Truth be told, I am a bit of a cookie snob. I like my cookies a certain way, crispy on the outside, chewy and soft inside, lots of chocolate (I'm a huge fan of dark chocolate), and some flaky sea salt to garnish. I do like a thicker cookie now and then, but a crispy-chewy chocolate chip cookie will always have a hold on my heart. Now this recipe in particular has been in my recipe rotation for over two years, and has become my go-to for any kind of occasion! It's a great base recipe to play around with, and one of the first recipes that I really took the time to experiment with different techniques, brands, cook-time, etc. All of that research and experimenting has brought me to one of the most delicious cookies you could eat: my brown butter chocolate chunk cookies.
They are just decadent, and the recipe really holds up to any additions you want to add if you're feeling fancy. Want to throw in some walnuts? Maybe add some apply butter? Add in some toffee bits, or some chili infused dark chocolate? I have tried all sorts of variations, but the original cookie is a tried and true, never let you down kind of recipe. Here are a few cookie tips that I find give me the best results:
1. Make sure to bring your butter to a cooled room temp before using it either in your brown butter, or before mixing it with the sugars. Same with the egg. I've made this tons of times in a pinch and didn't have the time to wait and they have come out just fine, so this cookie is great for the occasional middle of the night craving, but I find the texture, spread, and toffee like flavor does it's best when the contents have had a chance to come to room temp. And once you've melted the butter, give it a second to cool! I've made the mistake of adding piping hot brown butter, adding in a cold egg, and ending up with a puddle of curdled dough. When everything is relatively the same temp, it makes for easier mixing, even baking, and a cookie with a good consistency.
2. Mix the most at the beginning, and the least at the end. That really goes for any baked good your making. Most recipes will have a huge "DO NOT OVERMIX FOR THE LOVE OF GOD" message in the directions during the adding of the flour, and it's there for good reason. Over-mixing can result in a tough, dense, dry dessert due to the over-stimulation of the gluten molecules in the dough. Even when making pancakes, once the flour is added in you want to mix just until everything is combined, and then move on. This cookie is very forgiving, and can take on a lot of baking mishaps and still come out pretty good taste wise (I know from experience), but its really the texture that gets effected the most.
3. I like just using baking soda in my cookies. Lots of cookie recipes will call for baking soda and powder, or sometimes even just powder. While those cookies still come out tasting great, I find that just adding baking soda creates the kind of chewy, crispy cookie we're after. Baking powder tends to make cookies that rise more, are a bit thicker, and the texture a bit more cake like. I know for some people, a more cake like texture is their preference, and for those thick, voluptuous cookies, baking powder is most definitely needed. But for these, baking soda is all we need!
4. The quality of your chocolate, and whether its chips or chunks, can really have an effect on your cookie! The "quality" doesn't exactly refer to pricing either. I'm talking about the amount of sugar in the bar, how it melts, how much cacao it has, etc. I've found that brands like Ghirardelli and Lindt make good quality chocolate bars that don't break the bank, where other brands like Hershey or Cadbury can be a bit too sweet, have strange texture issues, or don't really melt like I want when baked. I usually use a mix of Ghirardelli and Lindt in my cookies, but always have a bag of Nestle chocolate chips in my fridge for the occasion when I need to make cookies in a pinch but ran out of chocolate. I know there is a bit of debate on whether it really matters if your chocolate is in chips or chunks, but I think it makes a difference in the consistency of your cookie. Chunks create bigger chocolate pockets in the cookie and I find chocolate chunks make a cookie that has a more even spread of chocolate throughout. Sometimes just using chips (depending on their size), can leave pretty large pieces of the cookie without any chocolate in it, and who wants that??
Well, enough talking out of me, let's get to baking! I hope you enjoy these cookies!
Happy Cooking!
Ingredients
1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter (melted)
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 white sugar
1-2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup-1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp instant coffee or instant espresso powder
1 large egg (room temp)
Chocolate chunks (1/3 bar milk chocolate, 1/2 bar semi-sweet chocolate, 1/2 bar 70% dark chocolate or bittersweet chocolate), roughly chopped
Optional: sea salt for garnish
Directions:
Leave egg and butter on counter to come to room temperature. Once the butter is at a cool room temp (if you press on it, it should make a dent but should not be melting out of the wrapping), cut the butter in half. Roughly chop your chocolate bars, making good sized chunks before placing in the fridge so the chocolate doesn't melt. If you want to skip the brown butter step, microwave the entire room temp butter for 30 seconds and go on to step 3.
Take half of the room temp butter and place in a small sauce pan over low-medium heat, continously stirring for 3-5 minutes. You should begin to see brown specks as the butter begins to brown, and should be light brown in color and smell nutty. Once the butter is browned, pour into a bowl and set aside to cool. Take the other half of the butter and melt in the microwave for 30 seconds. Both butters can be a little warm, but not hot when they are added to the sugars (I have added butter right out of the microwave and it mixed just fine, but I find allowing the butter to cool just a bit before mixing helps prevent an extremely oily cookie).
In a small bowl, mix together the flour, salt, baking soda, and espresso powder until combined. You can also sift all the ingredients together, but if you don't own a sifter than mixing until there are no visible lumps will work just as good.
In a separate bowl, whisk the sugars and butters until completely combined, this should take at least 1 minute.
Add the egg and vanilla, mixing until ribbons fall of the whisk.
Add in the dry ingredients and using a wooden or rubber spatula, mix until the flour is half way incorporated (it should only take a few mixes). Pour in your chocolate, and finish mixing until the dry ingredients are completely incorporated. DO NOT OVERMIX!
Cover and place in the fridge at least an 1 hour, preferably overnight. The cookies will taste phenomenal after an hour's rest, but the dough really caramelizes overnight and creates a much deeper overall flavor.
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Using an ice cream or cookie scoop, scoop the cookie dough into and place on a parchment lined baking sheet two inches apart. These cookies will spread and are quite big when baked. To get the "pools" of chocolate, place 1-2 chocolate chunks on top of each cookie before baking.
Bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes. During the last 3 minutes, take the cookies out of the oven and tap the baking sheet against the stove top before place back in the oven to finish. This will help create the cripsy outside and soft inside, as well as flatten any puffiness. Add the optional sea salt garnish to the cookies while they are still hot and not completely set.
Once done, allow to cool on a baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Enjoy!