dark chocolate, sunflower seed & grey sea salt cookies

The best cookies ever + a great giveaway! This is a good Wednesday.

Loving food is a weird thing. I get giddy over things like really great cinnamon or an incredible salt. So when I had the opportunity to share with you guys about The Spice House, it was a no-brainer. Perusing their website is like letting a kid loose in a candy store.

The Spice House opened its doors back in 1957, and today has both a robust online business as well as 5 locations throughout Chicago & Milwaukee. They carry over 600 products from at least 50 different countries, including pure spices and herbs, spice blends, salts, and extracts and have caught the admiration of many home cooks across the country as well as some heavy hitters in the food world, including Alton Brown (who actually has special blends made for him) & Julia Child, who proclaimed The Spice House a "national treasure."

Patty from The Spice House remembers Julia’s visit to their Milwaukee shop:

We had cinnamon that came from Vietnam, a long log, real thick, and as hard as a baseball bat! The trade doors had just opened from Vietnam when she visited, and we couldn't wait to show her this bark, and then give her a taste in powder form. Julia took the bark right out of my hand and took a giant bite right out of it! My whole family was there and we all collectively sucked in our breath, and asked, "Do you want to spit that out?" But she kept right on chewing and chewing and chewing, and 10 minutes later she had chewed it enough to swallow it. Julia was just so gracious, and she said something like, "Oh my dear, you're absolutely right, this is a delightful cinnamon, thank you for sharing this with me!" She signed the rest of that bark and today that bark is one of Patty’s prized possessions.

Tom & Patty Erd took over Patty’s parents business back in 1993 and have built The Spice House into a resource for incredible spices and seasonings, as fresh as you can get them at an affordable price. They scour the world for the best ingredients and spices, and they grind and blend their spices and seasonings in small batches right in their stores in order to offer the freshest possible product.

Many of their spices come in pretty glass jars, however you can also order many varieties in bags (as well as in salt-free versions). I'm personally impressed with their pricing, but also their crazy fast shipping. Their gift boxes are both gorgeous and well thought out. Take a few minutes and peruse their offerings!

These cookies are inspired by the most incredible chocolate I had when we were in Vancouver. With the nutty flavor from brown butter and sunflower seeds and the salty topping from The Spice House's fabulous grey sea salt, these are just about as good as it gets. Miles declared these the best cookies I have ever made... win!

Dark Chocolate, Sunflower Seed & Grey Sea Salt Cookies (adapted from The Joy The Baker Cookbook)

yields about 3 dozen cookies

you'll need:

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon molasses

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg + 1 egg yolk

2 1/4 cups AP flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup good dark chocolate, chopped into chunks

1/2 cup roasted & salted sunflower seeds

grey sea salt, for sprinkling

Melt 8 tablespoons of butter in a medium skillet over medium heat, swirling it in the pan. It will become foamy as it cooks and make a crackling noise. Continue to swirl as the butter starts to smell nutty and brown bits form at the bottom of the pan. Once the bits are amber, remove the butter from the burner and pour into a small bowl (including the brown bits... the best part!) to cool for about 20 minutes.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the remaining 1/2 cup butter with the brown sugar for 3-5 minutes, until smooth and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla extract and molasses.

Pour the cooled brown butter into the bowl, along with the granulated sugar. Beat for 2 minutes, until smooth; the mixture will be light and fluffy.

Add the egg and egg yolk, and beat for 1 more minute.

Add the flour, salt, and baking soda, beating on low speed just until everything is incorporated.

Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and use a spatula to fold in the dark chocolate and sunflower seeds. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to overnight.

About 15 minutes before you’re ready to begin baking, preheat your oven to 350°F.

Scoop the dough in 2 tablespoon-sized balls onto the prepared baking sheets. Leave about 2 inches between the cookies. Sprinkle the cookies with grey sea salt.

Bake the cookies for 13-15 minutes, until they’re golden brown. Remove them from the oven, and allow them to rest on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool.

