We all need a classic chocolate chip cookie recipe in our baking repertoire – and this is mine. These Chocolate Chip Cookies with Fleur de Sel are chewy on the inside, crispy on the outside, rich and buttery, and full of chocolate chips. They are sprinkled generously with Fleur de Sel before baking to make all the flavors pop and give them an incomparable taste.
What is Fleur de Sel?
Fleur de Sel, translating literally to “Flower of salt” is the crust of salt that forms on the surface of sea water as it evaporates. Fleur de Sel is grown in salt marshes and is then collected traditionally using wooden racks by workers called paludiers. It is a rather labor intensive process which explains why fleur de sel is more expensive than table salt. Fleur de Sel is very often used in Brittany cooking and baking as it’s grown/created on its coast, notably in Guérande, Noirmoutier and the Ile de Ré.
I always bring back some Fleur de Sel from France in my luggage. But you can also easily find Fleur de Sel online (I recommend the Paludier or Le Saunier de Camargue) and in some specialty grocery stores.
How to use Fleur de Sel?
With Fleur de Sel, a little goes a long way. Use it as a tiny garnish, sprinkled over food, rather than the classic salt you would add to your dish in the process of cooking. In texture, Fleur de Sel comes in large salt crystals. In taste, it has a higher moisture content than table salt, which makes the crystals often stick together and hence deliver a higher, more intense salt flavor on your tongue. This cookie recipe shows you exactly how table salt and Fleur de Sel can be used in different ways: the table salt is mixed with the dry ingredients and folded into the batter, while the Fleur de Sel is sprinkled on the cookies right before baking.
Cooking notes:
- A food scale is recommended for this recipe, as each cookie dough ball must be rolled in 60 grams balls. After several test batches, I found that 60 gram-cookies were the best in term of texture and size.
- Make sure you use unsalted butter. This recipe calls for salt and fleur de sel which will provide plenty enough salt for the cookies. If you use salted butter, your cookies will likely be too salty in taste.
- Melt the butter about 30 minutes before you start the recipe. Set aside and let it cool down to room temperature.
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips are perfect here. But you can also opt for milk chocolate chips or dark chocolate chips, or a mix. Using good quality chocolate will make a big difference.
- Do not overbake the cookies. 17 minutes is the ideal baking time for me, but remember every oven is different. When taking the cookies out of the oven, the edges should be set and slightly golden but the centers should still look slightly gooey. Leaving them on the baking sheet for two extra minutes will set the center. You should then be able to transfer them onto a cooling rack (with the help of a spatula).
I hope you’ll love this Chocolate Chip Cookies with Fleur de Sel recipe as much as I do! If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment.
You may also like:
- Buckwheat Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sea Salt
- Breton Salted Butter Sables
- Hazelnut Chocolate Sea Salt Granola
- Classic French Chocolate Truffles
- Classic French Chocolate Pots de Crème
Did you make this recipe?
I’d love to know how it turned out! Please let me know by leaving a comment below, rate the recipe and/or share a photo on Instagram: tag @pardonyourfrench and hashtag it #pardonyourfrench. This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my Privacy Policy & Disclosure page for more details.
I tested many (many!) chocolate chip cookie recipes before finding a combination that I really loved, making tweaks along the way. Some of my inspirations include Duchess At Home Tripe Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, Tara O’Brady’s Basic, Great Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe and French Chef Cyril Lignac’s Double Chocolate Chip cookie recipe.
12 comments
The weight of the flour seems too heavy. You typically use 125 grams per cup of flour. For example in Lavender Sablé Cookies 1 ½ cups weighs 188g and here it’s 260 grams.
Hi there, thank you for your comment! The right measurements for the flour is 1 ¾ cups (260g). Let me know if you make these cookies, Happy baking!
Do you press down the balls? Or do become flat by themselves? 🙂
Hi George, you do not need to press down the balls, they become flat by themselves. Happy baking!
These are the best choc chip cookies. Other recipes don’t even come close. I appreciate your specific instructions and metric weights in all the steps.
Thanks so much Linda!
Very good and easy! Glad I tried this…as with all of the recipes I have tried here, très bon!
Amazing, thank you!
I tried this recipe today and it worked out well! I find them a bit too sweet, but love the texture.
Thank you for your feedback!
Great recipe. Made them on a snowy Colorado evening, shared with the neighbors…. huge hit!
Amazing, thank you for your feedback!