Olive Oil Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Olive Oil Chocolate Chunk Cookies - made dough October 19, 2022 from Love and Olive Oil 

1 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (230 grams) all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

3/4 cup (175 grams) light brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup dark chocolate, coarsely chopped, reserving a handful

sea salt for topping, optional

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together olive oil, brown sugar and granulated sugar until well blended. Add egg and egg yolk and beat on high speed for 30-60 seconds until smooth. Beat in vanilla.
3. Add dry ingredients and beat on low speed until just combined. Fold in chocolate chunks, reserving a small amount.
4. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and chill overnight.
5. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
6. Portion dough into golf-ball-size dough balls and flatten slightly. Evenly space on baking sheets and bake 9-11 minutes or until edges are set and middles no longer look raw. Press reserved chocolate chunks gently over baked cookies. Let rest on baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely. Sprinkle with sea salt if desired.

In case you're a regular baker and haven't been living under a rock, you might have noticed by now how expensive butter's gotten lately. I'm in the "life is better with butter" camp so it's a little cringey when even Costco has their 4-pack for just under $15. Not too long ago, it seems, it was under $9.

Most bakers online seem to be trying the switch to Crisco or margarine. You gotta do what you gotta do but I haven't gone that far yet. But I did find this recipe that uses olive oil instead of butter and I decided to give it a try. Even though the triple digit temps of summer has passed, at least where I live, it never hurts to have a repertoire of non-butter recipes when sending care packages to the Middle East for deployed troops.

I'm happy to say this recipe turned out pretty well. Not greasy or oily and it doesn't have any weird after taste. Butter still delivers a softer cookie but this is a pretty decent substitute. I didn't have a block of chocolate to chop into chunks so I went with chocolate chips and it was still fine.

I did use a baking blend olive oil but I think this would be fine with regular extra virgin olive oil. The dough gets stiff so it's best to portion into dough balls first then chill. As you can see, it didn't spread much so form the dough into thick discs rather than round dough balls if you want a more uniform cookie.