Metropolitan Bakery Chocolate Chip and Dried Cherry Cookies
Why I Love This Recipe
I am always finding how much I love sweet and salty flavors together so when I saw this recipe in the latest issue of Philadelphia Magazine I just had to try them. Everyone who has tasted them really likes the unusual taste of the cookies and many ask for the recipe. The recipe seems kind of long, but it does a lot of explaining, it is not complicated at all!
Ingredients You'll Need
1 cup rolled oats
3 cups all purpose flour
1 3/4 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 3/4 cups light brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate chunks
1 1/4 c. dried tart cherries
4 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
Directions
Using a food processor, grind oats into a fine flour. (I used a blender.)
In a bowl, sift all-purpose flour with baking powder and baking soda. Add oat flour and kosher salt
Using an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars until light in color and texture, about 3 minutes.
Add eggs 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Stir in vanilla.
Add flour mixture and mix until just combined.
Fold in chocolate and cherries.
Using a large ice-cream scoop, portion cookie dough into 18 balls. (I don't know what kind of ice cream scoop they used but I used the biggest cookie scoop I have and got way more than 18?)
Place cookies on a parchment-lined tray.
Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate over night.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Place cookies on an ungreased baking sheet 2 inches apart.
Press slightly to flatten cookies and sprinkle each cookie with 1/4 teaspoon sea salt.
Bake until cookies are golden brown around the edges. 15 to 18 minutes.
Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool. Makes 18 cookies.
**Tip Use high quality "pure" not "imitation" vanilla extract for this recipe.
**Tip Look for bittersweet chocolate that's 60 to 70% cacao. Recommended brands Callebaut and Scharffen Berger.
** No the oats don't make these cookies healthy, but they do give them a crisp texture and a slight nuttiness.
**Tip Chilling the dough improves the texture (It lets the flour's gluten relax, for a more tender cookie) and the flavor. After 3 days though, the baking soda and baking powder lose some of their leavening power.
**Tip, affordable, reliable kosher slat is a staple in the Metropolitan bakery kitchen, but delicate, briny fleur de sel is best for finishing these cookies.
