My Holiday Gift to you... Cookies :)!

Every year I like to bake cookies for my close friends and co-workers, who doesn't love homemade cookies right? I thought I would try something new this year and this recipe caught my eye. First of all, I'm a sucker for anything with dark chocolate. Wait pistachios and smoked sea salt in a cookie, what the what? Where do I find smoked sea salt anyway? Luckily living in LA, you can find these things pretty easily. This cookie is sublime, all my friends can attest that this flavor combo is a WINNING amalgamation! That smoky essence from the salt puts this cookie over the top. Yeah I'm definitely keeping this recipe at the top of my repertoire!

Dark Chocolate with Pistachio and Smoked Sea Salt Cookies

(recipe courtesy of Joy The Baker, makes roughly 24 cookies)

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup of unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips

1 cup shelled pistachios, coarsely chopped

smoked sea salt for topping

I found this Maldon smoked sea salt at Surfas in Culver City

DIRECTIONS

1. Place rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat at 300 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

2. Using a mixer, beat the butter and sugars in a bowl until and pale and fluffy for about 4 minutes.

3. Add the egg and beat in for 1 minute.  Then add vanilla extract and beat in to incorporate.

4. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda & salt. Then add the whole flour mixture into the butter mixture. Beat on low speed until incorporated. 

5. Add the nuts and chocolate chips and mix everything together.

6. Dollop 2 Tablespoon scoops of the cookie dough onto the baking sheets. Leave about 2" of room in between each cookie. 

7. Sprinkle generously with smoked sea salt. (I dusted the dough, I didn't go crazy with the salt as I found it to be quite strong in flavor.)

8. Bake the cookies 15 - 18 minutes, until golden brown. (my oven runs hot so it took 15 minutes) 

9. Remove from the oven and let cool on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

10. Cookies will last 4 days if stored in an air tight container but I doubt you will have any left after a couple days :)!!