Miso chocolate chip cookie recipe

Salty n sweet

On Friday night I was in the mood for something sweet. I usually keep a box of cookies on hand for emergencies, but I finished my supply the night before! Darn it, past me, I thought to myself. I had no choice but to whip something up myself, which is when these cookies were born.

Miso in sweets

The miso chocolate chip cookie had its moment on Instagram a while ago, and I can tell why. The idea of semi-sweet chocolate melted into salty miso sounds like my type of Friday night. My first excursion baking with miso was last spring; I made Claire Saffitz’s miso buttermilk biscuits for my family, and they were such a hit, I made another batch to freeze just before I moved back to New York. Two are still in my freezer. I have no shame.

Miso has a strong flavor, but I haven’t met anyone who hates it. On this particular night, the idea for a miso chocolate chip cookie came to me because I tend to crave salty and sweet snacks at the same time. I poked around on the Internet for a recipe, but most of them called for like 1 tablespoon of miso — I wanted more! So I did what all the other twenty-somethings were doing with their Friday night and developed my own recipe.

A note on recipe development

If you couldn’t tell by now, I’m no professional. My understanding of baking chemistry is rudimentary, and I don’t like using a ton of equipment (like two bowls: one for dry and one for wet ingredients) like professionals do when they’re developing recipes. Playing around in the kitchen with bake times and ingredients is a fun way to pass the time. That being said, this is not a perfect cookie recipe. To prove it, let’s talk about eggs.

Eggs and underbaking

The more eggs in a cookie recipe, the cakier it’s going to be. I’m not a fan of cakey cookies, but I was happy with how these turned out anyway. Cookies that aren’t meant to spread out a lot always benefit from underbaking. If underbaking is no-go in your kitchen, that’s fine by me, but your cookies are going to be hard and dry, and that’s just not the vibe I was going for on Friday. See pictures below for what I love and don’t love about cakey cookies.

Almost there

Juuust right

When I’m concocting my own recipe for a baked good, I like to base my proportions for flour and leavens off of a professionally developed one. This one calls for one egg per ten cookies, but I was only looking to make a few (oh, living alone). I couldn’t do half an egg, so I just made the gutsy decision to throw in the whole thing, hence cake-like texture. Underbaking for a few minutes made up for it though, and I got Levain-style cookies in the end. If it sounds like a good Friday night, it was.

Miso

Did you know there is more than one type of miso? Three to be exact! Shiro, or white, miso is what I used in this recipe. It has a short fermentation time, which is why its flavor is less salty and more sweet than red miso (which is fermented longer). Shinshu, or yellow, miso is a combination of the both — the Goldilocks of miso, if you will. I really wanted miso to be the star here, not the chocolate’s backup singer. If you only have red miso, perhaps one tablespoon will do.

Chocolate chips

You know what makes me sad? When there’s only 1/4 cup of chocolate chips in a chocolate chip cookie recipe. I know what I said about the miso being the headliner, but every bite of a CCC should have HEAPS of chips in it, right? I added at least 1/2 a cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips and chopped up half a dark chocolate almond bar for good measure.

Recipe development is no joke. It takes a lot out of me emotionally because I tend to be a perfectionist. The egg debacle made me question my baking morals, but the end result was definitely worth it. Recipe is linked below, but before you head into the pantry to grab your ingredients, consider sharing this recipe with a friend! Maybe they’ll get the hint and whip up a batch for both of you to share. <3 How sweet! 

Miso chocolate chip cookie recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup all purpose flour

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

• 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted

• 2 tablespoons white miso

• 1 egg

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1/4 cup coconut sugar (or brown sugar)

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

• At least 1/2 cup chocolate chips — I did closer to 1 cup

Method

1. In a large bowl, combine all of your dry ingredients. (In the spirit of being honest with myself and others, I never listen to this step, and quite frankly I don’t care. I’m not a professional. If you’re looking to make a more exact/consistent/perfect/whatever batch of cookies, listen to this step. I prefer doing it all in one bowl.)

2. In a separate bowl, whisk the melted coconut oil, white miso, egg, and vanilla extract until it’s smooth. Whisk in the sugars.

3. Fold dry ingredients into the wet. Fold in chocolate chips.

4. Preheat oven to 350°F.

5. Chill the dough for 15–20 minutes. (Notes on chilling: In this recipe’s case, I think chilling the dough contributed to a better texture and more even browning. More on chilling dough linked here.)

6. Scoop out a tablespoon of dough and roll into a ball (if you want a uniform shape). Place cookies on a lined baking sheet two inches apart. Bake for 12–15 minutes. (Twelve was the sweet spot for me.)

7. Remove cookies from the oven when the edges are just beginning to brown. Cookies should lift easily off the sheet.

8. Let cool for 15 minutes (if you can). Cookies should be soft.