Dark Chocolate, Pistachio, Smoked Sea Salt Cookies

After being publically shamed on my facebook wall (thanks Iris!), I finally found a pocket of time in the dog days of doing nothing at home to write a blog post. My lack of blogging is not to say I haven’t been cooking lots since I returned from the Pine C—there have been oven-dried tomatoes with homemade pesto; figs with goat cheese, honey, and balsamic reduction; tomatillo salsa; and many repeats of summer favorites like the cherry brown-butter tarte—the problem is my fork usually gets to whatever I make before my camera does.

But when I saw all Rob and Iris’ new posts (everything looks scrumptious), I decided enough was enough, and after baking a humble batch of cookies, I stacked them on a plate so that they’d look semi-impressive and whipped out my iPhone to snap a few pics.

I love nuts indiscriminately, and I enjoy cooking and baking with them for a number of reasons.  Firstly, they are equally healthy as they are delicious. Secondly, they lend themselves to countless inappropriate puns. And lastly, the subtle variations in flavors between different kinds of nuts make for infinite imaginative ingredient pairings. Sure, there are some established classics (almonds drizzled with sea salt-caramel… walnuts and blue cheese… hazelnuts with pears and gorgonzola…), but if you take the time to genuinely taste the nut, you can figure out for yourself how best to accentuate its flavors (Cashews and chili? Peanuts and fresh mint? Warm sage-seasoned macadamia nut butter drizzled over roasted squash and peppered with pomegranate seeds? Just snowballing here…)

I wasn’t feeling too inventive, so instead I settled on a recipe from Joy the Baker. Pistachios, dark chocolate, and sea salt sounded like a safe bet, and my family was craving a baked dessert. I made these in the throws of post-wisdom teeth soreness, and, as I wouldn’t be able to chew the end result, one could call it a labor of love. But, as I subscribe to the belief that the dough is always better than the cookie, I can’t pretend to be all that altruistic. I downed at least four cookies worth of dough before popping them in the oven.

And the dough was seriously yummy. Pistachios hold within in them meaty and savory notes, and the smoked sea salt really accentuates this quality. The richness of the dark chocolate keeps the cookie coherent in its sophistication, but the sweetness allows you to call it dessert. Milk chocolate simply won’t do here.

Dark Chocolate, Pistachio, and Smoked Sea Salt Cookies (Adapted from Joy the Baker)

1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature

½ c white sugar

½ c brown sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 ¼ c flour

½ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

1 ½ c dark chocolate chunks (I used 85%)

1 cup shelled, raw pistachios, chopped

smoked salt for topping

Heat oven to 300 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

With an electric mixer, combine butter and sugar until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and beat to incorporate (about 1 minute).

In a separate bowl whisk flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the wet ingredients and beat on a low speed just long enough until everything is combined. Mix in chopped nuts and chocolate. (Note: you might want to refrigerate chocolate beforehand…mine got a bit melty in the process of transferring dough to baking sheet).

Spoon out (or use your hands to guesstimate) about two tablespoons worth of dough onto the baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between cookies. Sprinkle cookies with smoked sea salt. Bake for about 20 minutes or until they seem done. Let cool for 15 minutes.

Whatever your dental status, may you have a wonderful dough-licking, cookie-crunching, smokey, chocolatey, nutty experience!

Amanda