Sea Salt Chocolate Cookies

Is there anything better than the combination of salt and chocolate? These chewy chocolate cookies with crunchy bits of Pacific Flake Sea Salt are the perfect couple. They are the Beyonce and Jay-Z of the food world. As a kid I would dump my M&Ms into the warm salty popcorn at a movie theater. The chocolate would get soft and melty in the middle of the crunchy, salty popcorn for a contrast in textures and a pop of flavor that any 8 year old would appreciate, or at least I did. Now all manner of salted chocolate treats are on dessert menus everywhere. Luckily you don’t need to be a Michelin 4 star pastry chef to create the perfect chocolate sea salt cookie dessert, snack or breakfast, no judgement.

Why does the combination of salt and chocolate work so well? Salt enhances the flavor of everything but it’s particularly effective with sweetness. The reason we love chocolate and salt so much is due to our biology. Salt enhances flavor by turning on taste receptors. It specifically turns on a receptor that allows us to taste more sweet (technically a receptor called SGLT1), so adding salt makes things taste more sweet. Salt also suppresses bitter flavors allowing you to taste the other full range of flavors in the chocolate like fruity notes. This has been the secret ingredient for many chocolatier to give a pop and depth to chocolate.

It’s easy to create this classic pairing with this simple recipe. In under an hour you’ll be serving up these mouth watering cookies.

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cup softened butter
• 2 cups sugar (use coconut sugar for lower glycemic index)
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• Pacific Flake Sea Salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until just blended. Drop by spoonfuls onto ungreased parchment lined cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. As soon as the cookies come out of the oven sprinkle with Pacific Flake Sea Salt. Cool for 2 minutes before transferring to cooling racks.