Monster Chocolate Chip Cookies with Molasses and Walnuts
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When we lived in Seattle, we had unlimited access to one of my favorite grocery stores on Earth— Metropolitan Market. Met Market, so called by locals, is a cross between Whole Foods and Fresh Market, but with an added local co-op feel. The stores are filled with lots of produce, local varieties and harder to locate items, a cheese monger who stands behind a case overflowing with cheeses you’ve never heard of (and who always seemed so excited to spend an extra ten minutes in cheese explanation and tasting), and a wine selection that rivaled local wine shops. I loved all of it, but my favorite part of the store was the deli and bakery. There was a Met Market located a block away from my office and often (far more often than I liked to admit to), I would “forget” to pack lunch and have to make the trip to Met Market for midday sustenance. I did this for the melty ham and brie baguette in the deli and the Met Market “Cookie” in the bakery. The Cookie is hands-down the best chocolate chip cookie I have ever eaten. They are giant—dwarfing the size of my hand and at least an inch thick. When they come out of the oven, they sit perched atop a cookie sheet, displayed behind the glass barricade as if keeping watch over the store. When you order one, it’s always warm and gooey, and they have small gift bags, printed with black and white stripes that read “The Cookie” that make you feel like you just went shopping at a high-end department store when you walk out, cookie in hand. It’s absolutely magical.
Since my closest Met Market is now located 3,000 miles away, I started working on my own version of “The Cookie”. Though they differ slightly from their inspired-version, these monster chocolate chip cookies are everything you want in a giant cookie. The edges are crisp and golden brown, with middles that are gooey when fresh from the oven and soft and chewy after cooling. I used molasses for a rich, brown sugar flavor and to give a bit more moisture to the cookie and studded them with toasted walnuts. I am not joking when I say “monster cookie” because each of these weighs a whopping 6 oz and uses more chocolate than you think they should. Trust me on this, the bigger and chocolatey-er the better.
P.S. Don’t forget that flaky Maldon salt to finish! It’s the best part of any great cookie.
Monster Chocolate Chip Cookies with Molasses and Walnuts
Yield: 10 giant cookies
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups (200g) cake flour
1 1/2 cups (200g) bread flour
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup (117g) granulated sugar
1 1/4 cup (260g) brown sugar
1/4 cup (65g) molasses
1 cup (226g) butter, cold and cubed
17.5 oz (500g) dark chocolate, chopped
1 cup (110g) walnuts, slightly toasted and roughly chopped
flaky salt, such as Maldon, for finishing
Procedure:
In a medium bowl, whisk together cake flour, bread flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Cream together, scraping down the sides of the bowl a couple of times, until the mixture is light and sandy and no streaks of butter remain.
Add the molasses and vanilla and mix until combined. Add the eggs, one at time, scraping the bowl well after each addition, and mix until homogenous.
Decrease the mixer speed to low and gradually add flour mixture, a little at a time, until everything is just combined and no flour streaks remain. Pull the bowl off of the stand mixer and use a rubber spatula to fold the mixture a couple of times, scraping down the sides of the bowl and making sure that everything is well combined. Return to the mixer.
Add chocolate pieces (optional: reserve 1/4 or so of chocolate chunks to dot on the tops of the cookies once scooped) and walnuts to the bowl and mix on low speed until evenly distributed, about 30 seconds.
Using a kitchen scale, divide the dough into 6 oz portions and roll into large balls. Place them on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and top each cookie with a few strategically placed pieces of chocolate. Cover the cookie sheet in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour, preferably overnight.
When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350° F. Place four cookies on another parchment lined cookie sheet, leaving lots of space between them (about 1-1/2”). Bake for 20-25 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time. When the edges are almost golden brown and the center is dry to the touch, pull the cookies from the oven and bang the pan on the counter 2-3 times to let the chocolate puddle and return to the oven for another 1-2 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven, sprinkle with flaky salt, and let them cool on the pan for 5-10 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. Repeat with the rest of the cookies, or keep the cookies in your fridge and bake them off one by one when you really need cookie. They will keep in the fridge for 3 days. You can also transfer the cookie balls to a large freezer bag and freeze them to bake off at a later time. If baking from frozen, add another 5-8 minutes onto the baking time and keep a close eye on them to make sure that they don’t get too crispy.
