Piloncillo Chocolate Chip Cookies
Updated May 8, 2024
Kelly Marshall for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Samantha Seneviratne.
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Cook Time
- 50 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
Advertisement
Ingredients
6 ounces/170 grams piloncillo
⅓ cup/67 grams granulated sugar
½ cup/113 grams unsalted butter (1 stick), melted
½ teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal) or ¼ teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1 large egg
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract or vanilla paste
1 ⅔ cups/211 grams all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 heaping cup/170 grams bittersweet chocolate chips or chunks (preferably 72 percent cacao or higher)
Flaky sea salt or kosher salt
Nutritional analysis per serving
26 grams carbs; 25 milligrams cholesterol; 163 calories; 2 grams monounsaturated fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 6 grams fat; 2 grams fiber; 97 milligrams sodium; 3 grams protein; 14 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered by
Preparation
- Step 1
Grate piloncillo using the large holes of a box grater. The grated piloncillo won’t look or feel like dark brown sugar; it will more closely resemble grated hard cheese and will have crumbly, irregular shapes with some larger split pea-size pieces. (The larger pieces will taste like and have the texture of broken bits of toffee inside the baked cookie.)
- Step 2
Whisk grated piloncillo, granulated sugar, butter and kosher salt in a large bowl until evenly mixed. Vigorously whisk in egg and vanilla until mixture lightens in color and becomes almost ribbony but with undissolved pieces of piloncillo, about 1 minute. This step is very important and will give your cookie a shiny top, like a brownie, that will crisp as it bakes.
- Step 3
Add flour and baking soda and, using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, mix until dough comes together and no floury bits remain, about 30 seconds. Stir in chocolate until evenly distributed. Dough will be soft and may be warmer than room temperature. Refrigerate for 30 minutes (or up to 5 days; see Tip) to enhance flavor and allow the dough to firm up. Meanwhile, if baking right away, with racks in the upper and lower thirds, heat oven to 350 degrees.
- Step 4
Portion out balls of dough (about 2 generous tablespoons each) and space about 2 inches apart on 2 parchment-lined baking sheets. (You can also form dough into table tennis-size balls with your hands.) Do not flatten; cookies will spread as they bake. Sprinkle each ball with flaky or kosher salt.
- Step 5
Bake cookies, 2 sheets at a time, switching the pans halfway through, until edges are brown and firm but centers are still soft, 16 to 18 minutes. Let cool on baking sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
Cookie dough can be made up to 5 days ahead; store in an airtight container and chill. Or portion into balls, cover with plastic and freeze up to 3 months. Let dough come to room temperature before baking.
Private Notes
Comments
If people are having trouble grating piloncillo, you can microwave it for 30 seconds and you will be able to grate or chop it much more easily. Also, don’t worry about whether you are getting piloncillo in the traditional cone shape or panela, which is typically sold as a flatter disc, only the shape is different.
These are getting rave reviews from everyone I’ve made them for. I pound the sugar (in a zip plastic bag) with a mallet — works fine. If a few chunks are too big, I cut them with a paring knife. I save the extra 2 ounces to put toward another batch. I use Kerrygold unsalted butter, add a teaspoon or two of cinnamon, and always use vanilla paste in these. I chill the dough overnight. I don’t bother switching the pans, I just bake one pan at a time. Sometimes I make the cookies a bit larger, but even then they don’t need the full 16 minutes. They rest on the pan for 5, not 10, then I slide them on the parchment right onto the cooling rack. Topped with Maldon flaky sea salt, and studded with Ghirardelli 60 percent cacao bittersweet baking chips, these cookies are terrific.
FYI, I was met with bafflement at my local Latin grocer (in the DC area) when I asked for piloncillo. Here there are more Central Americans than Mexicans, and they call it panela. Like most things, you can also buy it online.
I also wanted to ads that since the bits of piloncillo sink inward, and the chocolate stays outward, it made for some truly crazy faces on these cookies. I wish I could add photos but you’ll have to trust me on this one and have fun with it around Halloween time
I clobbered my piloncillo with a hammer in a plastic bag and all the bits came out just right. These are excellent cookies, I refrigerated the dough for an hour. Wouldn’t change a thing
These are phenomenal! Thanks for the tips on alternatives to grating! It took me 45 minutes with cones hard as rock. Watch cooking time carefully. 18 minutes is likely to much. In my oven, 13-14 minutes is about right, especially if you leave them on the baking sheet for the required 10 minutes. I am going to make some dough and bake after 5 days to see if the results live up to the comment about they are like "crack cocaine" (which I haven't tried, for the record)! :)