Brown Butter
Chocolate Chip Cookies
The secret is the brown butter. It takes four extra minutes and turns an already good cookie into something that people ask you about. We make these on Friday afternoons — my daughter measures the flour, my son presses the chocolate chips in at the end, and somehow they are always gone by Saturday morning.
Prep
20 min
Bake
12 min
Makes
Calories
210 / cookie
Difficulty
Easy
Ingredients
- 225 g unsalted butter
- 200 g dark brown sugar, packed
- 100 g granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 egg yolk, extra
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 280 g all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 300 g dark chocolate chips or chunks
- flaky sea salt, for finishing
Method
- 1 Brown the butter.
Melt butter in a light-coloured saucepan over medium heat, swirling occasionally. It will foam, then the foam will subside, and you will see golden-brown bits forming at the bottom. The moment it smells nutty and looks amber, pour it into a large bowl immediately. Let it cool for 10 minutes.
- 2 Mix the sugars.
Whisk both sugars into the cooled brown butter until combined. Add the eggs, extra yolk, and vanilla. Whisk vigorously for about 60 seconds — the mixture should look thick and slightly pale.
- 3 Add the dry ingredients.
Fold in the flour, baking soda, and salt with a spatula until just combined — do not overmix. Fold in the chocolate chips. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or overnight for deeper flavour.
- 4 Bake.
Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F). Scoop dough into balls slightly larger than a golf ball onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spaced well apart. Bake for 11–12 minutes until the edges are golden but the centres still look underdone. They will set as they cool.
- 5 Finish and rest.
As soon as they come out of the oven, press a few extra chocolate chips into the tops and sprinkle with flaky sea salt. Let cool on the tray for at least 10 minutes before moving. The wait is worth it.
A few notes.
- — Chilling is not optional — it deepens flavour and prevents the cookies from spreading too thin.
- — The extra egg yolk makes them richer and chewier in the centre.
- — Use a mix of chips and roughly chopped chocolate for better pockets of chocolate throughout.
- — Dough keeps refrigerated for up to 4 days, or frozen in balls for 3 months.