These are not health food cookies. They are excellent cookies that happen to contain no refined sugar.
The secret is two things working together: browned butter, which adds a nutty almost-caramel flavour of its own, and date sugar, which deepens that caramel note into something almost molasses-like. The result is a cookie with serious flavour complexity — crisp at the edges, chewy in the centre, with a flavour that keeps revealing itself bite after bite.
Make a double batch. You will not regret it.
A note on date sugar in cookies
Date sugar does not dissolve the way white sugar does — it retains some texture, which is actually an advantage here. It creates pockets of slightly denser, chewier sweetness throughout the cookie rather than uniform sugar distribution. Some bakers call this a bug. We call it the best part.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (225g) unsalted butter
- 1 and 1/4 cups (220g) Aurum Date Sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 and 1/4 cups (280g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp fine salt
- 1 and 1/2 cups (260g) dark chocolate chips or chunks
- Flaky sea salt, for finishing
Method
- Brown the butter: In a light-coloured saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Continue cooking, swirling frequently, until it turns golden amber and smells nutty — about 5-7 minutes. Watch carefully. Pour into a large bowl and cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes.
- Whisk date sugar into the cooled brown butter. The mixture will look sandy and slightly grainy — that is correct.
- Add eggs and vanilla, whisk vigorously for 2 minutes until the mixture lightens slightly.
- Fold in flour, baking soda, and salt until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.
- Refrigerate dough for at least 30 minutes — up to 48 hours. The longer the better.
- Preheat oven to 375F (190C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Scoop dough into 2-tablespoon balls, space 2 inches apart. Press each slightly to flatten. Sprinkle with flaky salt.
- Bake 10-12 minutes. Edges lightly golden, centres look underdone — they continue cooking on the tray.
- Cool on the tray at least 5 minutes before transferring. The longer you wait, the chewier the centre.
Storage
Airtight container at room temperature up to 5 days. Dough freezes beautifully — portion into balls and freeze up to 3 months. Bake from frozen adding 2 minutes to bake time.
Made with: Aurum Tunisian Date Sugar