Miso Chocolate Chip Cookies
Miso chocolate chip cookies have a perfect balance of textures: a chewy center and crispy edges, with generous chunks of melted chocolate throughout. The addition of vanilla bean, butter, and a subtle hint of savoriness from miso creates a unique and delicious flavor profile.
Why This Works
When you add miso to the chocolate chip cookie dough and bake it, it creates a delightful nutty and caramel-like flavor that is both fragrant and addictive. My miso chocolate chip cookie recipe strikes the perfect balance, with just the right amount of butter to avoid being overly greasy, a texture that is neither too crunchy nor too soft, and a level of sweetness that is just right. For more cookie recipes, do check out my White Rabbit Candy Milk Cookies recipe!
What is miso?
Miso is an essential condiment in Japanese cuisine that is made by fermenting soybeans, barley, or other grains with salt and a fungus called koji. After a fermentation period of 18 months, these ingredients transform into a paste that has a distinct, savory, nutty, and umami-rich flavor. Miso is considered just as important as soy sauce in Japanese cuisine and used as a seasoning in various dishes.
What are the different types of miso?
Miso comes in a range of flavors that can vary from subtle to strong. The type of miso that you may be most familiar with is red miso, which is often used in miso soup. Red miso has a distinct, strong and bold taste that makes it the richest in flavor among all types of miso. On the other hand, shiro miso, also known as white miso, has a mild and sweet taste and it considered the most subtle type. I personally prefer using shiro for both sweet and savory dishes due to its versatility.
How to Make the Perfect Cookies
1. avoid substitutions
When it comes to cookies, baking is a science and it’s important to stick to the main ingredients: butter, eggs, sugar, flour, salt, and baking powder for the best results. Substitutions are possible as long as they don’t change the chemistry of the recipe. For example, butter is key for flavor and texture, substituting it with another type of fat may change the final outcome.
2. soften your butter
Softened butter is crucial for baking perfect cookies because it helps achieve the ideal texture and structure. When butter is softened, it means it is at room temperature and has a semi-solid consistency. This state allows the butter to cream more effectively with the sugar during the mixing process.
Creaming is the process of beating the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. It creates air pockets in the dough, resulting in a tender and delicate cookie texture. Softened butter is easier to cream because it traps air more efficiently, giving the cookies a light and fluffy texture. On the other hand, using cold butter can make it difficult to cream properly. The cold, solid butter does not incorporate air as effectively, resulting in denser cookies. The dough may also become tougher, as the cold butter takes longer to mix with the sugar.
The time it takes to soften butter depends on your climate and the size of the butter. For instance, if you’re using quarter-sized sticks instead of a whole stick. In warmer summer months, it may take as little as two hours, while in colder winter months, it can take up to four hours for the butter to soften to the desired consistency. If you forget to soften your butter, do not try to melt the butter in the microwave! Using melted butter is also not ideal for cookies. When butter is melted, it loses its structure and becomes a liquid. This can lead to cookies spreading excessively during baking and becoming flat and thin. The melted butter can also affect the dough’s consistency, making it more difficult to hold its shape.
Butter can be kept at room temperature without spoiling due to its low water content and high fat content. It typically contains around 80% fat, which makes it less prone to spoilage compared to foods with higher water content.
3. Add a little pinch of salt
Most dessert recipes will forget to include salt in the list of ingredients. Salt enhances the flavor of cookies and adds balance, so don’t forget to add a pinch. Consider using flakey salt for a rustic look and sprinkle it on before baking so that it adheres to the cookie.
4. Upgrade your chocolate
If you’ve baked with store-bought chocolate chips before, you may have noticed that the chocolate didn’t melt as much as the chocolate in professionally baked cookies you’ve purchased. The reason for this difference is that bakeries often use higher quality chocolate known as feves. Feves are larger and flatter chocolate disks, while regular chocolate chips are teardrop shaped. The larger size and flatter shape of feves allow them to spread out more during baking. As a result, they create broader pools of melted chocolate, which can give the cookies a more attractive and gourmet look.
They often have a higher cocoa butter content compared to regular chocolate chips. Cocoa butter gives the chocolate a smoother and shinier appearance when melted. So, when feves melt in the oven, they can create a glossy and luxurious sheen on the surface of the cookies. They are also often made with higher quality chocolate compared to regular chocolate chips. The higher quality chocolate tends to have a richer flavor and a more complex taste profile. When this delicious chocolate melts and combines with the cookie dough, it can elevate the overall sensory experience, making the cookies look and taste even better. I personally love baking with feves as it gives my cookies a more appealing appearance.
