Sea Salt Chocolate Chunk Cookies
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Sweet, salty and totally chocolatey, you can’t go wrong with these Salted Chocolate Chunk Cookies. The chewy center, filled with melted dark chocolate, truly makes these THE BEST cookies ever!
This recipe is easy to make. And balls of dough can be stored in the fridge or freezer to bake up a fresh batch of your new favorite cookies anytime!
I am always excited to share a new recipe on the blog, but today I am REALLY EXCITED to share this recipe! What started as a craving for a salted dark chocolate chip cookie back in September, turned into a 3 month cookie experiment!
With the extra time at home this year (thanks 2020!) I figured I’d put that time to good use by perfecting a new chocolate chip cookie recipe!
Now this isn’t your traditional chocolate chip cookie recipe, it’s BETTER! This is a seriously chocolatey, sweet and salty cookie that will have your tastebuds singing!
Ingredients
- All purpose flour
- Salt
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Unsalted butter – since we’re adding salt to the cookie dough and on top of the cookies, I recommend using unsalted butter. If all you have on hand is salted butter, leave out the additional salt in the cookie dough.
- Dark brown sugar
- Granulated white sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Dark chocolate chunks – I highly recommend using dark chocolate over semi-sweet chocolate in this recipe. The dark chocolate pairs absolutely perfect with the flakey sea salt! And chunks > chips all day! The chunks are bigger, therefore they provide more chocolatey goodness in the cookies!
- Sea salt flakes – you can find this near the other salts on the spice aisle at most major grocery stores. Or you can purchase it on Amazon.
Tools you’ll need
- Electric mixer or stand mixer – you can also mix by hand, but using one of these will make your baking life so much easier!!
- Baking stone or baking sheet – if you don’t own a baking stone, a traditional baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat will work just fine. But I do have to say that I LOVE baking cookies on a baking stone. And I would definitely recommend it whenever possible!
- Mixing bowl
- Spatula
- Ice cream scoop or large cookie scoop – I used the one linked to here, which holds 3 tablespoons of dough.
Instructions
These chocolate chunk cookies are super easy to make! Simply follow the instructions below, and for a more detailed look into how to make them, be sure to check out the full video in the recipe card at the bottom of the page!
- Combine the dry ingredients. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
- Combine the wet ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar for 2 minutes. Add an egg, egg yolk and vanilla extract and beat until combined.
- Finish the cookie dough. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and beat until combined. Use a spatula to stir in the dark chocolate chunks.
- Bake the cookies. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Use a large cookie scoop, or ice cream scoop, to scoop the cookie dough out onto a baking stone, or parchment lined baking sheet. Make sure the cookie dough balls are at least 2 inches apart. Place in the oven to bake for 12-14 minutes.
- Finish with sea salt. Remove the cookies from the oven and immediately sprinkle flakey sea salt over the cookies.
- Cool the cookies. Wait at least 10 minutes, then transfer the cookies to a wire rack, or eat immediately for warm, cookie goodness!
Recipe tips
These chocolate chunk cookies are one of my most tested recipes of all time! I tested them with melted butter and room temperature butter.
I tried baking them at three different temperatures, for three different times. They were tested with baking soda, baking powder, and a combination of both.
Needless to say, I’ve 100% tested and PERFECTED this recipe for you to make at home! Simply follow the recipe and check out my tips & tricks to make the perfect cookie every time!
- Always use room temperature butter! Using cold butter or melted butter will affect the final texture of the cookies.
- Bake at 350°F for no more than 14 minutes. This will result in a cookie that is soft and chewy in the middle, with a little crisp around the edges.
- I actually do NOT recommend chilling the dough. When you chill the dough, the butter hardens in the dough and it will make the cookies spread out slower on the baking sheet. Since these cookies are meant to be a little crispy around the edges and chewy in the middle, I prefer the texture of the cookies when the dough is not chilled before baking.
- I recommend making cookie dough balls from any extra cookie dough and storing them in a freezer-safe bag in the fridge or freezer. Since they’re already made into balls, it’s easier to pop 1, 2 or 4 onto a cookie sheet and bake immediately.
- Quick tip within a tip! Chilled cookie dough does not spread as much as room-temperature cookie dough. If you’d like the same consistency of the cookie, just like the first time you baked them, be sure to set the dough out of the refrigerator at least 30 minutes before baking the cookie.
- You can store the cookie dough in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container. After that, you should transfer it to the freezer, where you can store it for up to 6 months.
- When baking the chocolate chunk cookies from frozen, either add 2-3 minutes to the cooking time, or allow them to thaw in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours before baking them.
More cookie recipes
For more easy cookie recipes, check out these fan favorites!
Sea Salt Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ½ cup white sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 12 ounces dark chocolate chunks
- 1 tablespoon sea salt flakes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Combine the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a medium mixing bowl. Set aside.
- Add the room temperature butter, brown sugar and white sugar to a large mixing bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed for 2 minutes, using an electric hand mixer or stand mixer.
- Add the egg, egg yolks and vanilla extract to the butter/sugar mixture.
- Beat on medium speed until combined.
- Add the flour mixture and beat until all of the ingredients are combined.
- Add the dark chocolate chunks and use a spatula to stir them into the cookie dough.
- Use an ice cream scoop to scoop the cookie dough out onto a baking stone or parchment lined baking sheet.
- Place in the oven and bake for 12-14 minutes.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and immediately sprinkle flakey sea salt over the cookies.
- Allow the cookies to cool for 10 minutes, then transfer the cookies to a wire baking rack, or eat immediately for warm, cookie goodness!
Video
Notes
- Leftover cookie dough can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks or in the freezer for 6 months.
- When baking cookies from frozen, either add 2-3 minutes to the cooking time, or allow them to thaw in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours before baking them.
Nutrition Facts
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10 Comments on “Sea Salt Chocolate Chunk Cookies”
Soooooo delicious! Glad I found this recipe. Thank you for sharing it.
The best recipe by far. I’ve made these so many times since finding this recipe and everyone always loves them! Thank you!
This is my new go-to recipe for chocolate chip cookies! I used 88% dark chocolate bars chopped up roughly for this and it was perfect. Truly the best and so chewy, everyone in my house loves them.
Mine didn’t look like yours. They didn’t flatten out or brown. It took an extra 3 minutes to brown up edges. I just cooked up half, so I’ll try again but flatten them out before baking.
Hi Diana, how big were the cookies and was the dough chilled before baking?
is a tablespoon of vanilla correct? It seems like a lot.
Hi Ginny, that is correct. You’re welcome to use less, but the delicious vanilla flavor paired with the dark chocolate and sea salt is so delicious!
Best cookies ever. My family requests them all the time!!!
Truly the best recipe!
Excellent, crisp on outside and chewy middle. I added 2T of non fat milk powder b/c I do that to all the baked goods. I did use 200g of dark chocolate and 100g of milk chocolate b/c that’s just what I had in the pantry. I baked 11-12 min with convection setting. I use 1 /12 TB cookie scoop b/c my kids like smaller cookies. Anyway the last 2 batches of cookies seemed to want to bake less time so I cut the baking time to 11:15 to 11 min 30 sec.