You know how some people have a sweet tooth? Well, I'm convinced I have a salt tooth.
I have zero willpower when there's an open bag of pretzels within arm's reach. Ditto with tortilla chips and popcorn. I go a little weak at the knees in front of a big plate of charcuterie and olives.
Heck, even when it comes to dessert, I'd take a big plate of cheese over a slice of chocolate cake pretty much any day of the week. (Though a salted caramel pudding is even better, because it's the perfect compromise between the two.)
So, as you can imagine, there was zero hesitation when I spotted these Salted Chocolate Cookies while trying to pick a recipe for this month's Secret Recipe Club assignment. You could say it was love at first sight, really.
My SRC buddy this month is Sweetie Petitti, a blog written and photographed by Susie, who likes to call these "Pissed Off Sports Mom Chocolate Makes It Better Cookies").
Susie is lucky enough to work at the happiest place on earth. No, not THAT happiest place on earth... the other one: Williams-Sonoma. (I have a not-so-secret love affair with all things Williams-Sonoma. I may not have a wedding date or venue sorted out, but you can bet your sweet patootie that I've already mentally plotted out my entire wedding registry wishlist, right down to the Le Creuset pieces in Caribbean Blue... swoon.)
Susie also makes the most gorgeous decorated sugar cookies, something I have neither the patience nor the steady piping skills to tackle for myself. Plus she teaches sewing, whereas I have a pile of mending I've been studiously ignoring for months. Bottom line, Susie is pretty darn amazing, at least from what I got to know through her blog.
Now that we've met Susie, let me introduce you to these cookies. They're brilliant. Sublime, even. They're sweet and chocolatey and salty, all at once, with chewy edges and meltingly soft middles. Think of them as little portable bites of gooey brownie batter, only better.
They also literally take 10 minutes to whip up using a food processor, which means they're done in no time at all. Which means you could make them every day, should you be so inclined.
That wooshing sound you just heard? That's my diet going out the window.
Susie, I don't know whether to thank you or curse you. Right now, though, my mouth is too full of cookies to do either.
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- 5 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped fine
- 1¼ cups sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tbsp instant espresso powder
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chunks
- 1 cup toffee bits (like Heath or Skor)
- Maldon sea salt or fleur de sel
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- In the bowl of a food processor, combine unsweetened chocolate and sugar, and process for 2 minutes or until fine. Add butter, eggs, coffee and vanilla, and continue processing until fluffy. Scrape down sides.
- Add flour and chocolate chunks, and process using on/off pulse until the dough comes together. Do not over process.
- Using a tablespoon, drop mounds of dough onto large cookie sheets, spacing 2" apart. Sprinkle the top of each cookie with a pinch of salt.
- Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Cookies should be slightly firm to touch. Let cool for 5 minutes on sheets, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Eliana says
These cookies could not look more incredible! I love combining all salt and chocolate. So delish.
Shumaila says
Ooh Isabelle these look great. And wow, Susie works at Williams Sonoma. How very lucky. I love my chocolate chip cookies with a little salt sprinkled on top, and to have toffee bits in them- make them sound really good!
Tawcan says
Those cookies look AMAZING!
Bern says
We don't have toffee bits in Australia. What can I susbstitute for these? Or is there a recipe for them so I can make them myself?
Isabelle says
Oh noes! Toffee bits would probably be too much of a pain to make at home - they're basically finely chopped bits of brittle.
Since I'm not sure if there's any equivalent over in Australia, my suggestion would be to leave them out entirely and double the amount of chocolate chips to 2 cups. That's how it was in Susie's original recipe, so I'm sure it would be more than fine. :)
Camilla says
I am SO with you on the "salt tooth" thing. And, though I am decidedly anti-gadget, you should splurge and get that cherry pitter! Thanks for sharing this great recipe with the SRC. It's my kinda sweet.
Lesa @Edesia's Notebook says
Those cookies look amazing! I have a salt tooth too, so these would be right up my alley!
Grubarazzi (@Grubarazzi) says
Good...googly moogly. These look amazing. I have an equally salty and sweet tooth so these would go down the hatch faster than lightning. sigh. I also love Williams Sonoma. You better believe my wedding registry was packed with goodies from that place. In fact, i'm pretty sure that is the only reason I got married (besides the fact that I love my hubby..shhhh).
Lisa~~ says
I think making these would make my diet go out the window but I sure wouldn't pass up one if offered, they sound delish.
David @ Frenchie and the Yankee says
I love, love, love salted chocolate cookies.
Thank you so much for posting this!
Nicole @ The Daily Dish says
These are amazing. They sound so perfect, as soon as the kid that cooks gets home from school, I'm going to see about scheduling these in - in the next few days - they sound absolutely heavenly!
sara says
These cookies look AMAZING! And I love the idea of a cookie batter made all in the food processor - easy peasy! :)
Susie says
lOL. Thanks for all the nice words! My daughter, whom I made these for way back, asked for a batch to take back to college! A delicious choice. Come visit me again!
AmandaE says
Scanning my W&S registry was one of the best parts of the wedding plan, even the hubby got excited going around the store with those pricing gun things. I'm also another salt fiend so I have a feeling these cookies will make an appearance at our place rather soon. Great SRC pick :-)