Last winter, we had a little house-party here at Rancho Gordo. We had thought there'd be enough food but our friends and neighbors here in Napa came with real appetites. Naturally everything was good but what stole the show was the cookies.

Ethan Howard is the well-respected pastry chef from Cavallo Point's Murray Circle restaurant in Sausalito. He took some of our piloncillo and stoneground chocolate and came up with these delicious cookies. The chocolate was great, but oddly enough, it's the piloncillo that's the star!

I grew up in nearby Sausalito and in order to have access to Cavallo Point, you needed to know someone in the military. Now it's open and it's one of the most beautiful places in the Bay Area. And what a kitchen! Murray Circle just runs rings around most fine dining and I'd jump at any opportunity to eat there.

Rancho Gordo Chocolate Chip Cookie

Yield: 3 dozen cookies

• Unsalted Butter (room temperature) 2 ½ cup
• Evaporated Cane Sugar (piloncillo) 5 cup
• Vanilla Extract 1 Tablespoon
• Eggs (room temperature) 4 each
• Kosher Salt 2 Tablespoons
• Baking Soda 1 Tablespoon
• Ground Coriander 1 Tablespoon
• Pastry Flour 6 cup
• Bittersweet Chocolate chips 1 ½ cup
• Rancho Gordo Cacao (chopped) 1 ½ cup
• Milk Chocolate chips 3 cup

-Preheat oven to 350° f.

-In a large bowl, lightly mix the flour, salt, baking soda, and coriander together. Set aside.

-In a table mixer, cream the butter with the sugar. When the butter and the sugar are emulsified, slowly add the eggs and vanilla extract.

-When the eggs are thoroughly mixed in, add the flour mixture in 3 stages. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula periodically. When the flour is incorporated, add the chocolate chips and mix until the batter is just combined.

-Using a spoon or a medium sized ice cream scoop, scoop cookies onto a greased cookie sheet 2 inches apart from each other. Bake for 14-18 minutes. Transfer cookies to a cool surface.

Recipe provided by Ethan Howard