Sweet of the Week: Brown Sugar Sea Salt Cookies at Smalls

In the pantheon of classic comfort foods, cookies are pretty high up there for me. But perhaps in spite of their omnipresence, I have pretty high standards for comforting cookies. Mrs. Fields simply will not do. I love a carefully crafted, smart, and well-rounded cookie; especially one that dares to be different. A perfect example of this is the brown sugar-sea salt cookie at Smalls, a seamless amalgam of salty-sweet from the fairly unexpected confines of a BBQ shack. Better even than a well crafted chocolate chip, this brown sugar-sea salt innovation excels on all levels, offering enough potent punch of flavor to stand out on its own and punctuate a savory lunch or dinner of aromatic 'cue. 
 

 

The first thing you'll notice about these cookies is their imperfect nature. Riddled with crevices and uneven surfaces, these are the types of cookies that look like they've been plucked from a bake sale, made fresh my somebody's mom. They're instantly comforting and homey merely from a visual standpoint, but they get even better. Texturally, they nail that perfect middle ground of soft in the center and crackly along the exterior; a delicate crunch gives way to a gooey, buttery middle. Then of course there's the flavor, rich with caramel-y brown sugar. A dusting of sea salt atop the cookie not only stands out in flavorful contrast against the sugar, but it accentuates every other accent in the cookie itself. The sugar is sugarier, the salt is saltier, the butter is butterier. They're just small enough that you can easily scarf these cookies after a hearty meal. In a word, these cookies are perfect.

- Matt Kirouac