Chewy salted dark chocolate chip cookies with chunk of melted dark chocolate, a little orange zest, and a generous topping of flaky salt. A chewy center with slightly crispy edges, this is the best chocolate chip cookie recipe to satisfy your sweet and salty cravings.
Salted Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies
This recipe for salted cookies with chunks of dark chocolate ticks all my criteria boxes for the best cookies with chewy, salty, sweet, and chocolate satisfaction. Plus a few added flavour notes I think you’ll enjoy as well.
🌿 Ingredients You'll Need
- European Style Butter is what I HIGHLY recommend for rich bakery-style flavor. European butter (also known as cultured with 82% butterfat) adds so much more depth to your cookie.
- Look for brands such as Plugra, Vermont Creamery, Kerrygold or Cabot which state 82% butterfat. If you can’t get your hands on some, it’s OK to substitute with standard unsalted butter (the texture may not be quite as tender with standard butter).
- Dark Chocolate is the bitter contrast needed for the cookie dough’s sugary sweetness. I prefer to chop quality dark chocolate bars into small chunks as it disperses little chocolate flecks throughout the dough. Dark chocolate chips also work too.
- Dark Brown Sugar creates a softer chewy texture that makes a cookie melt in your mouth. Plus, the caramel and toffee notes from the added molasses are what we came for!
- Granulated Sugar gives structure and sweetness. By using a blend of two kinds of sugar the final cookie is perfectly balanced.
- Vanilla Bean or Pure Vanilla Extract to enhance the cookie dough flavor with classic vanilla notes.
- Pure Almond Extract gives a subtle sweet nutty flavor that brings this cookie to life.
- Nutmeg blends in a warming spice that offers hints of subtle citrus.
- Orange Zest is the secret ingredient that brightens the chocolate flavor.
- Flaky Sea Salt was made for warm chocolate chip cookies. A sprinkle on each cookies makes the perfect salty and sweet taste experience.
How to Make Chocolate Chip Cookies
This recipe comes together similar to classic chocolate chip cookies, the cookie dough is made in a large bowl and then chilled before baking. The first step involves working orange zest into granulated sugar to absorb orange oils and impart a bit of citrus to the dark chocolate chunks.
While this sits for a few minutes melt your butter so it has time to cool. I'm enhancing the salt in this recipe by using salted butter, trust me its delicious.
Allow the melted salted butter or browned butter if you decided to get frisky cool while you mix together the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Next, mix together the orange sugar, brown sugar and melted butter. Add in the egg, egg yolk, vanilla and almond mixing until smooth.
From here you just have to combine the dry and wet ingredients in one large bowl with a handheld electric mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment on medium low speed.
I spoon my flour into the wet mixture until it mixes into a cookie dough. Toss in the dark chocolate chunks or chocolate for a couple spins and we're good. Pre-scoop the cookie dough into balls on a parchment paper lined baking tray and then refrigerate for at least 2 hours to enrich the dough and firm the butter.
After the dough is sufficiently cold and firmer, I re-shape the cookie dough balls slightly in my hands and then place them on the tray. Bake until the edges are golden brown and remove them from the oven to cool cookies and finish baking on the hot tray. Top the cookies with a little or a lot of flaky salt while they're still warm so the salt sticks.
Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
I am using melted salted butter in this recipe, but you can swap it for unsalted butter and the brown the butter to increase the nutty flavor. To make brown butter, start by placing unsalted butter into a small light colored small saucepan on medium heat. Its more difficult to see the butter browning in a dark pan, so I prefer to use a lighter toned saucepan.
Cook until the butter has melted and starts to foam. Stir occasionally until you start to see it turn golden brown and it begins to give off a nutty aroma.You will see little brown bits floating at the bottom of the pan.
Keep an eye on the butter to prevent over cooking and burning it. Once the butter is browned, remove the pan from the heat immediately to prevent further cooking. Cool the butter and use it in the recipe in place of the melted salted butter.
Baking Tips
Weigh Your Ingredients:
My recipes are all tested by weighing ingredient in grams to be the most accurate. By using a kitchen scale, your recipe will turn out as close to the written recipe as possible. This is the kitchen scale I use everyday.
Use High Quality Butter and Chocolate:
Mix in dark chocolate chunks from chopping a chocolate bar or high quality baking chocolate chips. You can also swap for semisweet chips.
