Double Chocolate Fleur de Sel Cookies are chocolate chip cookies for adults. A deep, rich dark chocolate cookie studded with semi sweet chocolate chips sprinkled with Maldon sea salt flakes. This recipe is my adaption of the flagship cookie from Bobbette and Belle bake shop.
Their cookbook was gifted to me several years ago but beyond drooling over all of the stunning photography I hadn’t tried any of their recipes. I pulled it from my cookbook library this past fall and have been systematically working my way through the chapters.
Every recipe has been spot on gorgeous until now. Once I had the Double Chocolate Fleur de Sel cookie batter mixed together, I was convinced I’d left something out. The batter was dry as sawdust. Because all the other recipes had been so successful, I wondered if there’d been a typo.
I checked on line to see if anyone else had an issue with the recipe and sure enough they had.
The Double Chocolate Fleur de Sel cookie dough was too dry to shape into balls with a scoop or with your hands. Rather than throw the batter away, I added cold water until the cookie dough clung together.
Controlling the addition of water one tablespoon at a time allowed the dough to form a mass before becoming too wet. As soon as I had a pliable cookie dough, I portioned it with my retractable cookie scoop. I used a small water glass to gently flatten the cookie balls then popped them in the oven. The original recipe instructed me to add the fleur de sel after they baked which felt counter intuitive. How could the dry salt stick to a dry cookie. It doesn’t.
I should have listened to my gut and sprinkled the fleur de sel on top of the raw cookie dough.
The original recipe didn’t work for me but with a couple of tweaks the cookies didn’t just work they were delicious. It’s frustrating to follow a recipe only to have it fail. Also, natural to think it’s your fault. I’m here to tell you to trust your instincts. If something doesn’t feel or look right with the recipe, chances are something’s wrong. However, when the author is singing the recipe’s praises it’s worth trying to figure it out.
Thanks for reading.
Ingredients
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder - use the best quality you can find. I used Rodelle Organic Baking Cocoa from Costco
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup loosely packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 tablespoons cold water
1 tablespoon Maldon Sea Salt Flakes(approximately), for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and 1 teaspoon of the fine sea salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy, about three minutes.
- With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the creamed butter mixture, mixing until just combined.
- Add the chocolate chips and continue to mix until well incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl at least once.
- Add 3 tablespoons of water and mix until the mixture clings together in a mass.
- Roll the cookie dough into 1 inch balls using your hands or use an ice-cream scoop to portion the dough. Arrange 24 balls on each lined baking sheet, leaving a bit of space between them.
- Gently press the balls down with the bottom of a glass until they are approximately 1/2 inch thick.
- Sprinkle the raw cookies with the sea salt flakes.
- Bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until the cookies are firm to the touch. Remove the cookies from the oven.
- Allow the cookies to cool slightly on the baking sheets before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. The cookies can be stores in an airtight container for up to one weeks.
Notes
THE LOVE: I always do a test cookie to figure out the exact bake time. Also, remember that the cookies will continue to bake after they come out of the oven. You want them firm to the touch but not hard when you remove them from the oven.