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To help you make some cookies (and because they're awesome), The Spice House is offering two seriously great giveaways!

1st Prize - $250.00 in spices, which includes Grill & BBQ Deluxe Gift Box Set, Bakers Spices Gift Box Set, Vanilla Bean Sugar, Chicago Old Town Premium Sugar, Vulcan's Fire Salt, Chai Spices with Vanilla, Pumpkin Pie Spice, Dutched Cocoa Powder, Aleppo Pepper, AND a $100.00 gift card to The Spice House to find your favorites not on this list or try some new ones!

2nd Prize - The Signature Selection Gift Box Set, Chicago Old Town Premium Sugar, Fancy Onion Salt, Fancy Garlic Salt, Vanilla Bean Sugar, Tellicherry Black Peppercorns and a $50.00 gift card to The Spice House to find your favorites not on this list or try some new ones!

Enter by simply using the Rafflecopter below. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Check out the other fabulous recipes inspired by The Spice House from some of my food blogging friends!

Lime Water Ice by Souffle Bombay

Grilled Steaks with Thyme Mushrooms by Girl Carnivore

Cinnamon Ice Cream with Dulce de Leche Swirl by Mind over Batter

Jamaican Jerk Chicken Quesadillas with Vulcan Fire Salt Guacamole by Giggles, Gobbles & Gulps

Low-Carb Chicken Gyros with Tangy Tzatziki Sauce by Opera Singer in the Kitchen  

Chocolate Cherry Hand Pies by Real: The Kitchen and Beyond

Pear Lavender Lemon Drop Martini by Kelly Bakes

Jamaican Jerk Chicken Pizza by We’re Parents!?

Homemade Italian Balsamic Vinaigrette with Heirloom Tomato Salad by Courtney's Sweets

Iced Lavender Shortbread Cookies by The Vintage Mom

Old Fashioned Blueberry Coffee Cake by It's a Keeper

Disclosure: I was given a gift card to order spices as compensation for this post, however as always all thoughts and opinions are my own. 

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salty dark chocolate & pistachio cookies

Those cookies up there? New favorite, hands down.

It's hard to beat a good, classic chocolate chip cookie. But then you swap out the chocolate chips for chunks of dark chocolate. I'm listening.

Throw in some chopped pistachios for flavor and texture. You know I can't resist pistachios. I will pick every single one out of the mixed nuts can you have at your house, and I won't be sorry.

Then you sprinkle the top with salt and it's game over. Just give me those cookies!

I made these for Sarah Elizabeth at The Self-Trained Chef as part of this month's Leftovers Club. She sent me some red velvet biscotti... um, yes. please.

Now, let's make cookies!

Salty Dark Chocolate & Pistachio Cookies (slightly adapted from Joy the Baker)
yields 2 dozen cookies

you'll need:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup dark chocolate chunks
1 cup shelled pistachios, coarsely chopped
flaky sea salt (like Maldon)

Beat the butter and sugars together in the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment 3-4 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat for 1 minute.

Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a separate bowl. Add it to the butter mixture and beat on low speed until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chunks and pistachios.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least two hours and up to overnight.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Scoop cookie dough (about 2 tablespoons) onto the baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between each cookie. Sprinkle with a flake or two of sea salt.

Bake cookies for 18-20 minutes, rotating the baking sheets halfway through. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

An InLinkz Link-up

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ruby red grapefruit cookies

Okay, these cookies. I wish you could taste one right now! I know they look like regular old sugar cookies, but these are so lovely. We've been getting the best grapefruits in our CSA box lately, so when I found this recipe I thought I'd give it a try to use some of them up. I had no idea how good these would turn out! They have a slightly crispy exterior, the most tender, chewy interior, and a perfect hint of grapefruit goodness.

These are delicate, pretty little things. I'd make them for a ladies' brunch or a wedding shower. Or for anyone you'd like to convince that you are the best cookie baker in all the land.

