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Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Salted & Malted Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Catchy name isn't it? It's been a fun few days for me trying to perfect this recipe, because it means I have a constant supply of cookies on my kitchen counter. And my whole house smells like cookies. Heck, even my hair was smelling like cookies. For those of you who love chocolate chip cookies as much as I do, you know this is a good thing.
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Besides the catchy name, keep an open mind about these cookies and don't get knock 'em til you've tried them. They came about because I've been wanting to try a bunch of different experiments with my chocolate chip cookies. Not that there's anything wrong with my regular foolproof chocolate chip cookie recipe, but I'd seen a few different variations recently and I wanted to try it out for myself.
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The first experiment was adding lots of salt, after having these awesome salty chocolate chip cookies at Hart's Pub during the Gourmet Rabbit launch party. Apparently it was the same cookie dough they use for their chocolate chip cookie skillet and it was eye-opening. The extra dash of salt really balanced out the sweetness of the chocolate in these freshly baked cookies, making them so intensely moreish. The other recipe I was interested in trying was Pioneer Woman's Malted Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies because how darn good do they look?!
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I decided to kill two birds with one stone. Actually it was going to be three, since my brother recently asked why I hadn't done anything with salted caramel in a while, so I was going to make them malted & salted caramel chocolate chip cookies. But after throwing some chopped up soft caramel chews into my first batch of cookie dough, I watched as these cookies bubbled and gooped themselves all over the tray and then cooled into a hard crunchy disk of messiness, all because of the caramel. As soon as I realised what was happening I made this panicked squeaking noise and then ran back to the remaining cookie dough to dig out the rest of the caramel pieces. After that I tried chopping up maltesers (or malted milk balls for those in the US) and sprinkling them on top. This sort of worked; it was delicious but the chocolate on the maltesers bubbled up and looked pretty darn ugly. Hm. A was more than happy to eat up the failed batches, something about the salt levels and the caramel helped to overcome his general lack of interest in cookies.
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So with my final attempt at these cookies I kept it simple. It was my regular cookie dough with a large amount of extra salt plus tons of chocolate chips to help balance it out, and a good amount of malted milk powder. The result was this beauty of a cookie - thin, chewy in the centre with a golden, buttery crunch around the edges. The Salted & Malted Chocolate Chip Cookie! For some of the batches I baked them a little longer so they went dark golden brown and were crunchy all the way through (the way I usually like my cookies, see 3rd photo of this post) and these were great too. Basically it's up to you to decide if you want to make them chewy or crunchy and adjust the baking time accordingly. The hit of malt flavour adds something extra special, making it just like a malteser in cookie form. I used Horlicks, but I'm totally going to use Milo next time! I loved the hit of salt in every bite, I reckon it's a great recipe for anyone who doesn't have much of a sweet tooth. But the sweet tooths will love it anyway, because of all that chocolate ;)
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Salted & Malted Chocolate Chip Cookies
(adapted from my basic chocolate chip cookie recipe, makes 36 cookies)
125g unsalted butter, softened
1 cup tightly packed brown sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup malted milk powder, or Horlicks, Milo or Ovaltine
1 1/4 cups (approx 175g) plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups + 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (or more, because there's no such thing as too much chocolate!)

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and line two cookie sheets with baking paper. Place butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on high until fluffy and pale. Add vanilla and egg and beat on low for a minute to combine. Add malt powder and beat on medium for a minute to combine. With the mixer still on low, add in the sifted flour, baking powder and salt until just combined. The dough should come together and be quite dry and a bit sticky. Using a wooden spoon fold through 1 & 1/2 cups of chocolate chips.
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Place level tablespoons of cookie mixture on a lined baking tray, press dough down to form a flat disk, about 1 cm high and 5 cm diameter. leaving at least 3cm space around each cookie to allow it to spread. With the extra 1/2 cup of chocolate chips, press a small amount of extra chips into the surface of each round. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until they start to turn golden brown on the edges. You can bake 2 trays at a time, but make sure to switch the top and bottom trays around halfway through to allow each tray to bake evenly. The sooner you remove them the chewier they will be. If you wish them to be crunchier, leave them in there for longer but make sure the bottoms don't burn (remember they will cook a bit more while cooling on the trays). Allow to cool and harden slightly on the tray for 5 minutes before placing biscuits on a wire rack to cool further.

