You must have realized by now that I love cookies; I make them in a thousand different ways depending on the time I decide to eat them.
For breakfast, for example, I choose cookies that give me energy and are indulgent like COOKIES, since we have all day to burn them off! For a snack or sudden sweet craving, I go for the simpler and lighter ones to feel less guilty, the WHOLE WHEAT COOKIES without BUTTER are perfect.
But let’s get to the evening when snuggled on the couch in front of my favorite series, I want to munch on something that’s not too sweet and cloying but still indulgent: I tried the CHOCOLATE and SALT COOKIES and it was a revelation!
The idea of salty chocolate cookies was given to me by the guys from FLAVORS ESCAPE, a social project that helps reintegrate inmates from Cuneo prison into society by teaching them a profession, specifically pastry and baking. I tasted theirs, fell in love, and decided to replicate them at home.
What are they? The salty chocolate cookies, or chocolate and salt sablé, are delicious chocolate shortbread cookies that, thanks to the use of salt in the dough, will let you enjoy the memorable combination of chocolate and salt, something truly original, different, and unique. The original recipe for the chocolate and salt sablé by Ernst Kanm uses fleur de sel, which has the particularity of not dissolving completely in the dough, but you can use regular table salt, and the result will be practically identical.
Preparing the CHOCOLATE AND SALT COOKIES recipe is very simple: you can even make them by hand, and you’ll just need to “crumble” flour and butter together, then combine all the other ingredients, and once you’ve obtained the mixture, create little cylinders. Let them rest in the fridge, and once cut into discs, bake for just 10 minutes.
You’ll bake salty chocolate cookies, a different idea from the usual, with a particular and very captivating flavor where you can occasionally sense the sweet and bitter notes of chocolate along with the intense ones of salt flakes.
Try them and let me know if you liked them as much as I did! I think this could really be an original idea for offering great cookies, even as gifts.
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 1 Hour
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 8
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Energy 326.95 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 42.30 (g) of which sugars 25.95 (g)
- Proteins 4.42 (g)
- Fat 16.91 (g) of which saturated 10.34 (g)of which unsaturated 5.92 (g)
- Fibers 2.67 (g)
- Sodium 345.42 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 50 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
CHOCOLATE AND SALT COOKIES INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup cup butter
- 1/3 cup cup brown sugar (+ a bit for rolling cookies)
- 1 egg (whole)
- 3.5 oz oz 70% dark chocolate
- 1/4 cup cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3/4 tsp tsp baking soda (or 1/2 tsp baking powder)
- 3/4 tsp tsp salt (fleur de sel or fine salt)
Tools
- Mixer
- Plastic Wrap
- Parchment Paper
- Baking Tray
CHOCOLATE AND SALT COOKIES RECIPE
Put the sifted flour and soft butter in a bowl or the mixer (paddle attachment) and start mixing until you get a crumbly mixture. Add in the unsweetened cocoa, finely chopped chocolate, brown and granulated sugars, salt, egg, and baking powder and work the dough until all ingredients are combined.
Transfer to a work surface or pastry board, divide the dough into three parts and form each into a cylinder about 1.2 inches in diameter. Put some brown sugar on a plate (considered extra from what’s listed in the recipe) and roll the cylinders in it. Wrap them separately in plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge for 1 hour.
After the resting time in the fridge, take the cylinders and use a sharp knife to cut disks about 0.2 inches thick. Arrange them on a baking tray covered with parchment paper, slightly spaced apart as they will spread during baking. Put them back in the fridge for 15 minutes. Then bake in a preheated static oven at 338°F for about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before removing from the tray to avoid breaking them. Your chocolate and salt cookies are ready.
STORAGE
Once ready, these cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to a week. Alternatively, you can freeze them (already formed) raw and bake them as needed after thawing in the freezer to fridge transition.
NOTES AND TIPS
CHOCOLATE: For this recipe, I used a dark chocolate bar, but you can also substitute it with chocolate chips. The cookies will have tasty and delicious nuggets inside.
SALT: I used fleur de sel or Cervia salt flakes for a greater sweet-salty contrast, but even regular table salt works fine.
BUTTER: Always use high-quality butter and remember to take it out of the fridge at least half an hour before (depending on the season) because it should be soft. If you want to accentuate the sweet-salty contrast, use semi-salted butter.
BAKING SODA: You can use either baking soda (3/4 tsp) for a more crumbly shortbread effect or baking powder (1/2 tsp) for still crumbly but slightly denser cookies.
CHOCOLATE AND SALT COOKIES BIMBY PROCEDURE
Place butter and flour in the bowl: 40 sec. speed 3.
Gather at the bottom and add cocoa, both sugars, egg, baking powder, salt: 40 sec. speed 4.
Add chocolate coarsely chopped with a knife: 10 sec. speed 3 counterclockwise.
Remove the dough, divide it into three. Form each into a cylinder 1.2 inches in diameter.
Roll each cylinder in brown sugar, wrap in plastic wrap separately, and place in the fridge to rest for 1 hour.
Follow the main recipe instructions for how to form cookies and baking times.
