Shall I sing more to you about the joys of brown butter? You don’t think there is enough of this all over the internet already? Brown butter this – brown butter that – brown butter that other thing. Isn’t all just a bunch of hype – some new “foodie” craze?
No, no, double-NO!
Brown butter is possibly the best thing ever. Better than puppies, better than sparkly unicorns, better than a field of daisies in the middle of July. Brown butter is good. Not just good – GOOD!
It’s not hard to make either – you just need to watch it carefully while it browns [right at the end, it can burn rather easily] and then cool it down before you make the cookies, so you need to plan ahead a little bit.
You too, can be a part of the brown butter apocalypse, and these cookies are where I think you should start. They just look like regular old chocolate chip cookies I know, but they are so much more. This batch has been gone for a week or so, and I still want them every day. The brown butter adds so much depth to the flavor – lots of caramelly, rich notes that are just not possible using regular butter.
So, lets get going on a new batch!
First – as a part of that whole “planning ahead” thing- brown the butter. No, it does not work to brown the butter right before you want to start the cookies and then put the browned butter in the freezer to cool. Because you are gonna forget that stuff, and it will get rock hard, and then you are going to try to soften it in the microwave, and it will get too hot…bleh. So, do it ahead, okay?
Use at least a 2 quart saucepan, and melt the butter over medium low heat. Let the butter continue to cook, keeping an eye on it, so that it doesn’t burn. It will foam up and after a couple minutes, you will notice that the center is slightly darker than the rest, and then the foam will start to subside. Keep stirring [a wooden spoon works well for this] until it is a uniform toasty color, then remove from the heat. Take care that it doesn’t get too dark – burned butter isn’t so good. I like to pour it into a pie plate and stick it in the fridge to cool – it takes less time that way, than it does in a bowl. You want it a little cooler than room temperature, the same as any butter you are using to make cookies. You will end up with about 6 and a half to 7 ounces of browned butter.
- 2 sticks [8 ounces] butter, browned as described in post
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 room temperature eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 & ¼ teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 cups bittersweet chocolate chip
- 1 cup coarsely chopped toasted walnuts
- Preheat the over to 350º. prepare heavy baking sheets by lining with parchment paper.
- Scrape browned butter into the mixing bowl, and beat briefly.
- Add the sugars and beat until well combined
- Beat in the eggs one at a time, and then add the vanilla
- Measure the salt and baking powder in and give it a few quick beats
- Add the flour all at once, and beat just until combined.
- Dump in the nuts and chips and beat briefly so they are distributed evenly
- Scoop the dough by tablespoonfuls - or use a medium cookie scoop - onto parchment lined baking sheets.
- Bake for around 10 to 12 minutes, until evenly browned, but still soft in the center.
- Remove to a cooling rack, and store in a sealed container once cooled.
Makes about 3 and half dozen cookies. Maybe the best cookies you have ever had, so don’t worry about how you are going to store them. You are going to eat them is what you are going to do. Right. Up.
And so what if it is a craze? Sometimes all the cool kids know what they are talking about!
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