Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Bon Appetit baked cookies

Total time: 40 minutes

Yield: 16 cookies

These cookies are rooted classic Toll House flavor, but browning the butter amps up the toasty notes and is key to developing the balance of crisp edges, while a high ratio of brown sugar to white sugar ensures chewy chocolate chip cookie centers. The amount of flour and the quality of the pure vanilla extract is important here. We highly recommend weighing your flour with a scale; if you don't have one, use a spoon to scoop the flour into a measuring cup until overflowing, and a straight edge (such as the back of a butter knife) to level it off.

Ingredients

ingredients

Instructions

brown butter cookie dough
  1. To start, place racks in upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees.
  2. Whisk flour, salt, and baking soda in a small bowl; set flour mixture aside.
  3. To brown the butter, start by cooking 1/2 cup unsalted butter in a large saucepan over medium heat, swirling often and scraping bottom of pan with a heatproof rubber spatula, until butter foam foams, then browns, about 4 minutes.
  4. Scrape melted butter and any brown bits to a large heatproof mixing bowl and let cool 1 minute.
  5. Cut remaining unsalted butter into small pieces and add to brown butter (it should start to melt but not foam and sizzle, so test with one piece before adding the rest)
  6. Once butter is melted, add dark brown sugar and granulated sugar into the pan and whisk, breaking up any clumps, until sugar is incorporated and no lumps remain.
  7. Add 1 large egg and 2 large egg yolks in the pan and whisk until sugar dissolves and mixture is smooth, about 30 seconds.
  8. Whisk in vanilla extract.
  9. Using rubber spatula, fold reserved dry ingredients into butter mixture just until no dry spots remain, then fold in 6oz bittersweet chocolate (the cookie dough will be soft but should hold its shape once scooped; if it slumps or oozes after being scooped, stir dough back together several times and let rest 5-10 minutes until scoops hold their shape as the flour hydrates).
  10. Using a scoop (3 tbsp) portion out 16 balls of dough and divide between 2 parchment paper-lined baking sheets.
  11. Bake cookies, rotating sheets if cookies are browning very unevenly (otherwise, just leave them alone), until deep golden brown and firm around the edges, 8-10 minutes. Let cool on baking sheets.

How to store

You can store the cookie dough in an air-tight containter in the freezer for a few months—the earlier the raw dough is used, the better. To store already baked cookies in the refridgerator, place them in an air-tight container or a sealable plastic bag and store them in the fridge for up to two weeks. Unrefridgerated cookies will stay fresh for two to three days. You can also store baked cookies in the freezer for up to a year in an air-tight container.