A Chocolate Chip Cookie with a Hint of Holiday
The crispy-chewy ideal, with puddles of chocolate — they require no mixer, and also contain no gluten
I’m a treat-a-day kind of person; my day simply isn’t complete without one. So I believe that it’s always the right time for a cookie. Much of the internet seems to think that now is the right time for a cookie, with the holidays approaching and all. They may do as they wish. But I’ve been fiddling with this recipe for over a year, enjoying it just as much in dewy spring and swampy summer as I am right this moment, on the first day of December.
For this recipe, one of the key inspirations is a cookie at Bakeri, a cafe/bakery in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, near where I live. I’ve loved Bakeri for a while, and feel that they’re a bit of an under-appreciated, hardworking gem in this city that has so many places competing for attention. They’ve been stylishly going strong for almost 15 years! Everyone who works there wears a periwinkle jumpsuit, which is a surprisingly flattering uniform, and for what it’s worth, they make the city’s best cinnamon roll, too.
But the cookie. It’s a hefty, toffee-edged chocolate chip cookie that’s exactly the right kind of gooey in the center. Listen closely when you break it in half and you’ll hear its edges crackle, but the insides make an exciting, damp sound. (Indulge me here, I’m just trying to do it justice.) And if your timing is right, the chocolate still oozes a bit. It’s not doughy. It’s not crisp. It’s the goldilocks cookie, at least by my standards.
It also has a lot of character, being studded with crunchy, whole toasted hazelnuts and perfumed with fresh rosemary, both of which make me think of Christmas regardless of the fact that I eat it all year long. These things add to the cookie, rather than distract from it.
I don’t know their recipe, but I’ve been working their additions into my cookie recipe, which yields smaller, more homestyle ones. The key characteristics are the same, though: buttery-centered, crispy-edged, chocolate-strata’ed. It’s worth noting that my cookie is gluten free (using almond flour in place of all-purpose). There’s also browned butter, and a good amount of salt. It requires no mixer — just a saucepan and a mixing bowl. Use a digital scale and you’ll barely have any dishes to wash.
Perhaps the more appropriate holiday cookie is more decorative, keeps longer, and has a higher yield for cookie boxes and the like. If those are what you’re after, I hope you’re paying attention to what Susan Spungen is doing with her delicious works of art. But these are works of pleasure. Santa will love them, and you will, too — either right now or next June.
Chocolate Chip Cookies with Rosemary & Hazelnuts (GF)
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