Recipe: Chocolate, Sea Salt and the Knitters of Nob Hill

I promise not to bore you with the details of my new obsession: knitting.  Suffice it to say that the quiet, meditative hobby of knitting gives one plenty of time to think about food.  And when you get a group of knitters together, at least my Knitters of Nob Hill, we love to eat, especially all things chocolate.  I once thought that I would suggest everyone knit with only brown yarn when we meet so that the tell tale crumbs of brownies and cookies and the spills of hot chocolate would not be quite so noticeable.

This is our cookie. The little grains of salt get stuck in your molars and slowly melt after the initial hit of chocolate slips past your tongue, an amazing sensation.  I wanted a cookie with a little more texture.  While the following recipe will work with any fleur de sel, I recommend Maldon Sea Salt, from Maldon, Essex, England.  This particular sea salt's soft, flaky, pyramid shaped crystals add just the right amount of texture to the top.

A word about chocolate:  The darker the better is my motto.  I am curious to know which chocolates you use and how the recipe turned out.  Please let me know.

Chocolate and Sea Salt Cookies       yield: 30

3 cups chocolate chips or your favorite premium dark chocolate chopped into small chunks

¼ c (2 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature

¾ c brown sugar

2 eggs

1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

½ c flour

¼ tsp baking powder

1 ½ c chopped walnuts

Maldon Sea Salt (fleur de sel)

1.Place 1 1/3 cups of chocolate chunks in a bowl and melt in microwave or over a double boiler.   

2. Meanwhile, whisk together eggs and vanilla extract.  Set aside.  Sift together flour and baking powder.  Set aside.

3. Once chocolate has melted, stir in butter until completely incorporated.  Add brown sugar, egg and vanilla mixture, mixing well.   Add the flour mixture, mixing until smooth. 

4. Stir in remaining chocolate chunks and chopped walnuts.  Refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.

5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Using a small ice cream scoop (capacity about a heaping tablespoon), scoop on to a greased baking sheet.  Flatten with the palm of your hand.  Sprinkle generously with fleur de sel then pat in gently.  Bake on middle rack of oven for 13-14 minutes.  Remove from oven.  Rest on cookie sheet for 5 minutes.  Transfer to rack to cool. 

Comments

[Eric Stubenberg]

These cookies look amazing! I've been looking for a recipe that will match my smoked chocolate salt. I think they will work perfectly! I'll make them and let you know!
www.lordsofsalt.com

[R.F.]

Best cookies I've ever made, hands down. HOWEVER, said with caveat, the process in making them was not as easy. The dough when chilled became VERY hard due to the amount of chocolate involved, making it nearly impossible to scoop the cookies out onto baking sheets. The dough was rock hard. Next time I'd definitely try not chilling the dough and scoop them directly from the mixing bowl. I will say in the end, the cookies got raves from those who ate them and everyone now wants the recipe. Thank you!

[Liz Paxton]

These were without a doubt the best things I have ever eaten - I can't wait to try them at home. Thanks for baking them and making the recipe available to us!

A Nob Hill Knitter