Possibly The Best Cookies on Earth

The Wino made cookies. Probably the best cookies on earth. She made a double batch of them in an enormous stainless steel bowl. There was so much batter, it would not fit in her stand mixer. She stirred by hand until her shoulder hurt.

The Wino suspects you have a couple of questions. The first and most important: Did she drink any wine while she was baking these cookies? The answer, fellow boozers, is no. And she is just as baffled as you about this non-boozy baking project.

Your second question must be: Did The Wino bake any wine or other alcoholic beverage into these cookies? Sorry, boozers, no not a blessed drop.



Which, undoubtedly, leads to your third question: How can these cookies be the best cookies on earth if they don't contain any alcohol? And The Wino says: It's simple. These cookies employ the use of a delicious substance known as butter. Butter, and lots of it.

The Wino stole the recipe for Possibly The Best Cookies on Earth from another blog. And that blog apparently swiped the recipe from Cooks Illustrated. In any case, The Wino has made a few tweaks to the recipe to make it her very own and changed the name. Here it is:

Possibly The Best Cookies on Earth

(Brown Sugar Cookies with Coarse Sea Salt)

1 3/4 sticks of butter

1 3/4 cups packed dark brown sugar

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon table salt
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Sugar for rolling:

1/4 cup granulated sugar
1-2 tsp fine sea salt

Salt for topping:

1-2 tablespoons of high-quality coarse sea salt. Use something fancy. The Wino prefers pink Hawaiian sea salt. Fleur de Sel would also work.

Directions:

Heat 10 tablespoons of the butter in a pan over medium-high heat until melted. Continue to cook the butter until it is browned a dark golden color and smells nutty, about 1 to 8 minutes, depending on the size and depth of your pan. Transfer the browned butter to a bowl and stir the rest of the butter into the hot butter until it melts. Let this mixture rest for 15 min.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (325 degrees in The Wino's gas oven, which tends to run hot). In a shallow bowl, mix granulated sugar and fine sea salt until combined well; set this mixture aside to roll dough balls in.

Mix flour, baking soda, and baking powder in a bowl. Add 1 3/4 cup brown sugar and salt to cooled butter and mix until there are no lumps. Add egg, yolk, and vanilla to butter mixture and mix well, then add flour and mix until just combined.

Roll dough into 1 1/2 inches balls. Roll oballs in sugar/salt mixture. Place balls about 2 inches apart on baking sheets.

Firmly press a several granules of your coarse sea salt into the top of each dough ball

Bake sheets one at a time until cookies are a little puffy and lightly browned, about 12-14 minutes. Transfer hot cookies to a flat paper bag to cool.

Boozers, if you can muster some prudence, wait until the cookies are nearly all the way cooled before you start eating them. If you do, they will be chewy perfection. Their dark caramel flavor spiked with the sharp, crunchy sea salt will blow your mind. Try not to eat all of them.

Cheers!