Ovenly's Vegan Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies

Amarante

Tue, Nov 17 2015, 6:53 pm

Ovenly's Secretly Vegan Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies

Source: Ovenly: Sweet and Salty Recipes from New York's Most Creative Bakery by Erin Patinkin & Agatha Kulaga (Harlequin, 2014)

Admittedly nothing beats a chocolate chip cookie made with butter but these are darn good.

These MUST be refrigerated for at least 12 hours and 24 hours ideal. Dough can be frozen if you want to freeze balls to bake in small quantities.

Makes approximately 18 cookies

2 cups (250 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1 1/4 cups dark chocolate chips (we prefer chocolate with 60 percent cocoa content or higher)
1/2 cup (100 grams) sugar
1/2 cup (110 grams) packed light or dark brown sugar
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon canola, grapeseed, or any other neutral oil
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon water
Coarse-grained sea salt or flaky sea salt like Maldon, for garnish

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the chocolate chips to the flour mixture and toss to coat.

In a separate large bowl, whisk the sugars briskly with the canola oil and water until smooth and incorporated, about 2 minutes. Note: Use fresh, soft light brown sugar. If there are clumps, break them up with the back of a spoon or your hand before whisking.

Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture, and then stir with a wooden spoon or a rubber spatula until just combined and no flour is visible. Do not overmix.

Cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for at least 12 hours and up to 24 hours. Do not skip this step.

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line two rimmed sheet pans with parchment paper. Remove dough from the refrigerator and use an ice cream scoop or a spoon to portion dough into 2-inch mounds. We recommend freezing the balls of dough for 10 minutes before baking as the cookies will retain their shape better while baking.

Sprinkle the balls of dough with coarse-grained sea salt (if freezing, remove balls of dough from the freezer first), and bake for 12 to 13 minutes, or until the edges are just golden. Do not overbake. Let cool completely before serving.

Variations

*Substitute the chocolate chips with flaked coconut and toasted almonds, and add in ¼ teaspoon almond extract to the oil/water mixture.

*Instead of canola oil, use half hazelnut oil and half safflower oil and add dark chocolate pieces instead of chocolate chips.

*Mix one tablespoon of ground cinnamon into the flour mixture, and add milk chocolate chips and currants.

*Prepare your favorite buttercream recipe and add in ¼ cup bourbon (or even champagne). Mix until smooth and sandwich in between two cookies to make cookie sandwiches.

Amarante

Tue, Nov 17 2015, 7:06 pm

Yes sea salt adds to the end result like salted caramel but no one will shoot you if you don't use. LOL

I don't find that sea salt has such a distinctive taste so much as the texture is different so that it doesn't melt much like the difference between regular sugar and sanding sugar when you decorate cookies. TJ had some little containers of sea salt that were cheap last year so they might still have if you are near a store.

The critical baking outcome is refrigerating the dough for at least 12 hours as it changes the consistency of the flour. There is a recipe with similar long chilling before baking that uses butter.

ETA. I see you are in Israel. Not to be naive or facetious but isn't there a lot of sea salt there?

Amarante

Tue, Nov 17 2015, 8:03 pm

If you are asking about taste, sweet and salty is a very big trend in desserts. The salt enhances and layers the sweetness. If left off it wouldn't be the same and something with the texture if sea salt is necessary so it doesn't become incorporated.

My reference to sea salt and Israel was meant semi tongue in cheek because I had mentioned TJ as being a source. Often sea salt is quite expensive in gourmet stores. I apologize since you appear to have been offended by my off hand comment as my stream of consciousness was thinking of the Dead Sea as being particularly saline LOL