- Ample salt — salt is critical to contrast the sweet. You won’t taste a savory cookie, just a cookie with more contrast.
- A bit of instant coffee — coffee is bitter and the cookie is sweet. This bitterness contrasts nicely with the sweet dough while working with the chocolate to make it taste … well … more chocolatey. (You will NOT taste any coffee.)
- Bittersweet chocolate along with semisweet chocolate — using milk chocolate in this recipe is idiotic. The dough is VERY sweet. The chocolate is also sweet but LESS sweet. The limited shaving of bittersweet chocolate contrasts again.
- The dough is heavily sweetened but it also has vanilla hints and the browned butter that goes into it again, adds a nutty flavor that you can just sense in the background.
- The outside of the dough gets crisp and brown (brown is also nutty and slightly bitter) while the interior stays gooey and soft.
- The use of kosher salt sprinkled on top again, contrasts with the soft chocolate and gooey middle.
- The toasted pecans (Yes, you’ll toast them) add a wonderful crunch along with the gooey dough and chocolate.
