This isn’t your average cookie recipe. Inspired by Coquine–one of the best restaurants in the greater Portland area and the makers of the best cookie in the City of Roses–this is what we call a next level chocolate chip cookie.

Made with a few signature ingredients including smoked almonds, toffee, brown butter, and fleur de sel, plus all the classics like vanilla extract, plenty of sugar, and super high quality chocolate, this cookie is the perfect combination of classic meets updated.

It’s incredibly balanced both texturally and flavor-wise, it has a wonderful depth of flavor, and we promise you’ll never have another chocolate chip cookie like this.

Coquine-Inspired Chocolate Chip Cookies

Brooke Eliason
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Servings: 18 servings
Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Difficulty: Intermediate

Ingredients 

Smoked Almonds

  • 1 lb raw almonds
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Cookies

  • 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
  • ¾ cup dark brown sugar
  • ¾ cup granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs plus one egg yolk
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 2½ cups all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 cups high quality dark chocolate or semisweet chocolate chips
  • 2 (1.4-ounce) slot or heath candy bars, chopped
  • ½ lb. smoked almonds, coarsely chopped*
  • fleur de sel for garnish

Instructions

Smoked Almonds

  • Preheat smoker to 250°F. Line a baking sheet with foil and spread the almonds evenly on the foil-lined baking sheet. Once the smoker has reached temperature, smoke almonds for 1 hour. Combine the melted butter and sugar in a small bowl and drizzle over the top of the almonds and toss until evenly coated. Smoked for an additional hour and allow to cool completely. If making ahead, store in an airtight container until ready to use.

Cookies

  • Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Butter will crackle as it melts and brown specks will start to form on the bottom of the pan. Use a spatula to stir the butter and scrape the bottom of the pan as the butter browns. When a good amount of the brown specks have developed and the aroma of your butter is toasty and nutty, take the pan off the heat and allow to cool for 30 minutes (you can transfer to a heatproof dish and cool in the fridge to expedite this process).
  • In a stand mixer or using a hand mixer, combine the brown butter and sugars using a paddle attachment until smooth. Add the eggs and vanilla extra and combine again until smooth. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt all at once, and mix until just combined (it’s okay if there are still some streaks of flour). Add the chocolate chips, chopped toffee, and 1/2 lb. of the coarsely chopped smoked almonds to the cookie dough and stir in by hand until just combined.
  • Using a size 16 cookie scoop (¼ cup quantities), scoop the cookie dough into balls and place on a cookie sheet, cover with plastic wrap or a cookie sheet cover, and refrigerate for at least one hour, or up to 3 days in the refrigerator.
  • 30 minutes prior to baking, preheat oven to 400°F and place rack in the middle. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place six cookie dough balls evenly spaced on the sheet in two rows. Bake for 9-10 minutes, remove from oven and bang the cookies 2-3 times against your counter to slightly flatten them, and return to oven until they are a deep golden brown color, about 2 more minutes (see image).
  • Remove from oven and sprinkle cookies with fleur de sel. Repeat with remaining dough and serve warm.

Notes

*The smoked almonds portion of this recipe yields enough for two batches of cookies, because if you’re going to all the trouble to smoke almonds for two hours, you may as well have enough for a double batch. Store smoked almonds an airtight container for up to 4 weeks, or freeze for up to 2-3 months. If you are short on time or aren’t able to smoke your own almonds, you can use 8 oz. of storebought smoked almonds instead. When coarsely chopping the almonds for the cookies, lean toward the “less chopped” end of the spectrum to more closely replicate the original Coquine chocolate chip cookie.
– Make ahead: smoking the almonds and browning the butter can both be done ahead of time to save time on the cookie making process.

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