Miso chocolate chip cookies (the Chiewy)
An ode to sweet, salty, and umami
Slightly crisp on the outside…fudgy and tender on the inside…swirling with pools of melted dark chocolate…perfectly sweet and salty. We're talking about my signature chocolate chip cookies with a special ingredient: miso. Adding miso adds a special depth and complexity to the sweetness that you can't get with regular chocolate chip cookies. These irresistible cookies are absolutely divine and will satisfy both your sweet and salty cravings all at once!
Table of contents
Origin of miso
Science behind my chocolate chip cookies
Recipe
FAQs
Content rights
Origin of miso
What is miso? It's a traditional Japanese fermented ingredient made with soybeans, koji (a type of mold), and salt. Most people likely associate miso with soup. But interestingly, people hardly ate it in soup back in its early history. Miso was actually a food for the wealthy that was eaten as a side dish or medicine. It was only around the Kamakura period (12th-14th centuries) that miso in soup became popularized.
Since miso is not regulated according to normal Japanese standards for fermented foods, there isn't a standardized classification system for the different types of miso. So it is informally classified by type of koji used, level of saltiness, color, and production region.
Science behind my miso chocolate chip cookies
Developing my recipe was truly a scientific endeavor that involved analyzing four different recipes and reading Kenji Lopez-Alt's impressive chocolate chip cookie experiment. One of my goals was to apply what I learned from Kenji to my recipe development, so thanks to the science, I was able to achieve the exact results I had conceptualized.
Here's the scientific rundown for why I chose certain ingredients/how to use them:
Miso
Miso has umami, which I'd characterize as a more well-rounded savory, earthy flavor. Umami comes from an amino acid called glutamate, and to a lesser extent aspartate. Since miso has so many rich, complex flavors, it's a great addition to chocolate chip cookies, which can be one-dimensional in terms of flavor.
Brown butter
Butter contains three main ingredients, fat, water, and milk proteins. Brown butter has a richer flavor than plain butter because after all of the water evaporates from cooking, the milk solids (which contain proteins and sugars) toast a bit. Toasting is what gives brown butter that nutty aroma.
Melted butter
Since it doesn't whip up as well as creamed butter, it leads to a denser cookie.
Extra egg yolk
The yolk adds more fat to the cookie, which interferes with the gluten formation that normally makes baked goods chewy and tough. So that basically means that this cookie will be tender and fudge-like.
More brown sugar than white
You need both white and brown sugars to get crisp texture (from the white sugar) and deeper flavors and moist interior (from the brown sugar). Brown sugar reacts with baking soda to add some leavening power, so cookies with more brown sugar will be taller and spread less—which means more concentrated moisture and more of that delicious gooeyness we want in our cookies.
Dissolving the white sugar in the eggs, but not the brown sugar
This is for textural variety. Blending some of the sugar with the eggs jumpstarts the caramelization process, helping add more flavor. But keeping part of the sugar intact can help the cookie form different pockets of caramelization, creating the crags.
The beauty of understanding the science is that you know exactly how to customize your cookies the way you want.. If you prefer different characteristics from what I’ve written here, check out Kenji's article to see other variations you can experiment with.
Recipe
Makes: 16 cookies
*Please read FAQs below for substitutions and other important information*
*All volumetric measurements were converted using King Arthur’s Ingredient Weight Chart*
Adapted from Bon Appetit and Serious Eats
Equipment
Digital scale
Stand mixer (if you don't have one, you can use a hand whisk and large spoon to mix by hand)
Pizza steel (highly recommend the Original Baking Steel) or aluminum half baking sheet
Ingredients
113 g (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
200 g (1 ⅔ cup) all-purpose flour
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp table salt
1 large egg + 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
75 g (3⁄4 cup) granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
25 g (1 ½ Tbsp) shiro (white) miso
100 g (½ cup) light brown sugar
4 oz dark chocolate chopped into shards and small chunks
Coarse salt for sprinkling
Instructions
Day 1
Cut the butter into ~½" pats and lay them out in a small saucepan. Turn the heat to medium-low and cook the butter, stirring frequently (see A). The butter will first melt, foaming on top, then make splattering noises as the water evaporates. *Keep an eye on the butter at all times, and be careful as the hot butter splashes vigorously.*
When the butter gives off a nutty aroma and the milk solids at the bottom are copper colored, take the butter immediately off the stovetop and transfer the liquid and residue to a small heatproof bowl. To speed the cooling process, you can place the bowl in a shallow cold water bath. Set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and table salt together. Set aside.
