Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies
Last weekend was the Tiny But Mighty bake sale, and I had really good intentions to come up with some outrageously creative treat to donate. But as often seems to be the case in my life these days, time got away from me.
Approximately 48 hours before the sale, I realized that I wasn’t even exactly sure when I was going to have time to bake, much less concoct some amazing creation that would have everyone talking for weeks after. So what did I do? I went to my pantry, opened it up, and took inventory. There sure were a lot of chocolate chips in there. Oh yeah, those were left over from all those Christmas treats I never got around to making. (I’m telling you, this is my life now. Always great intentions….)
Then from the far recesses of my mind, I remembered one time reading somewhere that the #1 item that sells at bake sales are chocolate chip cookies. And our goal was to raise as much money as possible, so really, it was a no-brainer: I had to make chocolate chip cookies.
Of course, they needed to be the very best chocolate chip cookie ever. And they had to have some sort of unique spin – I couldn’t resist.
I’ve mentioned my love for salty sweet things many times before, so a sea salt chocolate chip cookie was my vision. After combing the internet for the best of the best recipes, I finally settled on The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe Ever. The writer was very confident in her cookie, and I liked that it already had some sea salt incorporated into the dough. I just knew I wanted a little bit extra sprinkled on top.
One of the other changes I made was only out of necessity – I didn’t realize until I was preparing to mix all of my ingredients that I didn’t have enough vanilla. So instead of using the full measure of vanilla, I subbed in half almond extract. I ended up loving the hint of almond it gave the finished cookie and even though I now have enough vanilla on hand, I’ve since made a second batch the same way I made the first.
So were they a success? Well, I was happy to receive some very complimentary feedback. Words like “holy crap”, “amazing”, “magic” and maybe even some x-rated things were referenced…. so yeah, I guess you could say they were a success!
Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from Savory Sweet Life
Makes approximately 40-48 cookies.
Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract*
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp coarse sea salt, divided
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
*can use 2 tsp of vanilla extract and no almond extract if you choose
Directions:
Preheat oven to 360 degrees. Cream butter, sugar, and brown sugar until it is nice and fluffy (approx. 3 minutes on medium-high speed). Add both eggs, vanilla, and almond extract and beat for an additional 2 minutes. Add baking soda, baking powder, 3/4 tsp salt, and flour until cookie batter is fully incorporated. Finally add chocolate chips until well distributed.
Use a medium cookie scoop to measure and drop the batter onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. (if you don’t have a cookie scoop, a scoop should be about 2 Tbsp).
Bake for 14-17 minutes until the edges are nice and golden brown. Remove from heat, immediately sprinkle all cookies evenly with remaining 3/4 tsp sea salt. Allow the cookies to stay on the cookie sheet for an additional 2 minutes. Pick up the parchment paper with the cookies still on top and transfer to a cooling rack. Allow the cookies to cool on the paper for at least 3 minutes before serving.