Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies
This is my absolute favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. It’s pretty versatile, so if you like some nuts in there, or you’re more of a milk chocolate kind of a person, you can adapt the recipe accordingly. However, the bones of this recipe are, at least in my opinion, pretty perfect. Brown butter results in a beautifully rich crumb and the most amazing caramel aroma. Using two different types of chocolate gives a great distribution of melty cocoa to crumb and also ensures you get those irresistible chocolatey pools on your cookies: major edible appeal! Add a sprinkle of flaky sea salt, and voila! The very best chocolate chip cookies!
Plus these cookies don’t require chilling time! And you don’t even need to soften the butter, or use a mixer of any kind! In fact, this recipe is about as low maintenance as cookies can get. So if you’re in a pinch for time, or you’re trying to bake with a million children (like me!), then these cookies are for you!
The only real trick to this recipe is getting the butter to brown but not burn. Just make sure to watch it as you’re cooking. It should become a nice red brown, and the aroma should be very caramelly delicious. It takes several minutes, so be patient, but the result is worth it!
Also, the final countertop slam and optional circle cookie cutter shaping are my little secrets to perfect cookies. They sound much more fancy than they are, but really just drop your baking pan (like it’s hot) onto the counter immediately after you pull it out of the oven. The countertop slam makes for cookies that are flatter and perfectly crunchy around the outer rim and gooey delicious in the center.
To get gorgeous circular cookies, grab a round cookie cutter that is slightly larger than your cookies and place it over each cookie right after your take the pan from the oven. Gently slide the cookie around inside the cutter in a circular motion. The edges will neaten up into a nice circle, and people will think you are a cookie genius!
Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies - Makes 16 cookies
Equipment:
Small saucepan
2 large baking sheets
Round Circle Cookie Cutter (3-3.5 in. diameter)
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. kosher salt
3/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cups unsalted butter, divided
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 large egg yolks
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 oz. dark chocolate (70% cocoa) chopped
3 oz. semi sweet chocolate chips
Maldon flaky sea salt (optional for sprinkling)
Method:
Preheat the oven to 375ºF, and line the baking sheets with parchment paper. Set the oven rack in the middle of the oven.
Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl, and set it aside.
Make the brown butter. Place 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter in the saucepan over medium heat. Melt the butter completely. Then continue cooking, swirling the butter and occasionally stirring with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula, until the butter has turned a golden red and smells amazing. Transfer the butter to a large mixing bowl and let it cool for a minute or two.
While the butter is cooling, cube the remaining 1/4 cup of butter. Add this to the browned butter and allow it to melt completely. Once the butter is melted, add the brown and white sugars, and mix until completely combined. Add the egg and egg yolks, and whisk again until the sugars are dissolved. Whisk in the vanilla, and then gently fold in the flour mixture with a rubber spatula. Mix just until the flour is incorporated. Finally, add the chopped chocolate and chocolate chips and mix again.
Divide the dough into 16 balls, each about 3 TBS. Place them evenly on the two cookie sheets (8 cookies per sheet). These cookies spread a lot while baking, so you can even bake them on three sheets instead if you have them.
Bake one pan of cookies at a time for 8-10 minutes or until the cookies have spread and the edges are golden. Remove the cookies from the oven when they are done, and immediately drop the pan once or twice on the counter to even out the cookies. For perfect circular cookies, use a round cookie cutter to immediately shape the cookies by gently sliding each cookie around inside the cutter in a circular motion.
Allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to finish cooling. Store the cookies covered at room temperature for several days.
Recipe adapted from Bon Appétit
