salted chocolate chip cookies

i cook a lot. and even though i frequently make dishes that i think are really really good, 

it's hard not to be critical of every aspect of the meal you created. as a recovering perfectionist, 

i still find myself identifying ways i could have made the dish better. 

(i.e. a little more salt, a couple more minutes in the oven, more time marinating, etc.)

this is my third time making the salted chocolate chip cookie from ashley rodriguez's 

date night in cookbook and every time i said outloud 'WOW - these are AMAZING'.

even ben made fun of me praising my own baking skills. LOL!

i've made a lot of chocolate cookies in my day,

and sometimes the recipes feel a dime a dozen.

but there is something about this recipe that convinces me 

it's going to be the recipe i'm using twenty years from now.

the secret ingredient? the sugars and the salt!

most cookie recipes use a lot of granulated white sugar and a little bit of brown sugar. 

this recipe flips the two - using almost entirely brown sugar 

with just two tablespoons of white sugar AND two tablespoons turbinado sugar.

makes 18-24 cookies

ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 tablespoons turbinado sugar

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar

1 egg, room temp

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 3/4 flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

6oz bittersweet chocolate chips

flake salt for sprinkling

optional: vanilla ice cream for serving

directions

1. in a medium bowl, cream butter and sugars together with an electric mixer 

on medium speed until light in color and texture, about 5 minutes.

 scrape down sides of bowl as needed. 

2. add egg and vanilla and mix well to combine. 

3. in a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.

4. with the mixer on low, slowly add flour mixture. 

mix until streaks of flour run throughout. 

add chocolate and mix until everything just comes together. 

finish the dough by hand, taking care to make sure everything is evenly distributed.

5. at this point it's best to refrigerate the dough for 24 hours, 

as resting it deepened the toffee flavors and improves the cookie texture.

i do always recommend refrigerating cookie dough - although it's not 100% necessary 
to make a delicious cookie. i've made this recipe all ways - baking the cookies right away, 
chilling the dough for an hour or so, and letting it rest over night as well. all ways produced a delicious cookie, but any extra time you can spare in the fridge does add a layer of flavor!

6. when ready to bake, preheat oven to 360 degrees.

line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

scoop dough onto the baking sheet, rolling into 1.5-2 inch balls.

top the cookies with a pinch of flake salt just before baking.

7. bake 10-12 minutes. 

the cookies should be lightly golden on the outside but look quite gooey on the inside.

let cookies cool on baking sheets for at least 5 minutes.

transfer the cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling.

8. enjoy immediately for a really gooey experience,

wait until they are fully cooled (also amazing),

or stuff two with a scoop of ice cream and have your mind blown! :)

note: this was the batch i did NOT chill in the fridge first.
this leads to a wider, flatter cookie. my cookies that were previously chilled
were roughly half this wide and doubled in thickness. just something to keep in mind! :)

the first time i made these i served them as ice cream sandwiches,
slipping a small scoop of slow churned vanilla bean between two cookies.
they were AMAZING and a huge hit with my crew!