Rich Myer’s salted chocolate cookies recipe

These cookies are a classic crispy-on-the-edges, chewy-on-the-outside, soft-in-the-middle, simply delicious type of affair.

Salted chocolate cookies. Picture: Ellis Parrinde

My cookies are quite thin: they’re a classic crispy-on-the-edges, chewy-on-the-outside and soft-in-the-middle type of affair. If you’re looking for anything else, you’ve come to the wrong place. The salt really helps to bring out the flavour of the chocolate – but don’t use too much, or it’ll taste salty, and quite literally nobody wants a salty cookie. Don’t be tempted to eat them when they’re still hot out of the oven, because despite what you see in the movies they need time to rest, and a cookie fresh out of the oven is nowhere near as good as you’d hope it would be. These cookies will keep for up to two days in an airtight container but are best eaten on the day.

Rich Meyers. Picture: Ellis Parrinde

Get Baked by Rich Meyers.

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RECIPE: Salted chocolate cookies

Ingredients

• 140g unsalted butter, softened
• 110g caster sugar
• 140g light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 140g plain flour, sifted
• 140g strong white bread flour, sifted
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1 teaspoon sea salt, plus an extra pinch to finish
• 250g 55% dark chocolate, chopped into chunks
  

Method

1. Start by creaming the butter and sugars together in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the beater attachment, until pale and fluffy. Add the vanilla to your egg, then add them both to the butter and sugar mixture.
2. Using the beater attachment, mix for 1 minute, or until emulsified, then scrape down the base and sides of the bowl. Weigh out the flours, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt (carefully) and add to the bowl. Beat on the lowest speed until the mixture comes together. Add the chocolate and beat until it’s mixed evenly throughout.
3. Using an ice cream scoop, or your hands, scoop the mixture into ten 100g pucks and place onto a greaseproof paper lined tray. Cover the tray in plastic wrap and put it into the fridge for at least 24 hours (at most, 72 hours).
4. Letting the pucks chill before baking them makes all the difference. It gives the cookies a depth of flavour that you just can’t achieve without letting them rest. Be patient – these cookies will be good if you rush the process, but sensational if you don’t. If you absolutely must bake the cookies on the same day, try to give them at least 6 hours to chill before baking. When you’re ready to bake, preheat your oven to 150C. Split the 10 pucks across two greaseproof paper-lined baking trays, leaving enough space between them to allow for spreading in the oven. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the cookies resemble cookies. If they’re still bulging in the centre, then they’re not ready yet.
5. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with sea salt while still warm (if you wait until they’ve cooled, the salt won’t stick). Makes 10

This is an edited extract from Get Baked by Rich Myers (White Lion Publishing, $29.99).