For a more professional-looking cookie, I suggest chopping up the feves into various shapes and sizes. This will create a visually interesting mix of chocolate throughout the cookie. You can fold the chopped chocolate into the cookie dough before baking, ensuring that the chocolate is evenly distributed within the dough. To further enhance the appearance, right before baking, you can also place a few additional chocolate chips on top of each cookie dough portion. This will create enticing pools of melted chocolate on the surface as the cookies bake, giving them an attractive and indulgent look.
5. Use a cookie scooper
Using a cookie scooper simplifies the process, ensures even baking, and produces cookies that look and taste great. It’s a handy tool that can elevate your cookie baking experience.
- It helps ensure consistent cookie sizes and shapes. The scooper allows you to portion out the dough into equally-sized balls, resulting in cookies that bake more evenly. This means all your cookies will have the same thickness and will be done at the same time.
- Using one makes the process easier and more efficient. Instead of using spoons or your hands to shape each cookie individually, you can simply scoop the dough and release it onto the baking sheet. It saves time and reduces the mess, making the baking experience more enjoyable.
- It helps create nicely rounded cookies with a pleasing appearance. The dough is neatly formed into a ball shape, giving the cookies a professional and attractive look. This is particularly important if you’re baking cookies for special occasions or sharing them with others.
6. Allow the oven to heat up to full temperature
Baking requires precise temperature control to achieve the desired results. The oven’s temperature setting indicates the ideal heat level for the specific recipe you’re following. Allowing the oven to preheat ensures that the entire oven cavity reaches the desired temperature before you start baking. If you put your items in before the oven has fully heated, the initial heat may not be sufficient to properly bake your goods.
When you place your batter or dough into a preheated oven, the immediate high heat helps activate the leavening agents (such as baking powder or yeast) quickly. This leads to proper rising and creates the desired texture in your baked goods. Additionally, preheating the oven promotes even cooking throughout the baking process, ensuring consistent results. If you were to skip the preheating step, your baked goods might not rise properly or might cook unevenly. They could end up undercooked in the center or have an uneven texture.
7. Allow the baking tray to cool between uses
To prevent your cookies from becoming misshapen, it’s important to allow the baking tray to cool between uses. This means giving the tray some time to return to room temperature before placing the next batch of cookie dough on it, approximately ten minutes. When the baking tray is hot from the previous batch, it can cause the cookie dough to melt and spread too quickly in the oven. This can result in cookies that are flat, thin, or merge together, losing their intended shape.
This ensures that the cookies will start baking in a properly heated environment. Cooling the tray helps maintain a consistent baking temperature and prevents the cookie dough from spreading too quickly. It allows the cookies to set and hold their shape better during the baking process.
8. How do I get perfectly round cookies?
Reshape cookies before baking and immediately after taking them out of the oven by spinning a pastry ring on top of them, cleaning up the edges while the cookie is still malleable.
Miso Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted Grade AA butter softened
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 3/4 cup Dominos dark brown sugar (or 3/4 cup light brown sugar and 1 tbsp of molasses – this may alter the texture of the cookie however)
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 1 tbsp white miso avoid yellow and red miso
- 1.5 tsp premium vanilla extract
- 1 whole large egg
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 6 oz chocolate coarsely chopped
- 1 tsp flakey salt optional
Instructions
- Prep | Leave the butter out at room temperature for at least two hours until it is softened. If you forget, do not attempt to microwave the butter. Melted butter results in cookie puddles!Preheat the oven to 350°F / 177°C and prepare the center rack 15 minutes before baking.
- Cookie Dough | In a bowl, combine the softened butter, white sugar, and brown sugar. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. If using a hand mixer, whisk for 10 minutes.Add in the vanilla extract, miso, and egg, and continue to beat on high speed until the mixture is uniform. Then, add in the flour, baking soda, salt, and half of the chopped chocolate. Gently mix the ingredients together using a spatula until the flour is mostly incorporated into the dough, preventing it from scattering. Finally, mix with a mixer for one minute.
- Bake | Line a 9×13 baking tray with parchment paper. Using a 5 cm cookie scoop, scoop 6 level scoops of cookie dough onto the tray, spacing them 3 inches apart. Top each mound with additional pieces of chopped chocolate flat side down.Bake for 10-14 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are lightly golden brown but the center is still slightly undercooked/doughy. The cookies will set after cooling.Sprinkle the cookies with a little flakey salt if desired. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on the sheet for 5-10 minutes.Once cooled, you can store the cookies in an airtight container or wrap them individually in sheets of foil. For best results, keep the cookies in a single layer in the container or on a flat surface, and let them set overnight before serving to ensure a soft-baked texture. Enjoy!If you've tried this recipe, please let me know what you think in the comments below! Your feedback is greatly appreciated and it helps me improve my recipes for future cooking adventures. And if you enjoyed it, don't forget to give it a thumbs up or share it with your friends! You can help my channel by tagging @vocabularyoffood in your cooks. <3
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