Chocolate chunk cookies
SO, so good! Gooey, yet crunchy, with lots of chocolate and a touch of sea salt. My “nightmare” cookies. I think I made them at least seven times to get what I wanted. Every time they were, as others said, perfect, but for me – there was still a way to go. Once they were too “cookie like” looking like mountains; another time they just spread out in the pan like melting snow (but still tasty). There were lots of times, but finally – I took them out and voila, they were perfect. And they still are. And yes, I like to use not only dark chocolate, but also dark with almond or hazelnut pieces (just love the texture when you eat cookies) and a mix of white and milk chocolate.
Ingredients
250 g butter, room temp
1 vanilla bean, seeds only
170 g Demerara sugar
130 g white sugar
2 medium eggs
300 g wheat flour
50 g almond flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
zest of 1 bio orange, finely grated
7 cardamom pods, seeds crushed
½ tsp flaky sea salt
200 g dark 70% chocolate with almonds or hazelnuts, roughly chopped
200 g mix of milk, 90% chocolate and white chocolate pieces
Prepare
Prepare the cookies. In a bowl, put the butter, vanilla seeds, and mix with the paddle attachment or whisk for 1‒2 minutes until the mixture is light and airy. Add both sugars and whip another 2 minutes until the sugar is fully incorporated and the mass is light. Then, while the mixer is running, add one egg at a time until thoroughly mixed.
In a separate bowl, combine both flours, baking powder, soda, orange zest, cardamom and salt. Start up the mixer on slow speed and add the flour to the butter mixture. When it is thoroughly mixed, add the chocolate and mix with a spoon or spatula. Cover the bowl with cling film and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours, but 12 - 24 hours is better.
Heat the oven to 190°. Line a pan with parchment paper. Remove the cookie dough from the fridge and with an ice cream ball scoop, make balls of dough and place on the pan – very far apart. Place the pan in the oven on the up and down setting. After 8 minutes, open the door, take the pan and bang it once (the famous www.thevanillablog.com technique) in the oven. You can also take the pan out of the oven, and bang it on the table (put some tea towel underneath). Do it 2 more times, repeating after 1-2 minutes.
Total baking time is for about 10-12 minutes until the edges are golden, but the middle is still light in colour and appears not fully cooked. Remove from the oven, cool on the pan for 7-10 minutes, and then transfer to a cooling rack. Continue baking all the cookies (about 20) and cool.
Recipe and pictures: Signe Meirane
Camera: Sony Alpha 7s
