Helena's chocolate chip cookies
These are made with a mix of dark and milk chocolate and a combination of sea salt and salted butter to make them completely moreish.
Ingredients · Servings 15
- 250g salted butter cut into cubes
- 100g golden caster sugar
- 175g light brown soft sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 300g plain flour
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 250g chopped chocolate (I use half Valhrona 74% Guanaja and half Islands 55% milk chocolate buttons)
- sea salt flakes for sprinkling
Method · 55 min
- Put the butter in a large saucepan. Find two heatproof bowls, one larger, one slightly smaller. Fill the large one with ice and a cup of water. Put the smaller one next to you near the hob.
- Melt the butter on medium heat. Once foaming, keep stirring with a plastic spatula – you want to keep the milk solids moving throughout the pan. This will take about 5-6 mins. Be brave – don’t take it off when it is just golden; you’re looking for more of an amber colour. At this stage, and when it smells a lot like digestive biscuits, pour it into the smaller bowl. Immediately put the smaller bowl on top of the ice in the larger bowl.
- Whisk the butter over ice slightly to help it cool. This will take about 3-4 mins. You’re looking for it to turn into the texture of a slightly loose cream cheese icing. Once creamy, but not fully solid, scrape it into the bowl of a stand mixer with both sugars. You can use an electric whisk, if you prefer, but if you have a stand mixer, use it. Once creamy, whisk in the eggs and vanilla, leaving it to whip for a good 8 mins, until it’s thick and creamy.
- Pour in the plain flour, 1 tsp salt and the bicarb. Gently fold the dough together with a spatula, then fold through the chocolate. You don’t want to overmix the dough. Cover with baking parchment and keep chilled in the fridge overnight.
- Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Use a cookie scoop to scoop craggy balls of dough onto two lined baking sheets. Don’t try and form them into smooth balls – a rough ball is what you’re going for. Texture means they have a better appearance at the end. You should get roughly 15.
- Bake for 12-15 mins until lightly golden. When they come out of the oven, give the tray a good whack on your kitchen counter. This will help create a crispy edge and a rippled appearance that is quite attractive. While the cookies are still warm, sprinkle generously with sea salt flakes. Leave to cool on the tray for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- 250g salted buttercut into cubes
- sea salt flakesfor sprinkling
- kcal377
- fat22g
- saturates13g
- carbs39g
- sugars22g
- fibre3g
- protein4g
- salt0.86g
