I don’t make just plain chocolate chip cookies all that often, and when I do, it’s usually a single large cookie I can split for a one-night dessert. But, sometimes I just want to make a batch, you know? Maybe hand them out to friends and family for a holiday, or just enjoy them for a few days.
This recipe is actually very similar to my giant brown butter chocolate chip cookie, doubled. The proportions are slightly different (these cookies require a little less flour proportionally) but it’s all quite close.
The key, of course, is the brown butter. Browning the butter is just a matter of melting it in a sauce pan and cooking it until some of the butter proteins caramelize, which gives the butter a rich, kind of nutty, kind of butterscotch-like flavor. It adds richness and complexity to the cookies that, frankly, is hard to leave behind. So, fair warning: this might ruin plain chocolate chip cookies for you.
One caution for the recipe: make sure you don’t add too much flour. You want them to spread out some while cooking, and be left nice and soft. If you add too much flour, they’ll stay lumps and won’t spread, and will crisp up more. They’re still delicious, just not quite the same.
Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
- Baking Sheets
- Parchment Paper Or silicone baking mats.
- Mixing Bowl
- Stand Mixer
- Sauce Pan
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Browned Butter
- 1 Cup White Sugar
- 1 Cup Brown Sugar
- 2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
- 2 Eggs
- 3 Cups Flour
- 1 Tsp Baking Soda
- ½ Tsp Baking Powder
- ½ Tsp Salt
- 2 Cups Chocolate Chunks
Instructions
- Brown your butter. Just melt the butter in a sauce pan and cook on medium heat, stirring constantly, until it turns a rich caramel color. Set it aside to cool, but don't fridge it (or soften it before making cookies, if you're making it ahead of time.)
- Preheat your oven to 375℉ and line your baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl and set aside.1 Tsp Baking Soda, ½ Tsp Baking Powder, ½ Tsp Salt, 3 Cups Flour
- In your stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugars until well combined.1 Cup Browned Butter, 1 Cup White Sugar, 1 Cup Brown Sugar
- Add the vanilla and eggs to the sugar-butter mixture and beat until light, about a minute or two.2 Tsp Vanilla Extract, 2 Eggs
- Slowly add the flour mixture, beating to combine it, but try not to over-mix too much. If the dough seems like it's coming together and on the edge of too dry but you still have some flour left, leave it out. You can bake 1-2 test cookies and see how they turn out, then adjust if you need to.
- Add the chocolate chunks and mix it all together.2 Cups Chocolate Chunks
- Divide the dough into 2 tbsp bits and roll them into balls. Place these on your baking sheet about three inches apart. Lightly flatten the balls so they're starting to spread out for baking. Optionally, you can press a few chocolate chunks into the top.
- Bake your cookies for 8-10 minutes, until they're starting to turn golden. Don't over-do it or they'll end up crispy.
- Let the cookies cool and enjoy!