Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
At the risk of sounding hyperbolic, this cookie has everything I want in a chocolate chip cookie - soft yet chewy, flavorful cookie base that isn’t too sweet, and the right balance of chocolate.
With that being said, there conservatively 1 million “brown butter chocolate chip cookie” recipes online and variations being sold at bakeries. So it stands to reason that, with only so many ingredients included in said cookie and only so many ways to manipulate the proportions of said ingredients, these variations have far more in common than they may like to admit. Some might be a bit sweeter, a bit crispier, a bit softer, a bit more or less chocolately, but they all will have a lot in common.
Therefore, I would never contend that this is best chocolate chip cookie recipe, but if you are interested in the qualities listed above and are in the market for a solid, dependably delicious and easy recipe, I think this one is worth your time and energy.
Makes: 12 cookies
Active time: 20 minutes
Total time: 2 hours 32 minutes, up to 1 day
Ingredients
142g (1 stick + 2 tablespoons) unsalted butter, divided
175g (1 1/4 cup) all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
114g (4oz) bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped, divided
150g (3/4 cup) brown sugar, packed
35g (2 tablespoons) granulated sugar
1 egg, large
1 egg yolk, large
2 teaspoons vanilla extract or paste
flaky salt for sprinkling
Method
In a small saucepan over medium low heat, melt and brown 113g (1 stick) butter. Keep an eye on the butter and stir occasionally. Once the milk solids at the bottom of the pan have turned a dark golden brown, remove from the heat and pour into a large heat proof bowl.
Add the remaining 29g (2 tablespoons) butter to the browned butter and whisk until melted. This kick starts the cooling process and helps us get to mixing the dough faster.
While the butter cools down a bit more, combine 175g (1 1/4 cup) all purpose flour, 3/4 teaspoon baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a separate bowl. Whisk to combine.
Roughly chop 114g (4oz) bittersweet chocolate. It’s okay to have some variation in size. If you chop it too small, the chocolate will melt into the dough as it bakes and you won’t get any of those nice big chocolate bites. Take out 12 of the bigger chunks from the rest of chocolate and set both bowls aside for later.
Add 150g (3/4 cup) brown sugar and 35g (2 tablespoons) granulated sugar to the browned butter and whisk to combine.
Add the egg and egg yolk to the butter and sugar mixture and whisk vigorously for about one minute. The mixture should thicken a bit and lighten in color.
Whisk in 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or paste.
Add the previously mixed dry ingredients and stir with a spatula until the mixture is about halfway combined. Add the larger reserved bowl of chocolate to the dough and mix just until all of the flour is mixed in.
Using a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop the dough onto a parchment lined plate or quarter sheet tray. If the dough is super soft, pop it into the fridge to chill for about 20 minutes to firm up. Wrap the scooped cookie and chill in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours, but ideally overnight.
Shortly before you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375F and line two half sheet trays with parchment paper.
Arrange the chilled scoops of dough two inches apart on the trays (6 cookies per tray). Using the reserved large chocolate chunks, place one on top of each scoop and lightly press into adhere. This will ensure each cookie has a nice, very aesthetically pleasing pool of melted chocolate on top. Lastly, sprinkle each scoop with a tiny pinch of flaky salt (optional, but if you’re skeptical, please just sacrifice one!).
Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, rotating the trays halfway through, until the edges are golden brown and the centers are just set (no longer looks like shiny raw dough).
Let the cookies cool on the tray for about 5 minutes and then move to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Cookies can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days or frozen up to 3 months.
Alternatively, raw scooped cookie dough can be frozen up to 3 months and baked directly from frozen. They just may take a couple more minutes of bake time.