Dark Chocolate Cherry Crunch Cookie
Melted butter, lemon zest, hazelnuts, Frosted Flakes, and Valrhona Manjari dark chocolate. This recipe wasn’t written for the episode — the prompt was written around it. It won the international room and came in second internationally when the US tasters were removed.
Ingredients
Method
Mix wet ingredients
Whisk melted butter with both sugars until combined. Add buttermilk powder and whisk to incorporate. Add egg, yolk, vanilla, and lemon zest and whisk until smooth and slightly glossy.
Add dry ingredients
In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and espresso powder. Fold into wet ingredients until just combined.
Fold in mix-ins
Fold in chopped chocolate, sour cherries, hazelnuts, and lightly crushed Frosted Flakes. Be gentle with the Frosted Flakes — you want to preserve some texture.
Chill
Portion dough into balls (approximately 60g each). Chill for at least 1 hour, or overnight.
Bake
Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Bake chilled dough balls 11–13 minutes until edges are golden and set. Centers will look slightly soft — that’s correct.
Finish
Finish with flaky sea salt immediately out of the oven. Cool on the pan 5 minutes before transferring.
Episode 6 Results — 11 Tasters
Baker’s Notes
- Buttermilk powder adds tang and tenderness without adding liquid. It’s worth tracking down — it makes a real difference in the final texture.
- Valrhona Manjari is a 64% single-origin Madagascar chocolate with bright, fruity notes that complement the cherries well. Any good-quality dark chocolate works here.
- The Frosted Flakes provide the crunch component. Lightly crushing them before folding in means some pieces stay larger and some break down — you want that variation.
- This recipe won the room in Episode 6 (33 Borda points out of 44 possible). When the two American tasters were removed from the results, it placed second internationally behind ChatGPT.