Ingredients

  • Fat, sugar, and eggs

    • 180g ghee, soft-solid and scoopable, not melted
    • 1½ cups (300g) granulated sugar
    • 20g molasses, about 1 tablespoon
    • 1 large egg, room temperature
    • 2 large egg yolks, room temperature
    • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

  • Dry ingredients

    • 313g all-purpose flour
    • 1 teaspoon potato starch or cornstarch
    • 1 teaspoon baking soda
    • 4g kosher salt

  • Moisture and mix-ins

    • 2 Tbsp (30g) water
    • 1½ cups (270g) semisweet chocolate chips

  • Optional finish

    • Coarse salt, for topping
    • Extra chocolate chips, for pressing into the tops after baking

Directions

  1. If your ghee is liquid or very soft, chill it until it is opaque and scoopable but still pliable. It should be soft enough to beat, but not melted.

  2. Add the ghee to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or to a large mixing bowl if using a hand mixer. Beat on medium-high speed for 1–2 minutes, until smooth and creamy.

  3. Add the granulated sugar and molasses. Beat on medium-high speed for about 2 minutes, until the mixture looks lighter, slightly fluffy, and well combined. Scrape down the bowl as needed.

  4. Add the egg, egg yolks, and vanilla. Beat until fully incorporated, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl once or twice.

  5. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, potato starch or cornstarch, baking soda, and kosher salt.

  6. Add the dry ingredients to the ghee mixture and mix on low speed until mostly combined. The dough will look thick and somewhat dry at first.

  7. With the mixer on low, drizzle in the water and mix just until the dough comes together. Avoid overmixing once the flour is hydrated.

  8. Add the chocolate chips and mix on low speed, or fold by hand, until evenly distributed.

  9. Portion the dough into about 45g balls, roughly 2 tablespoons each. Shape each portion slightly taller than it is wide; a squat cylinder or tall mound helps the cookies bake up thicker.

  10. Place the dough portions on a lined baking sheet or plate, cover, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. For better flavor and texture, chill overnight. You can also just put the dough in a bag and chill in the fridge overnight.

  11. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375°F / 191°C. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

  12. Arrange the chilled dough portions about 3 inches apart, usually 8 cookies per large sheet pan. If you don’t mind risking cookies touching, you can go up to 13.

  13. Bake for 12–14 minutes, until the edges are lightly golden and set but the centers still look soft. If the dough is only lightly chilled, start checking around 11 minutes. Frozen dough may need 1–2 extra minutes.

  14. Remove from the oven. While the cookies are still hot, sprinkle with coarse salt if using, and press a few extra chocolate chips into the tops for a bakery-style look.

  15. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

  16. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days, or freeze baked cookies for longer storage.

Notes

  • Potato starch can replace cornstarch 1:1. In this recipe, use 1 teaspoon potato starch in place of 1 teaspoon cornstarch. Either one helps make the cookie a little softer and more tender.

  • Do not use melted ghee unless you want a flatter cookie. Creaming soft-solid ghee with sugar gives the dough more structure. Melted ghee will usually make the cookies spread more and can make them feel greasier.

  • UNTESTED: For a deeper, more grown-up cookie, replace part of the flour with whole grain. Try 263g all-purpose flour + 50g dark rye flour, or 273g all-purpose flour + 40g whole wheat flour. Rye is especially good with chocolate and molasses.

  • For more texture, add nuts. Add 75–100g toasted pecans or walnuts, chopped. If you do this, you can reduce the chocolate chips to 220–240g if desired.

  • UNTESTED: For a miso variation, add 15g red miso with the ghee, sugar, and molasses, then reduce the kosher salt in the dough to 2g. This gives the cookies a salty-savory depth without making them taste aggressively like miso.

  • For freezer baking, freeze the shaped dough balls on a tray until solid, then transfer to a freezer bag. Bake from frozen at 375°F, adding about 1–2 minutes.