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29 comments:

  1. I've always loved malt in my milkshake so this would definitely be a winner for me! your more persistant then me in your quest :)

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  2. Damned tasty, but very addictive!

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  3. LOL I made malteaser cookies once and yes you're right, they are pretty damn ugly! Most looked like craters but so so tasty!

    What an adventure to get the recipe right. Gotta love a choc chip cookie!

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  4. Lol how about Smalted Cookies? Oh gawd I want these so bad!

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  5. Yes, the "salted and malted" name is very catchy! Better than that, the cookies themselves look just incredible.

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  6. I am addicted to this kind of cookies.Thanks so much for preparing this recipe. KIsses

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  7. stunning photos. what a beautiful recipe!

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  8. LOVE the title. I die every time I see that cute plastic milk carton. You're making me totally nostalgic for Milo.

    These cookies look & sound awesome, can't wait to try out the malted with the salted. Definitely one to put in my choc chip cookie files. You have the coolest recipes!

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  9. Salted and malted! I love this idea! And now you have me pondering other rhyming recipes to try. lol

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  10. I always love my choco chip to be salted!!! Thanks for sharing!

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  11. Love the milk carton! And the cookies look beautiful! I like your trick of pressing extra chocolate chips onto each cookie before baking - makes them look extra delicious. Have you ever tried using mini marshmallows in your cookies? They caramelize and make the cookie extra chewy! :)

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  12. Beautiful cookies! I have seen a few recipes now with malt powder, but I'm never sure where to find it... Maybe I will just have to order some online!

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  13. Allison - I was able to find it in the supermarket near the hot chocolate drink powder, but I suppose it depends on where you are! You can also try to find any malted drink powders like Horlicks, Milo or Ovaltine :)

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  14. i've never thought of putting salt in cookies, that looks amazing! but im a girl who can't cook :-( will show my aunty this recipe and let her make it for me hahah.
    btw, do you live in sydney to?

    xjanie

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  15. My husband would love me to experiment with chocolate chip cookies. I must bookmark this! :)

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  16. These look delicious! I thought I'd found my fool proof chocolate chip cookie recipe, but lately every time I make them they turn out ridiculously thin. Thus, I am on the search for a new recipe XD

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  17. Awesome! these look brilliant! I'll have to try!

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  18. Hello. I love your page, congratulations. Greetings from the Canary Islands.

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  19. The salt bit is exciting enough, but adding malted turns it into woo-yay-omg territory. Well done! They look super awesome!

    I have to ask... when you dashed to dig out the caramel bits from the batter during your experimenting, did they turn into a cook's treat? :)

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  20. Conor - Of course! How could I resist cookie dough covered caramel pieces? :D

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  21. Yeah, it was a pretty stupid question, I concur :D

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  22. Mine turned brown when I put the milo in something wrong?

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  23. Anonymous - Of course nothing is wrong, milo is brown and will make it turn brown. I didnt use milo so mine didn't turn brown. Isn't this common sense?

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  24. Yumm I absolutley must give these a go, Also can you PLEEEEEEZE tell me where you got the clear milk carton from???? my boys would LOVE these! Im in Adelaide South Australia..... :-D

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    1. It's from Fred so you can find online at heaps of places, just google search 'glass half pint' :)

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  25. Making these now!! They are in the oven! Will let you know how the turn out!!

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  26. They were awesome!!!!! So yummy and morish

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  27. I made these cookies last year & they were a big hit! I'm actually working on a short animation of this recipe for a university assignment - I will try and send it to you on a link once it is complete if you are interested in seeing it :)

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