Thyme Is The Flavorful Herb That Belongs In Your Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate chip cookies are the O.G. of cookies. They're like a Whitney Houston song, perfect in every way and nearly impossible to improve upon the original version. That is unless you reach into your fridge or go out to your victory garden and add a little bit of herbaceous fresh thyme to your chocolate chip cookie cooking equation. Thyme might seem like an unassuming herb, but don't be fooled by those little leaves. They can have a wonderful impact on your next batch of cookies. 

Chocolate and thyme are a beautiful pairing where chocolate's familiar creamy and sweet taste intermingles with thyme's subtle, herby kick. This leafy herb's mint and lemony elements create a sweet and mild spice with woodsy and floral notes. When combined with chocolate all of thyme's feels become more noticeable to the palate. But don't worry, it will not overpower the taste of your chocolate chip cookies, but rather stay in the background to complement and amplify the chocolate chip flavor and the buttery delicious cookie dough. 

If you are going to add thyme to your chocolate chip cookie dough, fresh is best, with around a tablespoon of chopped leaves per batch a good place to start. Make sure you don't get any dried sticky stalks in, just the leaves. Ground thyme's concentrated nature is going to be too potent for the whimsical taste of a chocolate chip cookie. Leave it in the spice cabinet and stick to fresh leaves. And when it comes to the chocolate chips, use either milk or dark. Dark chocolate will offer a bitter note that really highlights the lemon flavor of the thyme, while offering a complexity of flavor. Milk chocolate chips, on the other hand, are going to be sweeter.  

If you want to bring out the citrus flavor of the thyme, add a little bit of orange or lemon zest to the mix. When these flavors are wedded to the chocolate chip of your choice, it might remind you of a Terry's Chocolate Orange bundled in a cookie. If you like thyme in your chocolate chip cookie, try a little sprinkled into your shortbread and sugar cookies, too.