Host An Unforgettable Book Club Party

Joy the Baker recently posted a wonderfully, scrumptious Dark Chocolate, Pistachio & Smoked Sea Salt Cookies recipe on her website. (Joy adapted her recipe from Smitten Kitchen.) At about the time I was finishing off the last cookie, I began work on my post for The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian which is partly set in Syria during World War I.  I wondered if I could play with this recipe and give it a bit of an Armenian/Middle Eastern twist. Joy’s recipe already had pistachios and sea salt, so I added some orange flavor and substituted the dark chocolate chips for bittersweet chocolate chips.   The result:  WOW!

Inspired by The Sandcastle Girls

Prep Time: 15 minutes    Cook Time: 18 minutes    Yield: 2 dozen

Ingredients

• 1-1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon orange oil, I used Boyajian Pure Orange Oil
• 1 teaspoon orange zest
• 1-1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips, such as Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Chips
• 1 cup pistachios, shelled and coarsely chopped
• sea salt to sprinkle over cookies

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 300°F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Combine the flour and baking soda together in a medium bowl and set aside.  Cream together butter and sugars until smooth and well blended.  Beat in egg, vanilla, orange oil and orange zest.  Beat for 3 minutes.
3. Mix in flour and baking soda until fully incorporated.  Stir in chocolate chips and pistachios.  Drop by teaspoonful on baking sheets.  Liberally sprinkle sea salt over each cookie.
4. Bake for about 18 minutes until just beginning to brown on the edges.  Remove from oven and allow to cool completely on baking sheets.

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