There are chocolate-chip cookies and then are brown butter chocolate chip cookies. Once you’ve baked a batch, you might just bookmark this recipe as the only one you’ll ever need.
If you’ve ever browned butter before, you know that the nutty aroma alone is enough to flood your kitchen with a tantalising trace of its toasty sweetness. Brown butter is what sets apart these cookies with a subtle flavour reminiscent of smooth caramel and warm hazelnuts.
As far as cookies go, these tick all the right boxes in my books with crisp (but not too crisp) edges encircling soft, chewy and marvellously-moist centres!
How To Bake The Best Brown Butter Chocolate-Chip Cookies
Brown Butter 101
- Melt the butter in a wide, heavy-bottomed (and preferably light-coloured) pan over medium-low heat. Stir the butter around the pan to ensure that it melts evenly, following which you will start to see it foaming and sizzling around the edges.
- Keep a close eye as the melted butter shifts hues from a lemony-yellow to a golden tannish-brown, before finally getting to the toasty-brown we want. You’ll know you’re there once the kitchen starts filling with a soul-stirringly nutty aroma!
- Remember, we want to brown the butter, not burn it. There’s a fine line between the two, given that butter burns at a lower smoke-point than other oils. Use a spoon or rubber spatula to clear away the foam and check on how far the butter has browned. Once some foam starts to subside and you can see dark brown specks at the bottom of the pan, remove the butter from heat and pour out into into a heat-proof bowl and immediately place it in the fridge to chill until it has solidified.
Other Key Ingredients
- A higher brown sugar to white sugar ratio to impart moistness to the cookies
- An extra (small) egg yolk – don’t leave this out. As a natural emulsifier, the fat in the extra yolk is the unsung hero ensuring a smooth and creamy cookie batter, shaping up into inexplicably-rich and chewy brown butter chocolate-chip cookies.
- A dash of cornflour to help soften the cookies
- Heaps of good quality chocolate chips (we love Bean To Chocolatier‘s new baking chips!)
Do we need to chill the dough?
- Yes! For at least a few hours, but preferably for up to 24 hours. Chilling the dough keeps the cookies from over-spreading in the oven, while also intensifying the gorgeous flavours of the cookie. Trust me, the intense gratification from waiting a day, is definitely worth more than the instant gratification from baking these cookies straight away!
Can we bake an eggless version of these cookies?
I’m afraid not. If you are restricted in your use of eggs, you might prefer Foodhall Cookery Studio‘s recipe for eggless chocolate-chip cookies, shared as part of our eggless baking series.
Brown Butter Chocolate-Chip Cookies
As far as cookies go, these brown butter chocolate-chip cookies tick all the right boxes with crisp (but not too crisp) edges encircling soft, and chewy centres. The brown butter intensifies the depth of flavour of these cookies, with subtle traces of smooth caramel and warm hazelnuts!
Ingredients
- ½ cup + 2 tbsp unsalted butter (if you are using salted butter, simply omit adding salt separately)
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup caster sugar
- 1 egg + 1 small egg yolk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (we use Sprig’s Natural Bourbon Vanilla Extract)
- 1 cup + 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp cornflour
- ½ tsp baking soda
- pinch of salt
- 1 cup chocolate chips (we use baking chocolate chips from Bean To Chocolatier)
Instructions
Brown the butter
- Melt the butter in a wide, heavy-bottomed (and preferably light-coloured) pan over medium-low heat. Stir the butter around the pan to ensure that it melts evenly, following which you will start to see it foaming and sizzling around the edges.
- Keep a close eye as the melted butter shifts hues from a lemony-yellow to a golden tannish-brown, before finally getting to a toasty-brown.
- Once some foam starts to subside and you can see dark brown specks at the bottom of the pan, remove the butter from heat and pour out into into a heat-proof bowl and immediately place it in the fridge to chill until it has solidified.
Make the cookie dough
- Once the chilled brown butter has turned solid, remove from the fridge and beat it with a hand-held or stand mixer for about a minute or so until it looks smooth and creamy.
- Next, beat in the sugar (on medium high speed) until mixed well. The beaten butter and sugar mixture should be light in colour with a fluffy texture.
- Then beat in the egg, egg yolk and vanilla (medium high speed) until well combined with a pale colour and creamy consistency.
- Sift in the flour in a a separate bowl. Add the cornflour, baking soda and salt and whisk it together so that everything is evenly combined.
- Fold in the dry ingredients into the wet mixture until just combined. Don't overmix!
- Gently fold in the chocolate chips.
- Cover/ seal the bowl tightly (I use cling-film) and chill for at least a few hours (but preferably for 12-24 hours).
- When you remove the dough, let it come to room temperature. Pre-heat the oven to 175°C and prep two baking trays with parchment paper, greasing well.
- Roll out the dough into balls using a cookie/ ice cream scoop (you want about 1.5 tbsp of dough for each ball).
- Bake the cookies for 11 – 12 minutes until the edges start to turn golden-ish brown but the centre is still soft.
- After 5 – 10 minutes, transfer the cookies carefully on to a wire rack and let them completely cool before reaching for your first (then second and third!) one. A cold glass of milk on the side is optional but recommended!
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