Happy Friday, y’all.
Full disclosure, I started writing this to you yesterday, because we have deadlines here at the LG HQ, but mama was bleary-eyed and tired from her FIRST LOVE YOURSELF SESSION OF THE YEAR!! You guys, this event was covered by NEWSDAY (which, for us Long Islanders is a pretty big newspaper) and I cannot believe it. My heart is so full of gratitude and seeing how a simple pivot can really change everything is so inspiring. And, it’s really all because of this cookie.
Like the segue there? ;)
Back in 2018, I took one too many “puff puffs” and created the “Bettah Cookie.” Orchestrated like I was on a cooking show, I did my best Julia Childs meets Aunt Loretta and created this cookie, wrote down the recipe, and have relied it on it since.
Except, as delicious as that cookie is, I knew I could make it even better. I tried different rolling methods, different ways of culturing the dough, and I found that I really enjoyed the process of challenging myself to do something better, just because. As an empathetic Pisces, I’ve never been inherently “cut throat competitive”, and in many ways I always thought that meant I had a lack of drive, somehow. Now, I see that I’m more about cultivating growth, and trying new things in all aspects of my life- like the Love Yourself Sessions. I had a pretty successful business and I challenged myself to dig deeper into my “why”- and, I think, like this cookie, I’m onto something so much bigger than myself.
Yes, I did just compare this cookie to being bigger than myself. And, yes- I did consider not sharing this recipe and becoming a Christina Tossi adjacent SHEMPIRE but alas, I’m a sharer. And, if you do make a cookie SHEMPIRE using this recipe, please don’t tell me. I’ll be jealous and spiral.
So, let’s get into it. To start, please note that this cookie is not overly “sweet” but I did add modifications if you like that sweet sweet. If you do the modifications and don’t like the cookie, don’t blame me- I gave you this disclosure :)
The key to this cookie is to get those base “wet” ingredients (eggs, vanilla, etc.,) as fluffy as possible. Whip and nay nay that portion of this process for at least 5 minutes each. It makes a HUGE difference.
Alright, are we ready? I’m ready. I’ll stop delaying now… LET’S GO.
INGREDIENTS:
All Purpose flour
Butter
Baking Soda
Baking Powder
Dark chocolate (at least 60% cacao) chips
Brown Sugar
Granulated sugar (but only if you want it sweet! I did not use this but based on proportions, just add in 1 cup of granulated sugar after you add in the brown sugar)
Sea Salt Flakes
DIRECTIONS:
*Before starting, make sure your butter and eggs are room temperature.
First, sift 2.5 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon of baking soda, 1 teaspoon of baking powder together. Then, moving over to your mixer, add in 1 cup of butter and 1.5 cups of brown sugar (I used light brown sugar but don’t sweat if you have a darker one). This is arguably the most important step! Let that mix for a solid 3-5 minutes on medium. The creamier, the better. After you let it mix, add in (2) eggs, (1) at a time, mixing it nice and smooth before adding in the next. Mix that for about 3 minutes at medium and then add in 3 teaspoons of vanilla extract. Mix at medium speed for 5 minutes, and then reduce it down to slow speed.
Once at slow speed, add in your sifted dry ingredients slowly. (Because you don’t want it to poof all over you… learn from mistakes, ha). Then, add in your dark chocolate chips- I did the full Ghiradelli bag because I have no cool, and let it mix on low for a solid 5-7 minutes.
Before we go into the next step, If you’re prepping these for another day, take the dough from the mixer and wrap it in plastic wrap, and then let it sit in the fridge for 24-36 hours. If you’re making them for a “day of” serve, follow my steps below.
As your dough is mixing, prep your baking sheets with parchment paper (personally, I don’t use parchment paper- I olive oil and flour my pans… but, everyone is different.)
Once your dough is mixed, grab your Ice Cream scoop and begin scooping out the dough into full on scoops. Yes. I know people roll the dough with their hands, or do “tablespoon” sizes of dough. I’ve done it all and I am 100% confident that ice cream scoop dough is the way to go. I only did two scoops across to give the dough enough room, but you could probably squeeze in three across. You be the judge.
Once you’re all scooped, take your sea salt flakes and sprinkle them on top of each ball of dough. Then, pop those trays into the freezer for two hours. Ten minutes before you’re ready to serve, take the trays out and pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.
Bake for 12 minutes and then serve.
And, there you have it. I wrote this all stream of conscious and from memory. As you can probably tell, I didn’t smooth out the top of my dough because I like imperfections but if you want “perfect” shapes, just wet a tablespoon and smooth the tops.
Skip the chicken dip this Superbowl Sunday and wow your guests with this cookie. As always, if you do make this cookie, pls tag me @leannegelishstudio. Thank you for being here. I love this space on the internet so much, and your messages make it all so much fun.