Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

There are thousands of chocolate chip cookie recipes in existence. Probably the first thing you ever baked in your life was, in fact, a chocolate chip cookie. Isn’t that sort of a childhood right of passage? With so many recipes for it out there, you would assume that it is something that is impossible to mess up.

Well that is sort of true. A chocolate chip cookie recipe is generally simple, but I have had good chocolate chip cookies and then I have had great chocolate chip cookies. There are a few aspects that I think make the great ones stand out from all the others:

1. A chewy center with slightly crisp edges
2. Chocolate chip to cookie ratio
3. The right amount of salt to balance the sweetness

These brown butter chocolate chip cookies meet all of those requirements and more! Browning the butter adds a rich, nutty flavor to the cookies. And because the butter is warm when added to the sugar, it creates a fudgy texture similar to that of a brownie!

Here’s what you need:

Equipment:

• Small Saucepan
• Rubber Spatula
• Whisk
• Large Mixing Bowl
• Sheet Pan with Wire Rack for Cooling

Start by browning the butter.

A pan that is lighter in color is ideal for this, because you can see more accurately the color of the butter as it cooks, which will prevent you from burning it.

Melt the butter over medium heat. Once melted, it all begin to foam.

Gently stir the butter regularly. The milk solids that were foamy will begin to caramelize and settle on the bottom of the pan. Once the butter is golden brown, remove it from the heat.

Have the brown and granulated sugar whisked together and set aside. Pour the browned butter, including the solids at the bottom of the pan, into the sugar and whisk well to combine. Next, add the eggs and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the dough and stir with a rubber spatula until it is just combined.

Pour in the chocolate chips and fold them into the dough with the rubber spatula. The dough will still be warm at this point and will very slightly melt the chips, which will create a really pretty marbling throughout the cookies.

Use a 1 inch ice cream scoop to scoop uniform balls of dough. I use this method always when making cookies. They come out perfectly every single time! Scoop the dough, then use your hands to pack it into the scoop. Arrange the balls of dough on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

Bake for 10 to 11 minutes. The cookies will have a slightly golden tinge around the edges. Allow them to cool on the pan for a few minutes before handling because they are extremely soft right out of the oven.

Transfer them to a rack to cool, then keep them stored in an airtight container!

Can I freeze them?

Absolutely! Though I would recommend freezing the dough unbaked. To properly freeze the dough, place the balls on a lined plate or sheet pan. Be sure they are not touching when they first go into the freezer so they don’t stick together. Once the balls are frozen, you can toss them into a ziplock bag all together and keep them in the freezer for up to 6 months.

When you have a cookie craving, remove the amount of cookies you would like from the freezer and place them on a lined sheet pan. Allow them to come to room temperature before baking, then bake them according to the directions.

Other recipes to try:

• Coconut and Walnut Oatmeal Cookies
• Perfect Crisp and Fudgy Nutella Brownies