Ruby Red Grapefruit Cookies (from Homesick Texan)

yields 2 dozen cookies

you'll need:

1 1/2 cups sugar, plus more for dipping

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1 large egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons Ruby Red grapefruit juice

1 tablespoon Ruby Red grapefruit zest

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

pinch of ground ginger

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Beat the sugar and butter in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Stir in the egg, vanilla, grapefruit juice, and zest until well-combined. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and ginger. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl and stir until a soft dough is formed.

Pour some sugar into a bowl. Form the dough into tablespoon-sized balls. Dip each ball into the sugar and place on the baking sheet at least 2-inches apart. Bake 10-12 minutes. Allow to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely, or until you can't resist stealing one away.

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compost cookies

I'm totally aware that anything I say here will be completely ignored because of the insanely delicious photo above. But, if you can peel your eyes away from that goodness, let me just say that I'm so happy to have Jen from Milk and Honey in this space today. Not only is Jen a super talented cook, baker, and photographer, she's also just a gem of a person. Oh, and did I mention she's coming to you all the way from Australia? Oh, you want me to stop talking now so you can focus on cookies? Fine...

I’m stoked that Marie has asked me to guest post on her fabulous blog. When she kindly invited me, I immediately started to think about what I might cook for you.  My mind raced from something virtuous like a light salad or something elegant like a pastry treat. But my evil twin took over and found these Compost Cookies in Gourmet Traveller and MADE ME DO IT. 

Call them Compost Cookies, or Kitchen Sink Cookies, or Everything Goes Cookies, or Fairground Cookies, or What Dreams Are Made of Cookies, or I-Just-Worked-Out,-Don’t look-At-Me-Like-That Cookies, or I’m-Having-A-Bad-Day-And-I-NEED-A-Cookie Cookies. But, seeing as how they have oats and coffee in them, I actually like to call them Breakfast Cookies… *wink*.

Thanks Marie, for the chance to show-off in your blog-space and for the excuse to make these over-the-top cookies.

Compost Cookies (from Gourmet Traveller)

yields 20 cookies

225g (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature

200g (1 cup) caster sugar (super fine sugar)

150g (3/4 cup) light brown sugar

50g (1/4 cup) liquid glucose

1 egg

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

225g (1 cup) bread flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)

150g (3/4 cup) mini chocolate chips

100g (1/2 cup) mini butterscotch chips

40g (1/4 cup) rolled oats

2½ teaspoons ground coffee

50g (1/4 cup) each potato chips and mini pretzels

Graham crust

80g (2/3 cup) crushed digestive biscuits (Graham cracker crumbs)

10g (5 teaspoons) milk powder

15g (2 tablespoons) caster sugar (super fine sugar)

15g (1 tablespoon) unsalted butter, melted

30ml (1 oz.) cream

For the graham crust, toss cracker crumbs, milk powder, sugar and 1/8 teaspoon salt with your hands in a bowl to evenly distribute your dry ingredients. Whisk butter and cream in a small bowl to combine, add to dry ingredients, toss until small clusters form and set aside.

Beat butter, sugars and liquid glucose in an electric mixer on medium-high speed for 2-3 minutes, scrape down sides of bowl, add egg and vanilla and beat until very pale and fluffy (7-8 minutes). Reduce speed to low and add the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and 1 teaspoon sea salt flakes. Mix just until the dough comes together, no longer than 1 minute (don’t overmix). Mixing on low speed, add the chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, Graham crust, oats and coffee and mix just until incorporated (30 seconds). Add chips and pretzels and beat on low speed until just incorporated. Be careful not to overmix or break too many of the pretzels or potato crisps. Don’t, whatever you do, at this stage, taste any of the batter. Because if you do, and happened to get a potato chip and a chocolate chip in the same sample batch, you will end up eating cookie dough for lunch (not that I know anything about that.)

