally with flaky sea salt before putting into the oven.
- Bake cookies until edges are just beginning to brown, 12–15 minutes. Remove trays from oven at 10 minute mark and use a measuring cup or something else with a bit of heft to it to lightly flatten out the cookies a smidge and continue baking for 2-5 minutes.
- Remove from oven, let cool on sheets for 5 minutes, then move to wire rack to continue cooling for 10 minutes. Store in airtight container on counter for a few days or until they're gone!
I happen to be married to a man with what is perhaps the world's biggest sweet tooth. And when he ate one of these cookies he unleashed a stream of expletives interspersed with "oh my god" and "holy crap" and stated verbatim that these are the best cookies he's ever eaten. I prodded and said that surely he must have eaten better cookies in his life but he assured me multiple times that no, in fact, that these were the best.
I'm my own biggest critic in the kitchen and have an extraordinarily hard time accepting praise so while I think these salted caramel chocolate chip cookies are out of this world delicious, I'm hesitant to lavish that level of praise on my own baking. But there you have it, folks!
Now the full title of "The Cookies" is "Salted Butter and Chocolate Chunk Shortbread, or Why Would I Make Another Chocolate Chip Cookie Ever Again?" and typically, the recipe calls for salted butter. Since I just went to the store recently for salted butter specifically for slathering on freshly baked sourdough bread, I wasn't willing to part with it for cookies. Luckily, if you add ¾ teaspoon of salt to the dough it all evens out. Sure, salted butter would provide a deeper flavor so if you've got it, flaunt it! And by flaunt it I mean use the called for amount of butter and simply ditch the additional sea salt.
But by no means should you skip the flaky sea salt. That, friends, is what makes these cookies shine. In my humble opinion, cookies should be pillowy and ever so slightly underbaked. This is a combination of both personal flavor preference and a residual (chocolate) chip on my shoulder when years and years ago, an inebriated friend spit. out. one. of. my. cookies. and exclaimed that they were too crunchy. Honestly, I know I should be over it at this point but I just can't seem to shake that memory!
Why is it we never remember the heaps of good things people say about us but are so quick to latch on to the handful of negative things? Ah, the human condition.
I hope you make and devour these delicious cookies! And if you do I would so love to hear about it.
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