Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 cups bread flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 2, 3.5 oz. bars high-quality dark chocolate, roughly chopped
- Maldon sea salt, for sprinkling
Instructions
Combine the butter, brown sugar and white sugar in a large bowl or stand mixer and beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and mix well to combine. Add the vanilla. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and kosher salt. Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the butter and sugar mixture until combined. Fold in the chocolate chunks, reserving about ¼ cup for later. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least one hour. The dough can also be divided and frozen at this point.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Scoop cookies using a two tablespoon scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Press one or two pieces of chocolate onto the top of each dough ball. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden around the edges. Sprinkle each cookie with a small amount of flaky Maldon sea salt while the cookies are still hot from the oven. Cool on wire racks and store at room temperature.
Recipe Notes
Bread flour is not required, but recommended to achieve a chewy cookie. Bread flour has a higher protein content, than all purpose flour, which produces more gluten. King Arthur Flour has a helpful blog post explaining the different textures you will achieve when selecting certain types of flour.
The chocolate selection makes these cookies extra special. I prefer Lindt 76% dark chocolate - it has an almost creamy texture that works perfectly in a cookie. Valrhona is another high-quality dark chocolate that is excellent for baking.
A sprinkling of Maldon right after baking is optional, but encouraged, as it enhances the sweetness of the cookie while adding a touch of salty flavor to complement the dark chocolate.
I like baking only a few of these cookies at a time, and freezing the rest in portions so I have cookie dough on hand whenever the mood strikes.