The eclectic, bare-bones Mokonuts has been charming diners in Paris’s 11th arrondissement since 2015, showcasing co-owners Moko Hirayama and Omar Koreitem’s singular and wonderfully simple approach to food. Over the years, several signature dishes have emerged at the daytime-only restaurant: labneh on toast with seasonal vegetables, silky veloutes inspired by the freshest produce, and of course, the cookies.
“Cookies have come to play such an important role in my life,” Hirayama writes in Mokonuts: The Cookbook, the duo’s first book. “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.” Several of Hirayama’s creations have gone viral — particularly the rye, cranberry, and dark chocolate cookies evangelized by cookbook legend Dorie Greenspan — meaning that among a certain foodie-in-the-know set, a cookie from Mokonuts brings serious cachet to a holiday cookie swap table.
To make these Chocochunks, Hirayama suggests that bakers should aim for imperfection. “Like everything else in life, I like things irregular and not perfect,” she writes. “Same goes for the shape of my cookies and also for the chunks of chocolate.” (That’s to say: Use and chop baking chocolate, as the recipe instructs, instead of reaching for the bag of chocolate chips.) And while it’s likely impossible to do so if you’re bringing these to a party, Mokonuts is well-known for baking its cookies in batches throughout the day to serve them warm — so do feel free to pilfer a few for yourself when they’re fresh out of the oven. No one has to know.
Mokonuts’s Chocochunk Cookie Recipe
2 cups (8½ ounces/240 grams) all-purpose (plain) flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
5 ounces (140 grams) unsalted butter
½ cup (3½ ounces/100 grams) cane sugar
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons (4¾ ounces/130 grams) light brown sugar
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 large egg, beaten
1¼ cups (7 ounces/200 grams) chopped bittersweet (dark) chocolate (ideally at least 70% cocoa solids)
Flaky salt, for finishing
Step 1: Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda in a bowl. Set aside.
Step 2: 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.
Step 3: 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. 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.
Step 4: Preheat the oven to 375° F (190° C).
Step 5: 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.
Step 6: 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!
Extracted from Mokonuts © 2025 by Moko Hirayama and Omar Koreitem. Photography © 2025 by Mickaël Bandassak. Reproduced by permission of Phaidon. All rights reserved.
Haley Hunt Davis is an Atlanta and L.A.-based food, beverage and product photographer. Styled by Ryan Norton, an Atlanta-based food stylist and macaron maker at La Macaron Guy.