With a stand mixer, whisk the egg and egg yolk, granulated sugar, and vanilla extract on medium-high until foamy, 2-3 minutes.
Switch to the paddle attachment and mix in the brown butter, miso, and brown sugar briefly until combined, 5-10 sec.
Add the flour and mix on low for 15 sec, until a few bits of dry flour remain. *Do not overmix!* Overmixing will lead to tough cookies due to gluten formation.
Add the chopped chocolate and mix on low for 5 sec.
Chill the dough in an airtight container overnight in the fridge. This is important for flavor development.
Day 2
Steel method
Preheat the oven and steel to 350°F (177°C).
Scoop ~1 ½ Tbsp of dough per cookie and lay the balls on a sheet pan. If you're using a scale, you can divide the dough into 16 balls of even weight. Roll into balls.
If desired, break the ball in half partway and push the halves gently together to form a circular cup shape with the rough surface on top. This will give the cookie more texture/cragginess when baked.
Place a sheet of parchment paper on the steel and carefully place the 8 balls of dough on top (be careful at this step as the steel is hot!). Bake for about 6 minutes on the middle rack. The cookies should be barely crisp/firm around the edges and fairly gooey/undercooked in the middle. See B.
Transfer to a cooling rack and sprinkle some coarse salt. Repeat steps 10 and 11 for remaining dough.
Sheet method
Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C).
Line the baking sheet with parchment paper and scoop ~1 ½ Tbsp of dough per cookie. If you're using a scale, you can divide the dough into 16 balls of even weight. Roll into balls.
If desired, break the ball in half partway and push the halves gently together to form a circular cup shape with the rough surface on top. This will give the cookie more texture/cragginess when baked. Place 8 balls on the baking sheet.
Bake for about 8 minutes on the middle rack. The cookies should be barely crisp/firm around the edges and fairly gooey/undercooked in the middle. See B.
Transfer to a cooling rack and sprinkle some coarse salt. Repeat steps 10 and 11 for remaining dough.
Notes
A) If you have experience or are pressed for time, you can brown the butter over medium heat. For beginners, medium-low is easier to monitor.
B) Every oven is different, so you may need more or less time. My oven is on the smaller side, so the times listed will be shorter than most conventional ovens. The cookies will continue to cook while cooling, so it's best to take them out when they're just set around the edges and very gooey in the middle. For cakier cookies, bake for up to another 2 minutes, but no more than that since the cookies will turn dry.
Storage
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. They also taste great after fridge storage overnight. You can freeze the pre-baked cookie dough by rolling it into a cylinder and wrapping it tightly in foil. Let the dough thaw a bit before separating into individual balls.
FAQs
What kind of miso am I using?
I like to use white, or shiro, miso, but if you want something bolder, you can try red miso.
Can I make these without miso?
If you are concerned about the taste, feel free to add less. However, since it also contributes somewhat to the moisture of the cookie, you may need to take out some of the flour. That said, the miso rounds out the sweetness and saltiness of the cookie very well. Most of my taste-testers didn't even know there was miso.
Keep in mind that miso is made with soybeans. So if you have a soybean allergy, you should try another cookie recipe without miso (I'd recommend Kenji's recipe—it's very good although it has a slightly more cakey texture).
Is it necessary to chill the dough overnight?
It's not *necessary*, but it does deepen the flavors more. Letting the dough rest longer allows the sugars to break down and caramelize more readily.
Can I replace with gluten-free flour?
You can try substituting, but I have not tested this option.
Can I use dairy-free ingredients?
You can try substituting the melted butter with coconut oil, but you won't get the browning effect. I imagine that vegan chocolate should be comparable in these cookies. I've never used egg substitutes, so I'm not sure I can make a good recommendation. Again, I haven't tested these options, so the results may be different.
What kind of chocolate should I use?
Any good chocolate bar will do. I use Trader Joe's 72% pound plus dark chocolate—it's pretty inexpensive and great for baking! Milk or white chocolate could also work, but your cookies will likely be sweeter.
Can I use chips instead of chopped chocolate?
You can, but you may not get the amazing, oozing pools of dark chocolate like those in my pictures!
This recipe was first published on my blog joyeatstheworld.com on October 12, 2021 and last updated April 21, 2022. All content (photo and text) is my original work and cannot be used without permission. For any commercial or noncommercial use, please reach out to me at joyychiew [at] gmail [dot] com.