The Pursuit of Perfection
When it comes to homemade chocolate chip cookies, I believe there are 2 kinds of people. The first kind has a secret family recipe they use every single time. The second kind of person is like me, always in pursuit of THE perfect recipe.
Siri Daly, Today Show contributor and wife of Carson Daly, is also this kind of person. In her cookbook, “Siriously Delicious”, she shares that she has tried many recipes but has come up with an “ideal” cookie. Hers are chewy in the middle and crispy on the edges. They are also the perfect combination of bittersweet chocolate and salt!
I decided to try out Siri’s Perfect Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies for my recipe review this week. It has been cold and wet this week, and a great cookie is just what you need with a nice hot cup of coffee or tea.
The ingredients for these cookies are much the same as any chocolate chip cookie: softened butter, white and brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, flour, baking soda and powder and table salt. But the elements that take these cookies up a notch are bittersweet or dark chocolate chips and flaky sea salt that is sprinkled on top.
Grab you stand mixer or your hand mixer and cream the softened butter with the sugars until creamy. Next you add the eggs and vanilla and beat until combined.
In a separate bowl, combine your dry ingredients, reserving the flake salt for later. Gradually add the flour mixture into the wet, and combine until smooth. Continue until all the dry ingredients are mixed in well. Stir in the chocolate chips until combined evenly.
Cover your bowl and place it in the fridge for 30 minutes. Siri doesn’t say to cover the bowl, but I like to do that to prevent any odors or flavors from sneaking into your yummy cookie dough.
My mixer bowl doesn’t come with a lid, but I ordered some handy dandy beeswax bowl covers from my very talented cousin. Her bowl covers come in many fun colors, and she selected covers specifically for my bowls and kitchen colors.
She also offers beeswax wraps for sammies and snacks and such. If you are interested in getting some for your own kitchen, please contact her at Hildegun Studio on Facebook or Instagram.
After your dough has chilled awhile, scoop the dough out by tablespoons and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat. Top each ball with a generous sprinkle of flaky sea salt.
Bake the cookies in an oven preheated to 350ºF. Siri says to bake them until “desired doneness,” which for her was about 12 minutes. My oven runs a little warmer than Siri’s must, so I determined that 10 minutes is my preference. They may still look a little underdone in the middle, but they will continue to bake a bit once removed from the oven.
The verdict – amazing cookies! They are indeed chewy in the middle and the edges are perfectly crispy and taste like brown butter. The saltiness is just enough, not too over-powering. I think they are now a family favorite.
I would love to tell you how many it made, but we started eating them almost immediately and throughout the baking process, so the math went out the window. But it made a generous plenty.
Give these cookies a try. I can promise you will love them!
If you would like to try out Siriously Delicious, you can find it at your local library or buy your own copy on Amazon.