Scoop portions of cookie dough with an ice-cream scoop onto trays lined with baking paper. Pat tops of cookie dough domes flat. Top each cookie with a piece of pretzel and chip and wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to a week. Do not bake your cookies from room temperature – they will not bake properly.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F). Arrange the portions of chilled dough on oven trays lined with baking paper and bake until faintly browned on the edges yet still bright yellow in the center (18 minutes). The cookies will puff, crackle and spread. Cool completely on trays. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

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cinco de mayo recipes!

Sunday is Cinco de Mayo! Are you ready? I'll take any excuse to indulge in excessive amounts of guacamole. Here are some ideas for a whole day of feasting on Cinco de Mayo!

Buenos Dias!

Green Chile Cheddar Drop Biscuits

Mexican Breakfast Pizza

Chipotle Pepper Jack Scones

Green Chile Quiche

Snacks and Appetizers

Mexican Camp Bread

Chorizo and Peppers Quesadillas

Baked Jalapeno Poppers

Meal Ideas!

Mexican Pasta Bake

Lightened Up Neiman Marcus Tortilla Soup
Slow Cooker Ranch Chicken Tacos

Chorizo and Jalapeno Pizza

Baked BBQ Ranch Turkey Tacos

Chicken and Avocado Enchiladas

Slow Cooker Enchilada Soup

Green Chile Brisket Enchiladas
Baked Turkey Taquitos

Something Sweet!

Dulce de Leche Sandwich Cookies

What about you? Are you cooking up anything for Cinco de Mayo?

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easy one bowl peanut butter chocolate chip cookies

You probably make some version of these cookies already. But, just in case you don't, let's talk about them now, shall we?

This is a great recipe for baking with kids (or messy adults) because there's no flour in them... and therefore there's no flour all over the kitchen. They come together with just a bowl and a spoon in about a minute, and bake up in 10 minutes. I mean come on. It's time to make cookies!

Easy One Bowl Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (from Emeril Lagasse)
yields 2 dozen cookies

you'll need:
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup chocolate chips (I use semisweet)
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or foil and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and stir with a spoon until completely smooth.

Using your hands, roll dough into small balls (about 1 tablespoon of dough for each). Place on baking sheet about 1 inch apart. Use a fork to lightly press down dough into a crosshatch pattern (Don't flatten cookies, just press them down a tiny bit so that the cookies stay nice and puffy).

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden.

See how insanely easy that was?!

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crispy salted white chocolate oatmeal cookies

I was bringing dinner to some friends last week, and wanted to pack some cookies for dessert. Something a little different, something I'd never tried before. Not too weird. Simple and classic with just a bit of a twist. I found these on Smitten Kitchen, where Deb called them "scandalously good." Yep, that's what I was looking for. So I got to work.

NEW. FAVORITE. COOKIE. EVER.

Dramatic enough for you?

But seriously, these were awesome. The combination of oatmeal, white chocolate, and sea salt is not to be missed. They are so light and and have a wonderful crispy texture. Treat yourself to these as soon as humanly possible.

Crispy Salted White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies, or, Longest Recipe Name Ever (from Smitten Kitchen, who adapted them from Cook's Illustrated)
yields 2 dozen cookies

you'll need:
1 cup AP flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
6 ounces white chocolate bar, chopped
1/2 teaspoon sea salt, for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or foil and set aside.

Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.

Beat butter and sugars together until light and fluffy (scrape down bowl when necessary). Add egg and vanilla and beat until incorporated. Add flour mixture gradually and mix until just incorporated. Add oats and white chocolate and mix until evenly incorporated.

Using your hands, roll about 2 tablespoons of dough into a ball, then place on baking sheet. Gentle press down on ball to about 3/4 inch thickness. Repeat with the remaining cookie dough.

Sprinkle a flake or two or sea salt on each cookie. Bake until cookies are golden brown, about 13-15 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through. Cool on a wire rack.

Now devour.

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