REASONS THESE COOKIES ROCK:
The high DARK brown sugar ratio! Instead of using a half and half ratio of regular granulated white sugar and brown sugar, I use mostly brown sugar. The brown sugar helps to keep the cookies softer and chewier in the middle, yet still allows for crispy, delicious edges. Normally I choose dark brown sugar because it has a tiny bit more molasses in the flavoring, which again, helps to achieve an out of this world cookie.
Chilled dough! Yes, this recipe requires you to chill the dough, but I promise it’s worth it. Chilling cookie dough allows the cookies to create a smooth caramel flavor, with crispy brown edges and a chewy interior. This happens because the fat in the recipe (butter) is solid and the sugar also absorbs some of it. Trust me!
Two types of chocolate! One milk and one dark. It really just creates more flavor profiles.
Brown. Butter. Brown butter is butter that is cooked until the milk solids turn brown. When you’re cooking the butter, it will separate into fat and milk solids. The longer you cook it, the darker the milk solids will become. Note that it doesn’t take a lot of time for the solids to go from brown to black (aka burnt) so you really need to watch it when you’re cooking.
Without further delay….
Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup bread flour
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 6 oz bittersweet chocolate (60% cacao), chopped
- ½ cup milk chocolate chips
- flaky sea salt optional
Instructions
- Cube the butter and place in a light-colored skillet. (Light colored helps you determine when the butter begins browning.) Melt the butter over medium heat, stirring constantly. Once melted, the butter will begin to foam. Keep stirring. After 5-8 minutes, the butter will begin browning; you’ll notice lightly browned specks begin to form at the bottom of the pan and you'll begin to smell a nutty aroma. Once browned, immediately remove from heat, pour into a large heat-proof mixing bowl, and set aside.
- In a separate large bowl, sift together the flour and baking soda. Add the coarse sea salt to the sifted mixture and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using an electric hand mixer, cream together the sugars, salt, vanilla, espresso powder, & cooled brown butter until combined and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the egg and egg yolk and mix until incorporated.
- Add the flour mixture, about ¼ of the mixture at a time, and mix between additions until just incorporated. Fold the chocolate chips and chunks into the dough
- Using a medium cookie scoop, drop the dough on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge.*
- Bake in a 350°F preheated oven for 13-15 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. If desired, sprinkle a small amount of flaked sea salt on top of the cookies as they are cooling.
Notes
Nutrition
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The first time I’ve successfully made really good cookies, so much so that I ate 80% of the entire batch in 3 days.
Divinq
Do I bake directly from the fridge or do i let it thaw a bit before baking?
Michael Johnson
You can bake them directly from the fridge!
irish
I tried making the batter yesterday (freeze it and all) then baked it today. Just sad that it didn't come out just like yours. My cookie spreads too much, middle part was still raw and it was really oily. Even on room temperature, it didn't form. When I lift it off the pan (lined with baking paper) they will just break. The batter was still wet. What do you think happened?
Michael Johnson
Sounds like your measurements may have been a little off! I would try making them using the metric measurements and weighing your ingredients out.
Irish
Hi Mike! Planning to try this recipe, just want to ask, what’s the perfect weight of the cookies so it can yield up to 24 pieces?
Michael Johnson
I don't weigh the dough when making the cookies for this recipe, however, the cookie scoop I use is 1.5 tablespoons. Hope this helps!
Irish
Hi Mike! It’s me again. I tried this recipe today but my sugars and browned butter mixture failed to cream. What do you think happened? Tia 🙂
Michael Johnson
Because you're starting with melted butter, the butter and sugars don't necessarily "cream" in the same way as softened butter would. It should appear like wet sand at first, and once you add the eggs, that's where you can really beat the mixture together. I'll be updating this recipe for clarification soon!
Colleen
Hi mike Ivan planning on making your cookies tonight would cream of tartar help!thankvyouvso much
Michael Johnson
Cream of tartar isn't used in this recipe! It would prevent the sugar from crystalizing and affect the texture.
Richa
Hi,
I'm from Bangalore (India) and the breadflourcis not easily available here. So, could you plz tell the substitute for the same.
Michael Johnson
You can replace the bread flour with an equal amount of all-purpose flour!
Rebecca
I tried this recipe and sadly, they did not turned out okay. I have been doing a different cookie recipe every week since quarantine and the butter part made the cookie fall apart to quicky and they all became one huge cookie. The pictures in this look bomb though and based off of the comments everyone’s turned out great so maybe it was a mistake on my end
Michael Johnson
Hi Rebecca! Sorry to hear they didn't turn out as you'd hope. I'm not sure what you mean by "the butter part made the cookie fall apart to quicky and they all became one huge cookie". If you're saying that when you baked them, they all joined together, it sounds like you might have had the cookies too close together and didn't give them enough chill time in the fridge (which is necessary!). I hope this helps! 🙂
Maggie Lacke
My whole family loved them!! Thanks for the great recipe Mike :))
Michael Johnson
Happy to hear!! 🙂
Jade Bannon
I just baked these this morning and they are absolutely delicious! I wouldn’t change a thing about them! Thanks for the great recipe! If I wanted to make them bigger would I just increase the baking time?
Michael Johnson
So glad to hear, Jade! And yes, I would just add another two minutes and keep an eye on them if you want bigger cookies! 🙂
Sammie
These Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies look incredible. I did click on a link from Pinterest, however there wasn’t anywhere to leave a comment or look at your other posts. I’ve Pinned these to my Cookie board and a group one as the look so delicious. Ooh I have to say, and no disrespect to you just my personal taste, I can always taste the coffee when added to chocolate recipes. I watch Ina Garten a lot and she always adds it. I’ve tried, quite a few times but I simply can’t get around the coffee flavour! Wouldn’t the world be a boring place if we were all the same? Great recipe!
Michael Johnson
They're like my favorite cookie! And I know what you mean, I actually despise coffee too but the espresso powder is just a flavor enhancer and can be reduced or omitted completely!
Lacy
Hi Mike, planning to try this recipe tonight. However, I’m wondering what bread flour is. Could I use all purpose? Thanks!
Michael Johnson
Bread flour has more protein content than all-purpose and just affects the cookie’s texture. They’re interchangeable really, so you can just use 1¾ cup AP flour!
Rory
Hi Mike! Will I still get thesame batter consistency if I'll weigh my flours using a digital scale instead of using a measuring cups?
Michael Johnson
Yup! I actually recommend that everyone follow my recipes using metric ingredients instead of cup measures!
Lacy
Hi Mike, planning to try this recipe tonight. However, I’m wondering what bread flour is. Could I use all purpose? Thanks!