Salted Mudslide Cookies.

August 16, 2011 · 153 comments

Cool people put salt on their cookies.

Really! I swear. It’s not scary.

Be a cool person. Because cool people also put booze in their cookies. Yessss.

Mudslides were one of those drinks that I thought were insanely cool when I was 13 or 14 years old. I probably hadn’t even drank a cup of coffee at that point, but I had quite a few licks of coffee ice cream and maaaaybe even a few sneaky sips of Baileys on the rocks come holidays. I was well aware of the magic marriage between coffee and chocolate.

A few summers ago at the beach, my uncle started blending mudslides one afternoon, changing up the typical bourbon/rum punch flow of the day. Mother Lovett – who rarely strayed from her bourbon + ginger ale – started to feel left out and decided that she too wanted a mudslide. But she didn’t ask for a mudslide. She asked for a mudslinger.

[You know... kind of like the time she thought Obama's name was "Omaha" for two weeks and asked every Sunday if we could take a quick stop at "Louie's" to looks at flowers. Lowes. It's LOWES!]

So Mother Lovett, mudslinger in hand, got her drank on while sitting approximately 5 inches from the big screen TV so she could adequately hear Dr. Phil while the rest of us sat at the pool drinking, reading, and being occasionally obnoxious.

By the time we came back up to our condos to get ready for dinner… she was MIA. Couldn’t find her anywhere! It was only after we turned down the blaring TV that we heard snoring and unexpectedly found her passed out, face-up, mudslinger glass in hand on her bed. Someone made those mudslingers a little strong…

Now I can’t ever drink a mudslide without thinking of Mother Lovett drunk as a skunk. And the fact that I put salt on my cookies most likely has her rolling in her grave. She definitely wouldn’t be down with this trend.

But it’s 2011 people! Times are a’changing. Put some bacon in your cupcakes, some salt on your cookies. Trash it all up a little. It tastes good. You won’t hate it.

While on vacation two weeks ago, my mom and I spotted giant salted mudslide cookies inside a bakery case in the cutest little general store. And boy… were they giant. I’m talking like the size of my head. Unfortunately chocolate was the last thing on my mind as I had successfully consumed my second salted caramel gelato of the day mere minutes before, but I tucked the idea away safely in the back of my mind. I can’t do my dang multiplication tables but I sure can remember what recipes I want to create.

I topped these cookies with sea salt flakes that I also found while on vacation. I had only been looking for sea salt flakes for oh… four years or something like that. Flakes my friends… not crystals or little chunks. And why order them online? I’d rather pay triple for it on vacation in a cute little foodie store. So that there I did.

And while I’m telling you what to do? Use chocolate chunks instead of chips. See that gooeyness down there? Chunks. Do it.

Salted Mudslide Cookies

adapted from the giant rainbow cookies

2 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/4 cup dark cocoa powder

3 tablespoons instant coffee powder

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 stick (1/2 cup) of unsalted butter, melted and cooled for 10-15 minutes

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg + 1 egg yolk, at room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 cup coffee liqueur + 1 teaspoon (Godiva, Kahlua, etc)

1 cup chocolate chunks

sea salt for topping

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Mix the flour, cocoa, coffee powder, salt and baking soda in a bowl and set aside. In another bowl, mix the melted butter and sugars until they are combined. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and stir until mixed. Stream in coffee liqueur and mix. Gradually add flour and mix until a dough forms – it will look crumbly at first, but it will come together. I even used my hands to help at one point. If you find you absolutely need more liquid add in a teaspoon of coffee liqueur, but it should come together. Fold in the chocolate chunks. Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes.

Remove dough from the fridge and roll into golfball sized balls. Set on a non-stick baking sheet with 2 inches between each. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are set and the middles are still soft. The centers should be puffy. Do not over bake. Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle with sea salt. Let cool completely then dig in!