This makes the large coffee shop-style cookie, dripping with chocolate, with a savoury character due to the flaky salt topping. The method might seem a bit persnickety, but it makes a delicious cookie. Use a good olive oil; it will add a lovely floral note and complement the characteristic bitterness of chocolate. Use a bittersweet bar (at least 70 per cent) as chips will not spread enough in this cookie.
Not only is the recipe vegan (no eggs, no butter), it would be a great choice for holidays at the cabin—no mixer needed, just a big bowl and a stove. Cookies can be baked 3 days ahead. An option would be to add walnuts or pecan pieces. Adapted from a recipe by Jesse Szewczyk.
| 2⅓ c | unbleached flour, divided |
| ⅔ c | extra-virgin olive oil, divided |
| ¾ c | dark brown sugar (demerara) |
| ½ c | granulated sugar |
| 1 T | vanilla extract |
| ¾ t | kosher salt |
| 1 t | baking powder |
| 1 t | baking soda |
| ¾ c (5-6 oz) | bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped |
| flaky sea salt |
Preheat the oven to 375° and place racks in upper and lower thirds of the oven.
Cook ⅓ cup flour and ⅓ c olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring constantly until the mixture darkens slightly and starts to smell nutty, about 5 minutes. Take off the heat and transfer to a large heatproof bowl. Let cool 20 minutes.
Add ¾ cup brown sugar, ½c granulated sugar, vanilla extract, the remaining ⅓ cup oil, and ⅓ cup water to the oil and flour mixture. Vigorously whisk until the sugar dissolves slightly, about 60 seconds. Whisk together the salt, baking powder and baking soda with the remaining 2 cups flour. Stir into the sugar oil mixture until there are no visible pockets of flour remaining. Add the chocolate and nuts if using and stir to evenly distribute.
Scoop out the soft cookie dough, one at a time, using a #16 cookie scoop or ¼-cup measure and place on 2 parchment-lined cookie sheets, spacing about 2″ apart; 6 cookies per sheet. Sprinkle tops with a little flaky sea salt.
Bake, rotating baking sheets top to bottom and front to back halfway through, until the tops are puffed and cracked, 11–13 minutes. Firmly tap baking sheets on counter once or twice to deflate the cookies, then let them cool on baking sheets at least 1 hour before serving. (Cookies will be very soft when hot.) Makes 12 very large cookies.