Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ah, chocolate chip cookies. Probably the favorite cookie of just about everyone. To me, the perfect chocolate chip cookie is soft and chewy, but tender, with lots of dark chocolate, buttery pecans, and a nice toffee flavor in the cookie itself.

It is actually somewhat difficult to get chocolate chip cookies to come out this way. Following the chocolate chip bag recipe, you are likely to get flat cookies that are pretty soft when they come out of the oven, but end up hard and crispy once cooled, and the dough itself isn't very flavorful, just very very sweet. After a lot of recipe tinkering, I have found the secret. These cookies are just as good cool as they are warm from the oven. Browning the butter brings out the nutty, toffee flavor I was looking for, and adjusting the amounts of flour, sugars, and baking soda creates the perfect thick, chewy cookie.  I'm rather proud of these!

Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (8 3/4 ounces)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

14 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 3/4 sticks)

1/2 cup granulated sugar (3 1/2 ounces)

3/4 cups packed dark brown sugar (5 1/4 ounces) 

1 teaspoon table salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 1/ 4cups semisweet chocolate chips or chunks 

3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. 1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 large (18- by 12-inch) baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.
2. 2. Heat 10 tablespoons butter in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking, swirling pan constantly until butter is dark golden brown and has nutty aroma, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and, using heatproof spatula, transfer browned butter to large heatproof bowl. Stir remaining 4 tablespoons butter into hot butter until completely melted.
3. 3. Add both sugars, salt, and vanilla to bowl with butter and whisk until fully incorporated. Add egg and yolk and whisk until mixture is smooth with no sugar lumps remaining, about 30 seconds. Let mixture stand 3 minutes, then whisk for 30 seconds. Repeat process of resting and whisking 2 more times until mixture is thick, smooth, and shiny. Using rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture until just combined, about 1 minute. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts (if using), giving dough final stir to ensure no flour pockets remain.
4. 4. Divide dough into 16 portions, each about 3 tablespoons (or use #24 cookie scoop). Arrange 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets, 8 dough balls per sheet. (Smaller baking sheets can be used, but will require 3 batches.)
5. 5. Bake cookies 1 tray at a time until cookies are golden brown and still puffy, and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft, 10 to 14 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack; cool cookies completely before serving.