One yolk. One white. The perfect baker’s dozen.
Just another exciting night sitting at home during the pandemic mindlessly scrolling through all the food on my Instagram feed, and a post from @buttermilkbysam jumped out at me. What’s that, you can make a “small batch” of cookies? Who knew? Somehow making a “small batch” lessened my guilt factor or at least there would be a finite amount to devour in one sitting. (This same idea must have been on the mind of whoever it was that decided it would be a good thing to sell a block of pre-scored cookie dough squares. I mean, who hasn’t bought these in a weak moment?) But sitting at home on this particular evening all cozy with no intent of venturing out, the idea of One Yolk, Six Perfect Chocolate Chunk Cookies hooked me. I was in. Time to whip up a small batch. But wait. As I read further, I discovered I could also make One Egg White, Seven Salted Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies. It was brilliant. The perfect baker’s dozen. So perfect, I need to share it with you.
You’re probably familiar with the term “baker’s dozen,” but do you know the origin of this phrase? I had never really thought about it. I figured it was just a little give-me or maybe the extra baked good was the “taster” aka mom’s extra piece. It actually dates back to medieval times and theory says it originated from the practice of English bakers giving an extra loaf to avoid being penalized for selling short weight. The price of wheat in the Middle Ages made bread a heavily regulated item and every dozen loaves of bread had to be weighed. In order to inadvertently come in under the required weight, bakers would throw in an extra loaf.
Sadly, I don’t think most places give a baker’s dozen anymore. We should start a petition: bring back the baker’s dozen!
Back to the baker’s dozen at hand. Sam, the baker behind the blog Buttermilk by Sam, first made the one yolk version and then in a moment of brilliance came up with the one egg white version. What she calls the yin to her yang. I had intended to just make the chocolate ones since that’s what I came across first, and then I thought well heck I might as well mix up the other dough with my leftover egg white … since the chocolate ones had to rest all night and I wanted a cookie right then. Heads up that both recipes require several minutes of beating the butter and sugar with a hand mixer, which I rarely use anymore. But, I’m here to tell you it was worth it.
If you want to get geeky about egg whites and yolks, there’s a lot on the internet. But basically, the yolk is where all the fat is in an egg and it adds to the richness and flavor while ensuring a chewy texture. The white is the workhorse. It provides strength, stability and moisture.
The One Yolk Recipe
Fast: 10 minutes for the dough, no refrigeration or rest
10 minutes to bake
Use Kerry gold European butter
Brown sugar for chewiness
All-purpose flour
Dark chocolate, chopped (I used Theo 70% dark chocolate)
This recipe yields six chewy coolies with melted chocolate pieces spread throughout. I totally forgot to position some big pieces on top of the cookie to get those awesome giant pools of chocolate on the surface, but inside I had some nice puddles of chocolate. Just don’t be tempted to use chocolate chips. They won’t turn out near as chocolately.
The One Egg White Recipe
Dough ready in 10 minutes, but needs to refrigerate overnight
Bakes for 10 minutes
Regular old American butter (Darigold is what I had)
Granulated sugar
All-purpose flour
High-quality Dutch processed baking cocoa
Milk chocolate
These were heaven. The result was somewhere between a brownie and a cookie with sweet milk chocolate dripping throughout and flaky salt to finish it off. I used (Rodelle cocoa — a pantry staple for me. For the milk chocolate, I chose Theo 45% milk chocolate, because it’s the best chocolate I can get in my small-town grocer. Note that you must use milk chocolate to get the beautiful color and taste contrast of these two chocolates working together.
Shout out to salt
Whatever you do, don’t leave off the chunky salt on either cookie. I recommend Maldon or Jacobsen’s Pure Flake Finishing Salt. It really heightens the taste, trust me.
Bottom line. Make one of these when you want a small batch. Or, if you can’t make up your mind as to which cookie you want, make both.