Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Perfectly chewy and addictive!

I've been taking a lot of flak from my two sisters about the lack of "good" (aka chocolate) desserts on the blog lately, so I thought I'd share this amazing recipe for chocolate chip cookies made with browned butter.

I first had these cookies this summer at a BBQ and as soon as I bit into one I knew that these were not your ordinary chocolate chip cookies. There was a certain rich nuttiness to the flavour that I couldn't identify (or resist) so I just had to know the secret. The baker, Jill, was thrilled to share that the mystery ingredient was browned butter.

Browned butter, quite simply put, is butter that is cooked until it turns a light brown colour. The butter takes on a wonderful nutty aroma and tiny flecks of browned bits float among the golden liquid. It's so fabulous that EVERY LAST DROP should be scraped out so none is missed!

Browning the butter is not hard, but it does require the baker to keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn and become inedible. Oh, and you can't just substitute browned butter in your favourite chocolate chip cookie recipe like I did or else you get dry and crumby cookies and are guaranteed to be in a bad mood the rest of the day. 

Follow the recipe or risk disappointment!

As you can see below, the photo on the left shows the dry cookie (not following the recipe!) while the one on the right features the soft, chewy, delectable browned butter beauties. This bumble was certainly not my finest baking experiment.

One other unique component to this recipe is the method. Instead of just mixing the ingredients together this recipe requires adequate time to whisk the ingredients together and then resting them several times before the dough can be shaped into cookies and baked. It might seem like an unnecessary step, but as I learned with my previous bumble - don't mess with something that works. I'm more than happy now to give the dough extra minutes to ensure these cookies turn out perfectly!

Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes about 32 cookies

Ingredients

1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

½ tsp. baking soda

¾ cup unsalted butter

½ cup granulated sugar

¾ cups packed brown sugar

1 tsp. salt

2 tsps. vanilla

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 ¼ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat to 375 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with baking mats.

2. Whisk flour and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.

3. Heat ½ cup butter in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Combine cooking, swirling pan constantly until butter is dark golden brown and has a nutty aroma, 1 – 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and, using a heatproof spatula, transfer the butter to a large heatproof bowl. Stirring the remaining butter until completely melted.

4. Add both sugars, salt and vanilla to the butter and whisk until fully incorporated. Add the eggs and whisk until mixture is smooth with no sugar lumps remaining, about 30 seconds. Let mixture stand for 3 minutes, then whisk again for 30 seconds. Repeat this process of resting and whisking 2 more times until mixture is thick, smooth and shiny.

5. Using a rubber spatula, stir in flour mixture until just combined, about 1 minutes. Stir in chocolate chips, giving the dough a final stir to ensure no flour pockets remain.

6. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop dough and arrange 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets.

7. Bake cookies 1 tray at time until they are golden brown and still puffy, and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft, 8 – 10 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through baking. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack before serving.