Chocolate Chunk Cake with Sea Salt

Chocolate chip cookies with a little something extra — flaky sea salt. Crispy edges and a chewy, chocolatey center make these Chocolate Chunk Cookies with Sea Salt truly delicious. There’s sea salt in the dough and sprinkles on top for the perfect balance of sweet and salty in every bite.

Ingredients

• Butter
• Light brown sugar
• Sugar
• Vanilla extract
• Egg
• Flour
• Baking soda
• baking powder
• flaked sea salt
• Chocolate chunks

The easiest chocolate chip cookies

These simple and delicious every day chocolate chip cookies are practically foolproof. The focus is on rich chocolate chunks and an irresistible touch of sea salt.

Chocolate chunks or chocolate chips

Why use chocolate chunks instead of chips? Because chunks mean more chocolate in every bite! When you find one of those gooey, melty morsels, you’ll immediately understand why it’s worth it.

When shopping for chocolate pieces, you’ll find many choices, but choose the best quality you can. Good cuts melt beautifully and create a rich, smooth texture—unlike cheaper cuts that remain grainy. I like to use semi-sweet, but if you can’t find the pieces, chocolate chips will still work!

Produced through the evaporation of seawater with minimal processing (my favorite is from the southern coastal waters of Maldon, Essex England). It has a pyramid shape and is delicious used as a finishing salt in savory and sweet dishes.

Why chocolate chunks and not chocolate chips? Simply because you get more chocolate than using small chocolate chips and when you bite into one of the melted chocolate chunks, you’ll see why.

When purchasing chocolate chunks, I found several options to purchase. I like to buy the best quality ones I can find because they tend to melt a little, unlike some that don’t and can be grainy. I like to use semi-sweet.

flaked sea salt

Flaked sea salt may seem like a fancy finishing touch, but it’s actually the secret weapon to making amazing cakes. A small sprinkle of salt provides balance and contrast to each bite. Here’s why it works so well:

• It enhances the sweetness: Salt naturally enhances the flavor, making the chocolate taste richer and the cake taste sweeter—without adding more sugar.
• This adds texture: The light, crunchy flakes create a subtle crunch that contrasts nicely with the soft, chewy cake.
• It deepens the flavor: A pinch of salt cuts through the complex notes in the chocolate and butter, giving your cake a more mature, bakery-style flavor.
• It looks pretty: Let’s be honest—the shiny flakes on top make your cake look irresistible!
• Salt is added to food to enhance the taste of the ingredients, not to make the food taste salty. The same goes for baked goods and especially these cakes.
• I added it to the Salted Caramel Sauce used in my Salted Caramel Pecan Brownies. There’s something delicious about a salty/sweet bite.

Salt is added to food to enhance the taste of the ingredients, not to make the food taste salty. The same goes for baked goods and especially these cakes.

A saltier recipe

I love adding a little salt to sweet treats—like my Salted Caramel Sauce, which takes my Salted Caramel Pecan Brownies to the next level. There’s something irresistible about the perfect balance of sweet and salty in every bite!

Tips for successful cookies

1. Use room temperature ingredients:
Butter and eggs combine more evenly when they’re not cold, so your cake has the perfect texture.

2. Choose unsalted butter:
Always use unsalted butter so you can control the amount of salt in your recipes, especially those containing sea salt. Most salted butters vary in the amount of salt they contain.

3. Choose the right mixer:
A stand mixer with a whisk attachment is ideal for cake batter. This creams the butter and sugar perfectly without making too much flour later. An electric hand mixer with a large mixing bowl will also work—stop mixing as soon as the dough comes together.

4. Don’t over-mix the dough:
Once you add the dry ingredients, mix or stir until combined. Overmixing can make cookies tough instead of chewy.

5. Cool the dough:
Leaving the mixture in the refrigerator (at least 30 minutes, or overnight) helps deepen the flavor and prevents spreading.

6. Use quality chocolate:
Good chocolate makes a difference. Chunks or chips with a higher cocoa content melt better and taste richer.

7. Measure flour correctly:
Spoon the flour into a measuring cup and spread it out—don’t scoop it out. Too much flour can cause the cake to be dry and lumpy.

8. Use a cookie scoop:
A cookie scoop ensures that all your cookies have the same size ball of cookie dough, so they bake evenly and look perfect for baking.

9. Don’t overcook:
Remove the cake when the edges are golden but the center still looks slightly soft—the cake will have finished cooking on the baking sheet.

10. Bake on parchment paper:
Cover. your cake tin/pan. This prevents sticking and helps the cake bake evenly with perfectly crispy edges.

11. Cool on a wire rack:
Transfer the cake to a cooling rack after a few minutes. This keeps the bottom from getting wet and helps it get the perfect texture.

Frost the cake

For best results, freeze cookie dough before baking. Spoon each portion onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and freeze until firm. Once solid, transfer the dough balls to a freezer bag or airtight container, label, and store until you are ready to bake. When the cake craving hits, pop it straight into the oven—no need to thaw!

If you’ve made Chocolate Chunk Cake with Sea Salt, please leave a star rating in the recipe card. You can also leave a comment or ask a question below.