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Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies are the ultimate chocolate chip cookie recipe: a gooey chocolatey cookie dusted with sea salt to enhance the chocolate flavor. This is my absolute favorite cookie recipe – they’re soft and chewy and perfect.
Salted chocolate chip cookies happen when you make the best chocolate chip cookie and add a hint of salt. I know it sounds weird – add salt to the top of cookies what? But seriously – you know how sometimes cookies seem delicious but just a little boring? Adding a pinch of salt explodes the chocolate flavor in your mouth – it enhances the chocolate and balances the sweetness, especially when you’re using dark chocolate!
It’s such a simple thing, but the sea salt totally elevates the cookies. These are brown butter chocolate chip cookies with lots of melty chocolate are your thing, then this salted chocolate chip cookie recipe is for you.
Ingredient Notes
- Butter: You’ll need unsalted butter for these – you don’t want to brown salted butter since browning it concentrates the flavor. Start with sliced butter so it melts faster.
- Chocolate Chips: Use your favorite brand and flavor – mine are Trader Joe’s! I recommend a dark chocolate for this recipe – either semi-sweet chocolate chips or bittersweet chocolate. You can use chips or chocolate chunks.
- Coarse Sea Salt: For sprinkling on the cookies. You can also use flaked sea salt or kosher salt. I love salted desserts – my salted caramel apple pie is amazing.
How to Make Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Learn how to brown butter – it’s super easy – and adds so much flavor. Basically you’ll just melt and heat the butter until it’s a nice amber color with flecks of brown and lots of foam.
- Scoop two tablespoons of cookie dough to form each ball (I like using a cookie scoop). Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and then chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least one hour.
- Bake the cookies until they just lose their glossy sheen and are light golden around the edges, then sprinkle with sea salt or kosher salt.
Expert Tips
- You can use a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or stir by hand with a spatula or wooden spoon.
- Accurately Measure the Flour: Use a kitchen scale for the most accurate measurement. If you don’t have one, use the spoon and level method for measuring it.
- Chill the Dough: Your patience will be rewarded when you allow the dough to chill. If you skip this step, your cookies will spread too much when you bake them.
- Use a Cookie Scoop: For cookies that are all the same size, use a scoop! It takes all of the guesswork when you form the cookie dough balls.
- Add a Few More Chips: This is optional, but adding a few more chocolate chips on top of the cookies makes them prettier.
FAQ
I do not recommend that for this recipe, because we are browning the butter. You shouldn’t brown salted butter. If you skip the browning step then you can use salted (melted) butter and reduce the salt to 1/4 teaspoon in the recipe.
Wait until the cookies are done baking, and sprinkle the sea salt over the top while they’re still hot.
It enhances the flavor of the cookies. Adding sea salt on top also adds flavor and a crunchy texture.
Salted Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
Recipe Video
Ingredients
- ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter, sliced into tablespoons
- ½ cup (100g) packed brown sugar
- ⅓ cup (67g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ cups (186g) all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups (255g) chocolate chips
- Coarse Sea Salt for topping
Instructions
- Add sliced butter to a saucepan and heat over medium-low heat until melted. Continue cooking, stirring often, until the butter foams and reduces, then turns brown (little flecks of brown will appear). Don’t walk away, this can happen quickly and it can burn fast. Remove from heat.
- Transfer melted butter to a bowl and stir in both sugars until smooth. Mix in egg, vanilla, baking soda, and salt. Stir in flour, then stir in chocolate chips.
- Scoop 2 tablespoon size balls of cookie dough onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. No need to space them at this time. Chill at least 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Space the cookies 2-inches apart on 2 cookie sheets lined with parchment or silicone mats, then bake 10-15 minutes or until they just lose their glossy sheen.
- When done baking, press additional chocolate chips on top and sprinkle with sea salt.
I’ve never made cc cookies without baking soda. That was intentionally omitted, right?
Thank you for catching that! Not sure how that got missed -added it.
But you didn’t add it in the directions?! Or am I blind?
It’s where you add the egg and vanilla!
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