For best results please weigh all ingredients in grams. Recipe yields 13 cookies.
Ingredients:
185g ( about 1 1/3 cups) All purpose flour
4g (1 tsp) baking soda
3g ( generous ½ tsp) salt
115g (one stick or 8 TBSP) plant butter
85g (½ cup) packed brown sugar
55g vegan egg *see instructions
75g (6 TBSP) granulated sugar
4g (1 tsp) vanilla extract
128g (1 cup) chopped chocolate
Optional:
32g (¼ cup) chopped toasted nuts
Coarse flaky salt, chocolate shards, nuts for garnish
Mise en place all ingredients.
Making the flax egg:
In a heavy bottom pot combine ¼ cup ground flax to 1 cup of water. Whisk until completely combined. Allow to come to a boil on medium heat. Allow to boil for 30 seconds to 1 minute. The mixture should be gelatinous and look similar to the consistency of an egg white. Take off heat and allow to cool completely before use. This recipe calls for 55g of this flax mixture. You will have leftover flax egg.
Browning the butter:
Place butter into a pan on medium low heat. Cook for 5-8 minutes or until butter begins to bubble and a foam forms on top. Once the foam forms swirl until just golden, remove from heat and allow it to slightly cool.
Toasting the nuts:
Add 1 tsp of olive oil, nuts, and ¼ tsp of salt to a pan on medium heat. Toast nuts until golden brown making sure to stir frequently so they do not burn. Remove from heat and allow to cool. You want the nuts to be a little warm when they are mixed into the dough.
Making the cookie dough:
To a medium size bowl sift flour, salt, and baking soda. Whisk gently to combine. In a mixer add browned butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Mix on low until incorporated scraping sides of bowl to make sure everything is combined. Next, add vegan egg and vanilla extract. Mix on low until the sugar and butter become a caramel like color and consistency. Gradually incorporate dry ingredients about ¼ cup at a time on low speed. You do not want to over mix because the cookies will become tough and cakey. When half of the flour is incorporated, scrape sides of bowl. Continue to gradually add the flour until just combined. Remove bowl from mixer. Add chopped chocolate, warm nuts, and mix. You can also use your hands to mix the dough so everything is evenly incorporated. Cover dough and rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour so that the gluten has time to relax and the dough can chill. Please note the cookies will not come out correctly if you do not allow them to chill for at least one hour.
Baking the cookies:
Remove dough from the fridge. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. Using a cookie scoop, scoop cookies onto a lined baking tray. Shape cookies into circular disks with hands. Press a shard of chocolate and a few nuts onto the top of each cookie. Bake for 6 minutes and 30 seconds. Please note that the bake time may differ depending on how hot your oven gets. Remove cookies from oven and drop baking tray onto a flat surface 2-3 times so the cookies spread and chocolate puddles appear. Rotate the baking tray so the cookies that were in the front are now facing the back. Bake for another 6 minutes and 30 seconds until golden or until your kitchen begins to smell like cookies. Remove from the oven, drop the baking tray one more time, and immediately sprinkle cookies with flaky salt. Allow to cool slightly and devour. They are best warm fresh out of the oven.