Moko Hirayama never dreamed she’d become famous for her cookies. Born in Tokyo and raised in San Francisco, she worked long and hard as a lawyer before turning to pastry-making, training at prestigious bakeries and restaurants.
“Becoming a baker was a big and gutsy change in my life, one that my parents did not necessarily understand or accept in the beginning," she says. "This led to enormous regret and self-doubt: was this really the right thing to do?”
Things became a little more complicated when Moko realized that actually, she was not that good at making classic French desserts. “I did not enjoy making or eating fancy-looking pastries with icing or tuiles,” she says.
Moko Hirayama. Photography: Mickaël Bandassak
However, as Moko confides in her new book Mokonuts: The Cookbook, written with her husband Omar Koreitem: “I truly owe it all to cookies. They helped me find and understand my identity as a baker.”
Indeed, since co-founding with Omar the Mokonuts restaurant in Paris, Moko’s cookies have become legendary, and her ability to infuse comforting tastes and unexpected flavors sets her apart in the world of baking.
With Mokonuts, Moko and Omar have created a dining experience that resonates far beyond Paris, earning them features in publications including The New York Times and Condé Nast Traveler, and recognitions from the likes of Yotam Ottolenghi and Alice Waters.
In their debut cookbook Mokonuts: The Cookbook, Moko and Omar - who was born in Lebanon, raised in Paris, and has a background rooted in Michelin-starred kitchens - recreate the welcoming atmosphere of one of Paris’s most talked-about restaurant.
It’s not just a collection of recipes, more an invitation to understand the dedication and time that makes a globally loved restaurant a success and to explore bold, globally inspired flavors from two of the most respected chefs in the industry.
From breakfasts, appetizers and mains to the most comforting deserts you’ll taste, it’s packed with crowd-pleasers that require minimal space and equipment to recreate at home. And that definitely includes cookies.
Mokonuts, Paris. Photography: Mickaël Bandassak
As Moko tells Phaidon.com “I have to admit, cookies have come to play such an important role in my life. They are one of the very few things that have been with Mokonuts from day one, and now we cannot open our doors without them.”
In Mokonuts: The Cookbook, Moko explains the childhood origins of her obsession. “As far as I can remember, and from the moment I was able to cook or bake, I’ve had many different obsessions. They were not always pastry-related, however. My very first must have been takoyaki (Japanese street food with octopus) at the age of 12. I bought a takoyaki iron with my allowance money and fed my family with God knows how many different variations of takoyaki.”
“At another point, it was traditional Japanese sweets, Mexican tortillas, Chinese medicinal cuisine, and then came French pastries, such as madeleines, pots de creme, canneles.”
“Each obsession involved research and numerous trials. At an earlier stage of my life, it would involve a simple scrapbook. Then, as I got older, it developed into elaborate color-coded and dated notes and, eventually, spreadsheets.”
Mokonuts, Paris. Photography: Mickaël Bandassak
“My quest for the ultimate chocolate-chip cookie was one of the most long-lasting and frustrating. I had in my mind a cookie from my childhood in Japan; they were called Country Ma’am and they were sold individually packaged in the supermarket. They were chewy and soft in the middle, while the edges were hard and crisp (or dry even, as they were packaged to last a long time).”
"My early trials yielded crispy cookies because the dough spread like lava. Getting into the science of ingredients was somewhat helpful: different types of sugar and flour, baking soda versus baking powder, cold dough and baking sheets, the baking temperature. All of it played a role.”
With Thanksgiving almost upon us we thought we’d share one of Moko’s cookie recipes from Mokonuts: The Cookbook.
CHOCOCHUNK COOKIES RECIPE
Cookies. Photography: Mickaël Bandassak
"I have a friend who asks me for “fresh” dough to eat on the spot. I am a cookie dough addict myself and sometimes wonder if I prefer the dough or the baked final version. One day, I would love to make my own chocolate chunk cookie dough ice cream. I use the word “chunk” because I spend time chopping up a large block of chocolate for this recipe, rather than using chocolate chips."
"Many French customers ask, more often than I would prefer, for a cookie with pepites de chocolat, which translates to 'chocolate chips'. I cannot resist correcting, although it’s probably not necessary and may be annoying to certain people, that I only have cookies with large, irregular chunks of chocolate (with a big smile, of course). Like everything else in life, I like things irregular and not perfect. Same goes for the shape of my cookies and also for the chunks of chocolate."
INGREDIENTS - Makes 15 cookies
2 cups (8. oz/240 g) all-purpose (plain) flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Half a teaspoon baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
5 oz (140 g) unsalted butter
Half a cup (3. oz/100 g) cane sugar
Half a cup plus 2 tablespoons(4. oz/130 g) light brown sugar
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 large egg, beaten
1.25 cups (7 oz/200 g) chopped bittersweet (dark) chocolate (ideally at least 70% cocoa solids)
Flaky salt, for finishing
METHOD
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda in a bowl. Set aside. In a bowl set over a pan of simmering water, melt the butter (or use a microwave), then remove from the heat and stir in the sugars and salt. Add the egg and beat well with a spatula, then add the flour mixture in two batches, each time mixing until all the streaks of flour disappear. Finally, stir in the chopped chocolate. For best results, cover the bowl, and rest the dough in the fridge overnight, or for up to 24 hours.
Preheat the oven to 375F (190C).
Divide the dough into 15 pieces, roll each piece into a ball, and place on a cold baking sheet. Sprinkle with a little flaky salt, then bake for about 10 minutes, or until the edges are golden, the middle is puffed, and the dough feels dry to the touch. Lightly tap each cookie in the middle. let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer them to the cooling rack. As soon as you can lift them with your fingers, they are ready to eat!
Get a copy of Mokonuts: The Cookbook here.
