I get it, we’re still in the getting-to-know-you phase. You still don’t know that much about me, so let me share a secret. I love – L-O-V-E – dessert. Sure, added sugar isn’t the healthiest thing in the world, but I’m a big believer in everything in moderation and enjoying the life you live. For me, some of that joy comes from indulging in a sweet treat.

Now if I’m going to indulge, what goes in sure as heck better be worth it. One dessert that definitely is (in my opinion) are my Break ‘N Bake Chocolate Chip Cookies. Slightly soft with a mild crust, buttery, chocolatey, and just enough salt-to-sweet to make your tongue do a happy tango. I recognize this may not be your jam (hey, my dad likes his almost rock hard from the freezer and thin as can be), but if it is, keep reading for the recipe and what makes these puppies so damn delicious.

THE METHOD

I’m not going to lie, it took a lot of soul searching (er, baking) to get this one right. It all started with a college roommate’s family recipe. The secret ingredient, instant vanilla pudding mix. The addition of this one ingredient resulted in pillowy-soft chocolate chip cookies that were o so good! Unfortunately, I didn’t save her recipe, so I Google-searched like a mad woman for something similar.

I found this recipe from one of my fav food blogs, Two Peas in their Pod, and gave it a whirl. Actually, for quite sometime I made this recipe as is, only straying as far to add in dark chocolate chips because—do I need a reason? Two Peas’ recipe resulted in the same pillowy-soft mounds of chocolate chip goodness, consistently, but (and you’ll learn this about me) I like to experiment. This may mean merging several recipes together, adding a hint of something extra that just feels right, or simply swapping one ingredient for another. Sometimes I go back to the original (if it ain’t broke..), while other times I wow myself with the tweaked version, like these puppies.

So I got to experimenting. A good friend of mine once told me she makes her chocolate chip cookies with brown sugar only. Her cookies, too, were crowd pleasers. I went full monty on the brown sugar train. I got it! The brown sugar caramelizes a bit when baked, which lends itself to that slight crust I mentioned. The juxtaposition of the crust against the pillowy-soft cookie is textural heaven.

These were good to go, right? Not quite. Now I’ve had several cookies in my day, and one trick I’ve found to set great chocolate chip cookies apart from good ones is at least two types of chocolate. I decided to stray from full dark to a mixture of equal parts dark and semi-sweet chips. Better! College roommate’s version were made with milk chocolate, which was too sweet for my liking. Semi-sweet only was also too sweet—hence my original decision to go all dark. Dark was great, but the dance between dark and semi-sweet really started to push these cookies over the edge. But I was still missing that je ne sais quoi. What was it?

Then the light bulb went off. Maybe it was due to the salted caramel craze (who knows!), but I thought, there is something inexplicable about salt and sweet when paired together. Why not play with that ingredient next? I tried increasing the salt, baking with salted butter, adding kosher salt on top. None were the exact punch I was looking for. Enter, Fleur de Sel. This flaky goodness was on some of my favorite dishes and baked goods, including my favorite cupcake (Fleur de Sel at Vanilla Bakeshop in Santa Monica—just do it!). So, I made my recipe, with currently loved tweaks so far, kept the salt measurement as is from Two Peas’ recipe, but topped the dough dollops with Fleur de Sel. THIS WAS IT! The salt punch against the sweetness of the dough and richness of the chocolates made for cookie nirvana.

These bad boys are good on their own, with a glass of milk, or even sandwiched with your favorite ice cream in between (I warned you, I’m a glutton for dessert!).

What makes them Break ‘N Bake? I typically make a batch of dough, portion out the cookie balls, and freeze them. Why? I can take out one or two or four (if enjoying with hubs), and have freshly baked goodness in a matter of 20 minutes. There’s nothing like a cookie still warm from the oven, and, packed away in the freezer, they’re just enough work to ensure they stay a treat.

 

If you’ve kept on this long, you’ve got to be wondering, where’s that damn recipe already? Just below! 

Until We Meet Again,

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THE RECIPE

Adapted from: Two Peas in their Pod
Yield: 3 dozen cookies
Bake Time: 12-14 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3.4 oz package instant vanilla pudding*
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract**
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips + 1 cup dark chocolate chips***
• Fleur de Sel, for garnish

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
2. Using a mixer, beat together butter and brown sugar on medium-high speed until creamed {hyperlink}.
3. Reduce mixer speed to medium low. Add in pudding mix, eggs, and vanilla extract, one at a time, scraping down sides to make sure all ingredients are fully incorporated.
4. Reduce mixer speed to low. Add the flour, salt, and baking soda mixture. Once dry ingredients start incorporating into the wet, increase speed slowly and mix until just combined.
5. Reduce mixer speed back to low and add in dark and semi-sweet chocolate chips until just combined.

Let’s Bake!
To make same day:

1. Chill dough in the refrigerator at least one hour, covered.
2. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
3. Using a rounded tablespoon scoop, portion out cookie dough onto a prepared baking sheet. Smash slightly with the palm of your hand to create a rounded disk. Garnish with a generous pinch of Fleur de Sel.
4. Bake for 12-14 minutes.
5. When finished baking, allow cookies to rest on baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to wire rack or popping in your mouth.

Freezing for later?

1. Use a rounded tablespoon scoop, portion out cookie dough, press balls slightly with the palm of your hand to create a rounded disk, and place in a freezer safe tupperware until baking day.
2. When ready to bake, pull the desired number of dough disks out of the freezer and place on a prepared cookie sheet.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. It’s important to let you frozen dough warm a bit while the oven preheats, so don’t forget this step!
4. Just before you pop in the oven, garnish dough disks with a generous pinch of Fleur de Sel.
5. Bake for 12-14 minutes.
6. When finished baking, allow cookies to rest on baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to wire rack or popping in your mouth.

Baker’s Notes:

• Make sure you purchase regular vanilla pudding mix, not French Vanilla (*)
• I’m a fan of Bourbon Vanilla Extract. I use it in all my baking (**)
• For the chocolate chips, I use Nestle Toll House Semi-Sweet and Ghirardelli 60% cocoa for the dark (***)
• I’ve found the perfect baking time for my oven is 13 minutes, 30 secs. Like yours more under or overdone? Decrease or increase baking time as necessary.
  
• Whether baking same day or freezing for later, it’s important to let cookies rest for 2 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack or eating right away.
  
• If you’ve made these cookies, love them, and skipped ahead to the recipe initially, I encourage you to revisit THE METHOD to understand how this chocolate chip cookie goodness came to be.