Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Last week was gloomy and I was craving something warm and sweet. So I decided to whip up a batch of chocolate chip cookies. I mean what can make a day better than a good old fashioned chocolate chip cookie? I had my Cooks Illustrated cookbook sitting on the counter from a steak sauce I made from it the night before so I decided to check out their cookies suggestions. The thing I like about this book is that it doesn’t just give you a recipe it gives you WHY they did things the way they did it. Why they suggested to mix things in a certain way and how to alter the recipes for a crispier cookie or a chewier cookie. Me? I like my cookies crispy around the outsides and gooey chewy on the inside. I would highly recommend this book to everyone. It’s great for people who are just learning to cook and bake or for people who have been cooking for years and want to increase their skill levels. It has everything from chocolate chip cookies to cooking a steak to hand rolling croissants.

The original recipe suggested dark brown sugar but I only had light brown sugar on hand. They turned out fantastic and were bakery size with rich chewy centers and browned edges. I used the chocolate chunks from trader joe’s and happy eggs since my chickens are currently on strike. I don’t know if they are not liking the short days, cold or temporary coop but they are refusing to lay. They are currently, purely ornamental and decorative chickens. They’re lucky that Otto adores them because… ah who am I kidding I couldn’t get rid of them. They’re too pretty.

While we were making our cookies Otto kept trying to grab the eggs. Well he succeed and we learned very quickly what happens when we have slippery toddler hands holding on to an egg. SPLAT! It went on the floor. Otto looked at me in somewhat shock  and said “I’m so sorry mama” he looked so disappointed I couldn’t be mad. But I also couldn’t laugh because I’m pretty sure this is what one would call a “teaching moment”. I bent down and told him this is why we have to listen to mama. The chicken egg is broken and we can’t fix it, this time it was an accident. For the rest of the day he just swiped cookies off the counter, took bits out of them and then hid them in his play room. That was a real fun find. Ah the joys of raising a toddler right?

This recipe made about 12 large chocolate chip cookies (and that accounts for the dough that didn’t make it to the pan in the meantime). I used their suggested 3tbsp scoop and the cookies were very close to a nice big bakery size cookie.

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp of baking soda
14 tablespoons of unsalted butter
3/4 cups of packed brown sugar (originally recipe said dark but I only had light)
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp of vanilla
1 large egg and 1 large egg yolk
1 1/4 cups of chocolate chunks

1. Preheat oven to 375 and center a rack in the oven. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk your flour and salt together and set aside.
2. Melt 10 tablespoons of butter in a small saucepan and do not leave the stove. Butter browns fast! Swirl the butter for about 2 minutes until you get a rich and nutty smell and the color of the butter is golden. Remove from the heat and add in the remaining 4 tablespoons and swirl until melted.
3. In the bowl of a mixer (or large bowl if you are mixing by hand) add the brown sugar, sugar, vanilla and butter and whisk until completely incorporated. Add in the egg and egg yolk and mix about another 30 seconds. You want no lumps in the mixture.
   Let the mixture stand for 3 minutes, whisk for 30 seconds again. Complete this cycle two more times.
4. Using a rubber spatula stir in the flour and baking soda until just combined. You don’t want to over mix and this stage. Add in your chocolate chips.
5. Roll dough into balls about 2.5 – 3tbsp thick and  place 3 inches apart on prepared baking sheets.
6. Bake one sheet at a time until edges are golden brown about 10 minutes rotating the sheet halfway through. Transfer to a cooling rack and enjoy!

Original recipe from Cooks Illustrated Baking Book. Purchase here only $25

want more cookie recipes? Check out these lavender shortbreads.