Brown Butter and Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies

I don't love chocolate. There. I said it. BUT - my friend Padde makes THE BEST chocolate chip cookies so I asked for his recipe (I'll be honest - I wasn't sure he would actually give it to me). You see, I believe, whether you love chocolate or not, you still need a wicked chocolate chip cookie recipe in your repertoire!! It turns out he uses the Magna Carta of chocolate chip cookie recipes - the almighty Nestle Tollhouse. He even stocks up on Tollhouse chocolate chips when he's in the States because you can't buy them here (that, my friends, is dedication). Now, if you're new to my blog then you probably don't know this about me but I LOVE a challenge, expecially when it involves taking a classic and much-loved recipe and messing with it to make something new.

Brown Butter and Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies

1.5 C all-purpose flour

3/4 C cake flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp kosher salt

1 C butter

0.5 C minus 2 Tbsp white sugar

1 C dark brown sugar, packed tight

3 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

1 package (225 g) semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 C nuts or Skor bits (optional)

Sea salt for sprinkling

• Place the butter in a pan - melt on LOW until browned - will take about 10-15 minutes 

I recommend using a silver coloured pan so you can see when the butter has turned brown. The butter will melt slowly - then it will get foamy, bubbly and loud - it will even spit at you - but it's not quite ready yet!! Be patient because it will quiet down again. Soon after this it will start to develop golden patches of foam - swirl it around so you can see the golden brown transformation underneath - stick your nose over the pan and breathe in - is it a deep caramel brown colour? does it smell like toasted nutty goodness? If the answer to both of these questions is yes, then you're good to go. Take the butter off the heat and cool 20 minutes.

While the butter is cooling -

• Whisk all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking soda, baking powder and kosher salt in a large bowl to mix - set aside
• Measure white sugar, dark brown sugar (pack as much as you can into your measuring cup!!), and vanilla into the bowl of your stand mixer - add cooled brown butter and beat on speed 6 for 2 minutes

• add an egg - beat one minute - add the other egg - beat one minute
• turn mixer to low speed or even speed 2 - add flour mixture gradually until mixed well - when all flour mixture is in, scrape down sides of bowl and beat on speed 4 or 6 for one minute
• add your chips (I used 75% Tanzanian chocolate that I was given as a gift - I just weighed out 225g on my kitchen scale) and mix them in by hand

• put your mixing bowl in the fridge for 45 minutes to an hour to firm up the dough
• roll the dough into balls a little smaller than a golf ball - you should get about 36 balls (depends on how much dough you eat) - put the balls back in the fridge to chill for 2-4 hours
• When the balls are chilled, preheat the oven to 375 - line a cookie sheet with parchment - when the oven is ready, take 12 chilled balls out of the fridge and space them out on the cookie sheet - sprinkle them liberally with sea salt and bake for 11-12 minutes - cool them on the sheet 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack (If you're using the same cookie sheet to bake the second batch, make sure it is COOL before you put the new balls on)
• eat one - eat another - then another - try to stop yourself - consider sharing (this may be impossible)

Comments

[Maria]

The cookies look divine!

[Rebecca]

I just found you blog and it is BEYOND beautiful! These cookies look ridiculous, and I can't wait to make them. Keep up the great work-- can't wait to see what you do next!

[Kelly Neil]

Thank you!! My next idea also involves mixing sweet and salty but with a definite twist...

[Monica]

I'm not a huge chocolate lover either, so I'm very picky with chocolate chip cookies but this recipe looks yummy! Why all the chilling, tho? I've never done that and I'm not sure my kids (or my husband) will go for it. Is it necessary?

[Kelly Neil]

Hi Monica - Basically the point of chilling the dough is to prevent the butter from melting too quickly which can result in a flat cookie. Putting cold balls in the oven means they don't really spread at all and stay thick and chewy!!