Bourbon-soaked Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies with Rye Flour

::BOURBON-SOAKED CHERRY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES with RYE FLOUR::

These are my very favorite cookies. Dried Montmorency cherries plumped up by a good soak in some bourbon. Just enough rye flour to add a touch of texture and the ability to feign wholesomeness. Chewy center. Crispy edges. Toffee vibes packed with a combo of milk and bittersweet chocolate chips. Expect any more from a cookie and I'll call you a greedy maniac.



You can play around with the ratio of rye to all purpose flour - I wouldn't go further than 50/50 and be aware that more rye will give you a grittier mouthfeel... or skip it if you're craving cookies in a big way and only have AP flour on hand. Same flexibility goes for using all bittersweet or milk chocolate. Feel free to skip the bitters or even the bourbon if you're a teetotaler [<- but really, live a little. It's worth it.] If you have an extra ten minutes go ahead and brown that butter. A little extra richness and nuttiness won't hurt at all.

If you don't have a kitchen scale, get one!! They'll save you so much time measuring, improve your accuracy, reduce the amount of bowls to wash, and you'll be one step closer to total coffee geekery.




Speaking of geekery... bourbon. in an atomizer. Filed squarely away in the "Tools You Absolutely Do Not Need" department on Serious Eats, even if it is a little silly, it sure is fun to gently spritz little balls of sugar and joy with bourbon until they glisten.

Flaky sea salt. I love you. I love you. I love you. Smoked Flaky Sea Salt... well, I really fucking love you.

Share them with someone you love, or do what I do and share half of them with people you love... and eat the other half straight from the freezer like a monster huddled over a hot cup of coffee or a frigid Old Fashioned.

Bourbon-Soaked Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies with Rye Flour
[recipe adapted from Cook's Illustrated's Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies]
1/2 cup (2.5oz) rye flour
1 1/2 cups + 2 Tbs (8oz) all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder (**See note below)
1/2 tsp coarse salt
12 Tbs (1 1/2 sticks/6oz) unsalted butter [melted and cooled]
1 cup (7oz) packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup (3.5oz) granulated sugar
1 lg egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup (2oz) bourbon
1/2 cup dried Montmorency cherries
1 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
flaky sea salt
*optional - cherry bitters and extra bourbon,

Directions:
1 - Pour bourbon over dried cherries in a small microwave-safe bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and heat ~20seconds or until steamy. Set aside. (Alternatively you can combine the bourbon and cherries 1 day - 1 week in advance and skip the heating step. Melt butter and set aside to cool.
2 - In a medium or large bowl, whisk together both flours, baking powder, and salt.
3 - In a large bowl, whisk together egg, egg yolk, both sugars, and vanilla until smooth. Stir in melted butter.
4 - Stir the flour mixture into the egg/sugar/butter mixture until mostly combined. Fold in the bourbon-soaked cherries and chocolate chips.
5 - Portion dough into 2 Tbs balls onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Spritz or brush with bourbon and top with a drop of cherry bitters, top with a hearty pinch of flaky sea salt, and place into freezer. Preheat oven to 350°F.
6 - Once oven reaches 350°, remove cookies from freezer, divide between two parchment-lined baking sheets spacing cookies a few inches apart.
7 - Bake for 15 minutes*. Remove from oven and allow to cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. [*ovens vary, so begin checking after 13 minutes. At 15 minutes mine were just beginning to turn golden along the edges and were still quite soft in the center. Fully frozen cookie dough will require an extra minute or two. Cookies will continue to cook as they cool, so better to err on the side of being underdone.]

**There's a surprising amount of controversy regarding baking soda vs baking powder in chocolate chip cookies. In general, baking soda yields a craggier, more textured cookie and baking powder leads to puffier cakey cookies. I just happened to grab baking powder in a sleep-deprived state both times I tested these and loved them. I don't like cakey cookies at all, and these were dense and fudgey with crackly tops despite baking powder. Use your judgement or try both and see what you like.