Salted Chocolate Oat Cookies
Chopped chocolate rather than chips, so it melts into seams instead of staying in little buttons.
Chocolate chips are made not to melt. That is the point of them, and it is the wrong property for a cookie you want to have pockets of chocolate running through it.
A chopped bar gives you dust as well as chunks, and the dust is what streaks the dough brown at the edges.
Ingredients
| Amount | Ingredient |
|---|---|
| 1/2 cup | butter, softened |
| 1/2 cup | brown sugar |
| 1/4 cup | white sugar |
| 1 | egg |
| 3/4 cup | plain flour |
| 1 cup | rolled oats |
| 1/2 tsp | baking soda |
| 5 oz | dark chocolate, chopped rough |
| — | flaky salt, to finish |
Method
- Beat the butter and both sugars for two minutes, until it lightens. This is the aeration and there is no shortcut.
- Beat in the egg.
- Fold in the flour, oats and baking soda, then the chocolate. Stop as soon as it comes together.
- Chill the dough thirty minutes. It spreads far less and browns better.
- Heat the oven to 350°F. Rough balls on a lined tray, well spaced.
- Twelve minutes. They will look underdone in the middle, which is correct. Flaky salt on top while they are hot, then leave them on the tray five minutes.
Notes
- Taking them out looking underdone is the difference between chewy and hard. They set on the tray.
- The dough keeps three days in the fridge and bakes better on day two.
- Fine salt on top dissolves and tastes only of salt. Flakes are the point.
Questions
Can I skip the chilling?
You can, and they spread thin and pale. Thirty minutes is the smallest amount that makes a visible difference.
Milk chocolate?
It works and it is much sweeter. Cut the white sugar to two tablespoons if you use it.
Why brown sugar and white?
Brown brings the moisture and the chew, white brings the spread and the crisp edge. Either one alone makes a cookie missing something.