Make the dough with rich European style butter with 82% butterfat for the best tasting cookies. Try brands like President, Plugra, Kerry Gold, or Vermont Creamery if you're in the States.
Mix the Dough Just Enough:
When adding in the flour, mix until just combined. Add in the chocolate chunks for a a couple of spins on the mixer, or fold in by hand with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula. Over mixing the dough increases gluten formation which leads to tougher cookies.
Pre-Scoop the Cookie Dough, then Chill:
Pre-scoop cookie dough balls before refrigerating using a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop for smaller cookies. Let the balls of dough chill overnight to deepen the flavors before baking. Make sure cookie dough is cold when it goes into the oven to prevent over spreading.
DO NOT OVER BAKE the cookies:
Once you seem them start to brown on the edges, take them out of the oven. A little soft in the center and firming on the edges is the sign of a perfectly baked cookie. The cookies will continue to firm as they cool.
Top with Flaky Sea Salt:
While the cookies are still warm, straight from the oven, generously sprinkle the tops with flaky sea salt.
How to Store Cookies
- Cooled baked cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 5-6 days of freshness.
- Raw dough can be made ahead and kept in the fridge for 5 days or frozen for up to 3 months. Make sure the dough is sealed in air tight freezer safe container.
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Salted Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
- parchment paper
Ingredients
- 152 grams salted European style butter*
- 205 grams all purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 100 grams granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons fresh orange zest, 1 large orange zested
- 165 grams packed dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon pure almond extract or almond paste
- 170 grams 70% bittersweet dark chocolate , roughly chopped (or chocolate baking chips)
- flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Place the salted butter in a small saucepan on medium low heat until melted. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
- Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and nutmeg in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Place granulated sugar and orange zest in a small bowl and stir together, working the zest into the sugar. This helps release the oil of the zest into the sugar, infusing it with orange flavour.
- In a large bowl, combine the cooled butter with the orange zested sugar and brown sugar. Hand whisk until smooth.
- Add in the egg, egg yolk, vanilla paste, and almond extract. Slowly mix again until just smooth.
- Spoon the flour mixture onto the wet ingredients and gently fold together using a rubber spatula until no flour streaks remain.
- Fold the chopped chocolate into the cookie dough to evenly distribute. Careful not to overwork or stir the dough too much.
- Using a 1.5 tablespoon capacity ‘cookie dough scoop’, measure the cookie dough into balls and place them on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Loosely cover with plastic wrap or foil and refrigerate the dough balls for two hours.
- Chilling the dough, firms the butter to prevent over spreading while baking and also allows the flavours to develop. *Let the dough chill over night for an even deeper flavour.
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and place six dough balls about 2-3 inches apart.
- Bake for about 10-11 minutes until the edges are golden brown.
- Remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle each cookie with flaky sea salt. Transfer to wire rack with offset spatula after about 2-3 minutes.
- They may look a little undercooked at first, but continue to bake as they cool. Allow cookies to cool completely or go ahead and eat them while the chocolate is still soft.
- Sprinkle flaky salt onto warm cookies.
- These cookies should bake into a round shape. But, just in case you have a cookie that spreads slightly askew. Immediately after you pull the pan from the oven, take a cookie cutter slightly larger than the cookies, place it over the misshapen cookie and gently move the cutter in a circular motion around the cookie. This will restore the round shape and shrink in the edges just a bit.
Video
Notes
- I HIGHLY recommend using European Style Butter for rich bakery-style flavor. European butter (also known as cultured with 82% butterfat) adds so much more depth to your cookie.
- Look for brands such as Plugra, Vermont Creamery, Kerrygold or Cabot which state 82% butterfat. If you can’t get your hands on some, it’s OK to substitute with standard unsalted butter (the texture may not be quite as tender with standard butter).
-
- I use a kitchen scale in all of my recipes to weigh ingredients into grams. This allows for more accurate measurements and recipe replication.
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- Pre-scoop cookie dough before refrigerating.
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- Bake with rich European style butter with 82% butterfat for the best tasting cookies. Try brands like Plugra, Kerry Gold, or Vermont Creamery if you're in the States.
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- Let the cookie dough chill overnight to deepen the flavors before baking.
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- Make sure cookie dough is cold when it goes into the oven to prevent spreading
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