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Salted Chocolate Vanilla Bean Cookies

February 2, 2009 by Joy the Baker 71 Comments

Chocolate and Vanilla Wafers

What would it feel like if vacations lasted forever?  Would it feel as good as I think it would?  Yes.  Yes, it would.

Reality hits hard after you’ve had days to let your brain ease into a happy mush.

I’m not complaining.  Does it sound like I’m complaining?  Ok… maybe a little.  It’s just hard to let vacation time slip out of my hands.

Maybe permanent vacation is like only eating these cookies for the rest of your days.  Sure, they have both chocolate and vanilla, but you can’t eat cookies forever.  They’d lose their cookie goodness.  Maybe permanent vacation would somehow start to feel like work.  Constant cookies and vacation? I’d be willing to experiment  just to see how the two would treat me after a few years.

Chocolate and Vanilla Wafers

While I’m day dreaming of vacations past, I’d like to send a big fat thank you to my darling friends who hosted us this weekend.

Britt

Britt is one of my few friends who actually still has a land line.  Phone with a cord!?  Well done.

Seattle

Seattle is a great city.  A big thank you for all of your Seattle suggestions.  I actually used to live in Seattle so this vacation was half sightseeing and half old stomping ground good times.

Now… cookies.

Chocolate and Vanilla Wafers

Salted Chocolate and Vanilla Bean Cookies

adapted from Martha Stewart

Print this Recipe!

These cookies are the perfect combination of vanilla and dark chocolate.  They aren’t too sweet and the chunky sea salt really brings out the rich chocolate flavor.  They’re pretty impressive for slice and bake refrigerator cookies.  Can you dig it?  I can.

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 14 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
  • 1 large egg yolk, save egg white for brushing cookie dough
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or scraped vanilla beans from 1/4 vanilla pod
  • 2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder
  • 2 tablespoons semi sweet chocolate, very finely chopped
  • course sea salt

Chocolate and Vanilla Wafers
Chocolate and Vanilla Wafers
  1. Sift flour and salt into a medium bowl; set aside. Put butter and sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Reduce speed to low. Mix in egg yolk and vanilla bean or extract. Gradually add flour mixture; mix until just combined, about 1 minute.
  2. Remove half of the dough; set aside. Add cocoa powder and chopped chocolate to remaining dough; mix on low speed until well combined. Turn out chocolate dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Roll into a 10-inch log, about 1-inch wide and 1/2-inch tall. Repeat with reserved vanilla dough. Wrap each rectangle in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until slightly firm, at least 30 minutes.
  3. Remove the chilled doughs from the fridge.  Brush the top of the chocolate piece with a bit of a remaining egg white.  This will help the chocolate and vanilla stick together.  Press the vanilla piece on top of the moistened chocolate piece.  Press lightly.  Rewrap dough and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
  4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut log into 1/4-inch-thick rounds; space 1 inch apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. If dough becomes too soft to slice cleanly, return to freezer until firm.  Sprinkle course sea salt onto the chocolate half of the cookies.  Press in lightly with fingertips.
  5. Bake until firm to the touch, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to wire racks; let cool. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days.

Chocolate and Vanilla Wafers
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jo

    August 29, 2011 at 1:29 pm

    I just made these cookies and they’re delicious! Not too sweet overall, and I love the added flavour of salt. Bringing them to my sister’s tomorrow, and I have a feeling she’ll be requesting these again..
    Thanks for sharing the recipe!

    Reply
  2. Annie-Rose

    April 18, 2011 at 8:16 pm

    So I was just looking through your recipe index looking for a dessert to bring to my dinner club…and noticed you’re friends with my friend Britt! Such a surprise! I love your blog and drool over it often :)

    Reply
  3. EJ

    December 4, 2010 at 12:11 pm

    I made these and enjoyed them. I cut whole log down the middle, flipped one side over, and pasted it back together with egg whites. It was easy and made the cookies into a checkerboard design. Thanks for all the wonderful recipes, Joy.

    Reply
  4. Donna Mele

    October 7, 2010 at 12:36 pm

    Hi Joy,
    These cookies sound really good. I am looking for cookie dough recipes that freeze well. I like to make a lot of cookies at Christmas time and I want to be able to make the dough way ahead of time then bake the cookies later. Can you help.

    Reply
    • joythebaker

      October 7, 2010 at 12:47 pm

      i think this would be a good recipe for freezing. Also try my Chewy Ginger Chocolate Cookies on my homepage right now. Yum! Happy Baking!

      Reply
  5. Alexa

    March 20, 2010 at 5:11 pm

    I just pulled these out of the oven, in a house full of gamers. They are almost ALL gone! Had a little trouble slicing them evenly while frozen, but that was the only hiccup. I think I may have eaten half a cup of the dough itself, LOL. Thanks Joy, these are beautimous!

    Reply
    • Laura

      December 6, 2011 at 11:49 am

      Just a suggestion for the cookie slicing, try filling a cup with hot water and dipping the knife in it so that the knife is hot when you slice. Kind of like warming the ice cream scoop. :)

      Reply
  6. Sana

    April 12, 2009 at 11:00 am

    So Joy, I’m on a quest to comment on all your blog posts of the recipes I have tried!! I LOVED these cookies. Not too sweet and they had the best buttery texture!!! I didn’t have coarse sea salt so I made it without but they were still yummy :)

    Reply
  7. Angela

    March 10, 2009 at 10:40 am

    I made these cookies yesterday and they were really beautiful! And they were WAY more addicting than I anticipated.

    I am thinking of making them again, this time with orange zest in the dough. YUM?

    Reply
  8. Ashley

    February 22, 2009 at 12:12 pm

    These look simply awesome! Yum!

    Reply
  9. Bea

    February 18, 2009 at 6:53 am

    I will definitely try making these in my shop tomorrow! They look fabulous!

    Reply
  10. mary

    February 14, 2009 at 9:27 pm

    Made these for friends, teachers & assorted loved ones for Valentine’s Day and they were a HUGE hit! Thanks soooo much for sharing this recipe – a new favorite for sure (though my hips have definitely paid the price – they are addictive!! :-)

    Reply
  11. magikarp

    February 10, 2009 at 8:20 am

    I was really excited when you posted this recipe and couldn’t wait to try it out. I attempted to make these last night, but my dough came out really dry and crumbly. Did I overmix it? I should note that I don’t have an awesome Kitchenaid mixer so I had to use a hand mixer with the egg beater attachment. Is it absolutely imperative that the dough is mixed with a paddle attachment?

    Reply
  12. Katie

    February 9, 2009 at 11:54 am

    I have always wanted to go to Seattle. Your pictures make me want to go there even more. And I have to make these cookies I love slice and bake cookies because they keep if you don’t have time or are to tired to bake that day.

    Reply
  13. Lisa

    February 7, 2009 at 3:09 pm

    These will be the next cookies I bake, I promise!

    Reply
  14. Jude

    February 6, 2009 at 11:01 pm

    Cool way to shape cookies.. I can see the vanilla bean specks :)

    Reply
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