Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have to confess.
Never.
I have never in my life made chocolate chip cookies!!
The easiest recipe you could only imagine, chocolate chip cookies are something that even  child can make. I'd say that these cookies are what children learn to bake in the first place. And now it is my turn.

Not so long ago I've got in the mail  Izy's Top With Cinnamon Cookbook. I've been waiting for this book since summer, but it was delivered to me only the end of October. A month later than to  the USA and UK readers. And actually yeah, I felt a little bit  envy that most of the bloggers have already cooked from it! I was looking through their posts and was dying to just hold it in my arms, let alone baking. You can have a look at these amazing posts by Two Red Bowl, My Name is Yeh and The Vanilla Bean Blog .

In case you don't know (but...hey, is it possible not to know Izy by now?..she is famous!) Izy was only 18, when she wrote her book. Isn't it exiting? I do not know how she managed to handle blog, school attendance and writing a book at the same time, but she did it. And she did it brilliantly!

A lot of great things were said about Izy's book and I am no exception. You won't find there obscure, difficult to understand recipes. Quite the contrary, she wrote her book simply and very popular. No fancy ingredients or intricate techniques. By the way, aside from cookies, buns and cakes you'll also find in the book two chapters devoted to sides and mains.  Plus Izy completed the book with a very useful How To chapter, where she shared the most essential basics, knowing which you will be able to create your own recipes. For example, a lot of basic dough recipes, salted caramel sauce or almond butter.

To tell the truth, when I took a book for a first time, I was totally absorbed with it. And I couldn't choose what to begin with. I wanted to cook every single recipe. But last week I was really short of time. Remember I mentioned about The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which I had to learn by heart in Ukrainian and German? So, you can congratulate me now! I received an excellent grade. However I wasn't terrifically happy about it - I was exhausted and moreover I caught a cold. All these made me feel like I am more dead than alive.

So I fixed upon the easy recipe, that I wouldn't make a mess of.  Izy called it BEST (and the most kick-ass) Chocolate Chip Cookies.  And they are indeed BEST! Though I've never made one myself, but I tasted a lot of them. And I can with certainty declare that these cookies are best.  What I like most about them is that they are topped with sea salt...and ,gosh, you have no idea how much I like this combination. I've once made Hot Chocolate with Salted Whipped Cream and since then I am fully and totally in love with the "chemistry" of dark chocolate and sea salt.

Notes

• Izy recommends adding a little of basil flavor to the cookies, but your certainly can leave that out. Since I am sick with a cold and I didn't want to go out in that damp and heavy fog to buy only basil leaves, I  decided that the cookies would be great as they are. 
• If you want to use basil, melt the butter with 4 tbsp fresh basil leaves as it is said in the recipe, let cool for the minutes and then strain through the sieve to take out the basil.
• Izy says the recipe makes 16 large cookies, but I had only 10. I don't know, maybe my "large" is slightly different. I used an ice cream scoop to form the cookies.
• You can make and form the dough and then refrigerate it for up to a week. It will give a more tender texture and richer flavour. 
• I prefer cookies warm, so I put them in microwave for half a minute before serving.  

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

makes 10 very large -16 large  cookies

Ingredients
140 g unsalted butter
1 tbsp vanilla extract
125 g all-purpose flour
85 g whole-wheat flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt, plus more for sprinkling
110 g granulated sugar
140 g light brown sugar
1 egg
200 g dark chocolate, chopped

Directios
See notes above, if you want to add basil flavor. In a saucepan melt the butter until it becomes fluffy and and smells nutty, stir in vanilla extract and set aside to cool for 10 minutes.

In a large bowl mix all dry ingredients - flour, baking powder and baking soda, salt, sugar. Pour in the butter and mix until it looks crumbly. Mix in one egg, then add chopped chocolate and stir until incorporated.

Form 10-16 equal balls (I used an ice cream scoop) and place them on a lined baking tray. Make sure the cookies are 7.5 cm (3-inches) apart, since they are going to spread out in the oven. Cover with a cling film and put in the fridge to rest for 1 hour (or up to a week - see notes above).

Preheat oven to 200 C (400 F).

Sprinkle cookies with sea salt. Bake for 8-12 minutes. Let cool on a baking tray for 5 minutes, than transfer on a wire wrack.

-Xo xO