Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Best. Chocolate. Chip. Cookies. Ever. No endless scrolling required; We won’t bore you with unnecessary details. All you need to know is that you need these in your life right now.

P.S. The secret’s in the salt. One final pinch will finish each cookie with a chef’s kiss (metaphorically, of course) 😉💋

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 12 tablespoons (1½ sticks) room temperature unsalted butter
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg plus 1 large yolk
• 8 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped into bite-size pieces
• Fleur de sel, for finishing (optional)

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line three sheet pans with parchment paper.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda.

3. Slice 4 tablespoons of the butter into four pieces, and place them in a large bowl. Melt the remaining 8 tablespoons of butter in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the butter until it is dark golden brown and is giving off a nutty aroma, 2 to 3 minutes. Pour the browned butter (and any bits of browned butter stuck to the bottom of the skillet) into the bowl with the room-temperature butter, and stir until all the butter is melted and combined. Stir in the granulated and brown sugars, vanilla, and salt with a rubber spatula, mixing until combined. Whisk in the egg and the yolk until fully combined, about 45 seconds, until it is smooth and glossy. Let the batter sit for 2 to 3 minutes, and then whisk again for 45 seconds. Pour the flour mixture into the bowl and use the spatula to combine (it may take a minute to incorporate all the dry ingredients). Place the chopped chocolate over the dough and use your hands to knead it in until it is evenly distributed (you can use a spatula if you’d prefer). The dough will be very shiny, slick, and dense, and it will take a minute to incorporate the chocolate.

4. Form the dough into 1½ oz balls (2 tablespoons). Place 8 cookies on each sheet pan.

5. Bake one pan at a time, rotating halfway through baking. For soft cookies with a gooey center, bake the cookies until the sides are set, the centers are very puffed, and the dough is still light, 8 to 9 minutes. For cookies with a crispy edge and tender center, bake until the cookies are light golden brown around the edges and the centers are still slightly puffed, 9 to 10 minutes. For cookies with a crisp edge and firm center, bake until the cookies are golden brown around the edges and the centers have begun to collapse, 10 to 11 minutes

6. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the cookies cool for 10 minutes, then move the cookies to the wire rack to cool. Sprinkle the cookies with fleur de sel, if desired, a few minutes after they emerge from the oven. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, but they're best eaten warm.

Recipe can be found in Sarah Kieffer’s '100 Cookies'.

Kieffer, Sarah. 100 Cookies: The Baking Book for Every Kitchen with Classic Cookies, Novel Treats, Brownies, Bars, and More. Chronicle Books, 2020.