From the Kitchen: Maldon Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies

My sister-in-law made these cookies for a girls' night - they are SO good!  I am a sucker for the sweet/salty combo.  The Maldon sea salt is what completely makes these cookies - I bought it on Amazon, but they also sell it at Central Market locally.  They're huge, crunchy flakes (as opposed to crystals) of salt - they give a perfect salty crunch to these cookies!

These cookies are made using frozen dough; the recipe below yields a large batch (40 cookies), so the dough is perfect to make in advance and pull out of the freezer for homemade cookies in minutes!  I freeze the dough on a cookie sheet and, once frozen, transfer the dough to a freezer Ziploc bag.

Maldon Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted from Draper James
Yield: 40 cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup old-fashioned oatmeal

1 cup butter (two sticks), room temperature

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 eggs

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 cups chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet)

Maldon sea salt for sprinkling

Directions:

Place the oatmeal in a blender or food processor (I used a Magic Bullet) and blend until it's a fine powder.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the 2 sticks of butter, brown sugar, and sugar, and mix on medium speed until fluffy.  Add the vanilla extract and 2 eggs, and mix until well combined.  Add the dry ingredients (oatmeal powder, flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon), and mix until just combined (do not overmix).  Stir in the chocolate chips.

Using a cookie scoop (I use this one), drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto a parchment-paper lined cookie sheet.  Place in the freezer for at least 1 hour (the cookies are baked using frozen dough).

To bake, preheat the oven to 350.  Place frozen cookie dough on a greased or parchment-paper lined cookie sheet, sprinkle with Maldon sea salt, and bake for 12 minutes.  The cookies should be lightly browned on the edges but soft in the middle.

From the Kitchen: DoubleTree Hotel Copycat Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies

My sister swears up and down that these are the best chocolate chip cookies out there, so I had to make them!  I don't know that I've ever stayed at a DoubleTree hotel, but they're supposedly the same (or at least similar) to the cookies they serve to guests there.  Regardless, they are fabulous!  The ground oats and walnuts add a great texture to these cookies!

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
2 eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats, ground to a fine texture in a food processor (I used a Magic Bullet)
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used 1 cup mini chocolate chips and 1 1/2 cups regular chocolate chips)
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts

Directions:

Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla, and lemon juice.  Add the eggs and mix until smooth.  Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix well.  Add the chocolate chips and walnuts and mix by hand until the ingredients are well blended.

Chill the dough in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours.  THIS IS CRITICAL TO THE TEXTURE OF THE COOKIES!!!!

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.  Use a cookie scoop to spoon the cookie dough (approximately 1.5 tablespoon portions) onto a Silpat-lined cookie sheet.  Make sure to put the rest of the dough back in the refrigerator between batches!! Bake for approximately 8 minutes* (the cookies will still look slightly underbaked but will continue to bake on the cookie sheet). 

Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool for 2 minutes on the cookie sheet before placing on a wire baking rack.

*8 minutes was perfect in my oven, but all ovens are different; start checking around 7 minutes and continue to bake in 30-second increment until you reach the right level of doneness!