This One Ingredient Will Make Your Chocolate Chip Cookies Better

Okay, okay, I know my subject for today’s blog post sounds like click bait, but stick with me folks!

I’ve long been a fan of the sweet/savoury combo. For example, I always a put a little coffee in almost anything I make that has chocolate in it, because the bitterness of the coffee helps to enhance the chocolate flavour. I like to put herbs in desserts that include fruit, especially berries. Thyme and Rosemary go very nicely with blueberries, mint and basil pair well with strawberries. I always dust a little fleur de sel on my chocolate chip cookies.

But recently, after doing some reading, I learned that miso (which, if you are not familiar with it, is a fermented soybean paste most often used to make a soup base in Japanese cuisine), can add some extra flavour to desserts.

Miso is packed with umami; the 5th flavour. Umami is hard to describe, but it’s my favourite. Umami can be a bit salty to be sure, but it also has a funk to it, but in a very good way. Think anything pickled, fermented. Think blue cheese. Think mushrooms. Think hoisin sauce. All of these are umami.

@findbex Miso in chocolate chip cookies?? Yeah it sounds super weird, but it’s sctually SO GOOD. It’s giving a hint of salty umami. Woukd you try? #miso #baking #chocolatechipcookies #vegan #plantbased #veganbaking #easyveganrecipes #misochocolatechipcookies #umami #sweetsavoury ♬ original sound – Rebecca Coleman, Food Blogger

So, it turns out, adding just a 1/4 cup of miso paste will make your chocolate chip cookies better. It’s hard to pin down: it’s not like your cookies taste like miso, they don’t. The miso paste just adds a slight… something. It’s a background flavour, a hint of something you won’t be able to define, but it will make your chocolate chip cookies just so much better.

I add mine while I’m creaming together my butter and sugars. If you need a base recipe, you can use this one.

Try it! And then tell me your thoughts.