Gochujang Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Gochujang Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredient Notes

Gochujang:

A Korean fermented chilli paste made from red chillies, glutinous rice, fermented soybean powder, and salt. It has a deep red colour, a moderate heat level, and a complex savoury sweetness from the fermentation that works well against the bitterness of dark chocolate. Available at major supermarkets in the Asian foods aisle or at Asian grocery stores. Brands vary in heat level, so taste yours before adding.

Brown butter:

Browning the butter is what drives most of the flavour complexity in these cookies. As the butter heats, the water evaporates and the milk solids toast to a golden brown, producing nutty, caramel-like compounds called melanoidins. The process takes about 10 minutes over medium heat. Watch it carefully once it starts foaming, as it can go from browned to burnt quickly. The butter should smell nutty and look golden with dark specks on the bottom of the pan.

Chocolate:

I use two types here: 70% dark chocolate chopped into irregular pieces, and dark chocolate chips. The chopped chocolate melts into uneven pockets that spread through the cookie as it bakes, while the chips hold their shape and give you distinct chocolate pieces in every bite. Using both gives you more interesting texture and chocolate distribution than either alone. A higher cocoa percentage (70%) keeps the chocolate flavour clean and not too sweet against the gochujang.

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Ingredients

225g unsalted butter
165g (¾ cup) caster sugar
220g (1 cup) brown sugar
2 eggs
10ml (2 tsp) vanilla extract
400g (2 ⅔ cups) plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
pinch sea salt
3 tbsp gochujang
100g 70% dark chocolate, chopped
200g dark chocolate chips
sea salt flakes

Equipment

Medium saucepan
Large bowl and bowl of iced water (for cooling butter)
Electric hand mixer or stand mixer
Mixing bowls (at least 2)
Sieve
2 large baking trays
Baking paper

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Directions

BROWN THE BUTTER

Melt butter in a medium saucepan on medium heat and cook until browned and starting to smell nutty, about 10 minutes.
Transfer to a bowl and place in a bowl of iced water. Allow to cool, stirring occasionally.
When cooled, whip the butter over the ice until light, then discard ice.

PREP THE DOUGH

Beat the sugars into butter until creamed.
Beat in eggs 1 at a time, beating well between each addition until light and fluffy, then beat in vanilla extract.
Set aside 1 tbsp of the flour then sift remaining flour, baking powder, bicarb and a pinch of salt together, then mix into butter mixture until a soft dough forms.
Transfer ⅓ of the dough to a separate bowl and mix in gochujang and the reserved flour, until well blended.
Fold in chocolate chips and chopped dark chocolate to both bowls. Then softly combine your gochujang dough into the main dough. Don’t over mix it as you want to have a marbled effect to your cookies.
Cover the dough tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2-4 hours or ideally overnight.

SHAPE AND BAKE

Preheat the oven to 190°C fan forced (375°F) and line 2 large baking trays with baking paper.
Divide the dough into 24 equal portions, roughly heaped tablespoon sized.
Place cookies on trays, with at least 3cm gap between each for spreading.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, without opening the oven door. Sprinkle with a little sea salt as soon as they are out of the oven, then allow to cool for at least 15 minutes on the trays. Enjoy

Notes

Cook support

Try not to over mix the dough when marbling the gochujang portion through the other, otherwise you can lose some of that bang in the tasting.

We found that some cookies came out spicier than others, but that comes down to the evenness of marbling the 2 doughs together. But then we figured that could add a bit of fun and jeopardy to the eating!

Sourcing

Gochujang is available at major supermarkets and Asian supermarkets.

Storage

Store cookies in an airtight container in the pantry. You can freeze both the cookie dough and the baked cookies to keep them longer. If freezing the cookie dough, I recommend rolling them into balls before you freeze it so it's easier to manage when you want to cook them.

Spice level

I would give this a light to medium spice level. Some bits are mild and others have a little bit of a kick. You can adjust the spice level by reducing the gochujang. Want to increase the spice level? Swap out the chopped dark chocolate for some chilli dark chocolate.

FAQs

Do I have to rest the dough overnight?

No, but it does help build the flavour so I recommend doing so. You can let the dough rest in the fridge for longer, so if you want to make them a day or two in advance you can.