Does the internet need another chocolate chip cookie recipe? How about one where you don’t have to bring the butter to room temperature? That’s for sure a selling point for me, because when I want a cookie, I want a cookie as soon as possible. The other selling point is the deep, caramel-y flavor of browned butter, which, along with a generous amount of salt, brings these to the next level.
Confession: Yes, I’m a food blogger, but I have no great love for baking. It’s a little too math-and-science heavy for me, and it’s impossible to taste as I go, which is my preferred way to cook. However, my love for chocolate chip cookies is SO great, I went outside of my comfort zone and embarked on a glorious quest to create my ideal, perfect, go-to cookie.
Internet, you don’t need it. You didn’t ask for it. But YOU’RE WELCOME.
Acknowledgments: This recipe owes a great deal to the classic Nestle Toll House recipe (which was my jumping-off point), and Sarah Kieffer, who opened my eyes to the magic of pan banging.
EQUIPMENT: saucepan, whisk, rubber spatula, two large mixing bowls, stand or handheld electric mixer, sheet pan, parchment paper
Brown Butter and Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 cup Salted Butter
- 1 cup Brown Sugar
- 1/2 cup White Sugar
- 1 tsp Fine or Table Salt
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 2 Eggs
- 1 1/2 cup Semisweet Chocolate Chips
- 1 sprinkle Coarse Sea Salt per cookie
Directions
- Step 1 Brown the butter. Cut sticks of butter into thirds or quarters (to speed up the melting process) and melt in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk continuously. The butter will foam up as you whisk. Watch carefully. After 5-8 minutes, the foam will subside, and it will start to smell nutty and delicious. The color will darken and you will start to see dark brown bits forming at the bottom of the pan (these are the milk solids toasting). At this point, take the pan off the heat but continue to whisk, and immediately transfer to the bowl of your stand mixer (or any large mixing bowl) to stop the cooking process. Use a rubber spatula to scrape all those toasted milk solids off the bottom of the pan, because that’s where the flavor is! Put the bowl in the freezer for 10-15 minutes.
- Step 2 In a second mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and fine salt.
- Step 3 To the bowl with the butter, add the brown and white sugars. Mix on medium high speed until creamy. Continue to mix as you add the eggs and the vanilla, then gradually add the dry ingredients, a little at a time so the flour gets fully incorporated into the dough. Finally, add your chocolate chips, and give it one more good mix.
- Step 4 Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap, and transfer to the freezer for 10 minutes. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Step 5 Roll dough into balls (about 2-3 tablespoons of dough per cookie, and place 1-2 inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Step 6 Bake for 5 minutes, then take the cookies out of the oven and bang the pan on the on the stove or counter. Yes, you read that right. The banging is what creates those beautiful chewy wrinkles! I do this by holding the pan about 3 or 4 inches above the stove or counter, and just dropping it. Do this once or twice and you’ll see the cookies flatten the wrinkly edges form.
- Step 7 Return the tray to the oven and bake for another 5-7 minutes. Take them out when the bottoms and the edges have just started to brown, and the centers are still soft. Bang the tray a final time. Bang it again if you feel like it. Then sprinkle a pinch of course sea salt onto each cookie.
- Step 8 Transfer to a cooling rack or platter and try not to eat them for 10 minutes. Then congratulations. You have reached cookie nirvana.
SUB LIST
| Salted Butter | Unsalted Butter (but add an extra 1/2 tsp of salt to the dry ingredients) |
| Semisweet Chocolate Chips | Chopped Baking Chocolate, Chocolate Chunks, M&Ms, Milk or Dark Chocolate Chips (or any combination of any of the above) |
