A few weeks ago, I threw a secret ingredient into my typical chocolate chip cookie dough and then ever-so-slightly undercooked the cookie. When I took them out of the oven, I didn't love how they looked, but once they cooled a bit and I took a bite — I was blown away. These were the best cookies I'd made in years and I was super excited to share them.
What is this elusive, secret ingredient, you ask? Miso!
Back in the day, Christina Tosi's Milk Bar sold a miso-butterscotch chai, which I always thought was one of the most outrageously delicious sounding beverages to ever exist. Ever since, I've become a true miso adherent — as evidenced by the fact that many of my recipes contain white miso.
I adore miso's versatility, savoriness, umami notes and depth of flavor. It is a great dessert ingredient, by the way — don't be spooked into thinking that it only belongs in savory food.
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I added miso to my cookie dough after trying a miso-sesame cookie from a local (legitimately stellar) temaki restaurant. I didn't love the crunch of the sesame seeds, which added a different flavor component, but I was really fond of the flavor that the miso added.
And while that ingredient does a lot of the heavy lifting, but the brown butter, the cinnamon and the shorter cook-time helps these cookies become something special and altogether unique.
Alas, I present to you: your new favorite cookie!
Ingredients
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons white miso
1 tablespoon vanilla extract or paste
1/4 teaspoon maple extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup oats, pulverized, optional
10 ounces chocolate (chips, bars, chunks)
Flaky salt
Directions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line 2 large cookie sheets with silpat, parchment or spray with cooking spray.
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Over medium-low heat, brown your butter. Remove from heat once especially fragrant and bronzed, swirl or stir a few times to incorporate browned bits and let cool slightly.
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Transfer cooled brown butter to stand mixer or bowl. Mix in sugars and beat well, about 2-3 minutes, until slightly lightened and fluffy.
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Add eggs, one at a time and mix well.
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Add miso and extracts and blend until just combined.
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Add flour, baking soda and powder, salt, cinnamon and oats, if using. Mix until combined and there are no dry pockets of flour remaining.
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Add chocolate and stir in by hand.
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Portion into cookie balls with a small ice cream scoop. Place on prepared cookie sheet with a good inch of so between cookies (they'll spread a bit). Continue until all dough has been portioned.
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Transfer to oven and cook for 9-10 minutes or until the cookie has spread, its edges are slightly beginning to darken and they are slightly puffy.
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Remove from oven, sprinkle with flaky salt, let cool 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool further.
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Try not to burn your mouth on scorching chocolate when you dive in before they're fully cooled. Enjoy!
Cook's Notes
- I've never been into the whole "let your cookie dough rest in the fridge for a few hours or overnight" thing, so I'm skipping that entirely (it's such a long step for not much change in flavor or consistency, at least in my view).
- If miso isn't your favorite, try tahini instead.
-I detest a hard, over-cooked cookie; a slightly undercooked cookie is quite literally always preferable. Furthermore, the cookie will deflate a bit as it cools and cook slightly more (especially if you're letting it rest on the still-hot cookie sheet), so I always err on the side of undercooking a bit
-I love lots of vanilla extract or paste; some recipes call for such a teeny tiny amount and I think that that's silly
-I love the depth and flavor that brown butter adds, which in this case, pairs perfectly with the umami notes of the miso. I haven't made a cookie with un-browned butter in years, but it's obviously an optional step! Feel to skip if you want to get those cookies in the oven just a bit sooner.
-I'm a brown sugar guy, through and through. I love veering to a ratio of much more brown sugar than white sugar in my recipes. Light or dark both work.
- I'm a silpat person, but parchment also always works. If you're foregoing and just placing directly on the cookie sheet, just be mindful that it might be a bit tricky tor remove after cooking. Cooking spray doesn't hurt, either.
- A small ice cream scoop (with a release lever) is so helpful for all things cookie dough.
- I use a stand mixer before mixing in the chocolate by hand, but this whole process could easily be done manually.
- I prefer chocolate chunks or bars over chips, any day of the week. I also like hand-chopped baking chocolate. I've also made the mistake of adding an immense amount of chocolate to cookies in the past, which doesn't ever work out that great. I like a cookie with lots of "cookie" and not all chocolate. I prefer semisweet, but I'm not against any particular type. Use whatever you like best (or whatever you have on hand).
-I like to throw in oats sometimes. You can even pulverize them if you don't like the chew, but enjoy the flavor.
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