A soft cookie with a golden crust, studded with dark chocolate and a salty twist. The secret to these brown butter cookies is a touch of miso paste.
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Why miso flavoured cookies?
Miso? Soup?
These cookies take the salty bean paste that is usually used to make soup and transforms it into a perfectly balanced sweet and salty cookie studded with puddles of gooey chocolate. It might sound like a strange combination, but I’ve been seeing it pop up here and there recently and thought it would be interesting to play around with the flavour combination and create something amazing.
When I was developing this recipe my biggest fear was having a soup-tasting cookie… Miso can be overpowering and super salty, so making sure there is enough sweetness to counteract it is super important.
2022 update
This recipe is one of my absolute favourite cookie recipes and I knew it was due for an update. The base cookie recipe is the same, but I've opted for dark chocolate instead of caramelised white chocolate to make the recipe more accessible for all of you. The flavour of these is rich, buttery and slightly umami for the chocolate chip cookie of your dreams.
I've updated the tips and tricks on this recipe to so you know exactly what it takes to recreate these beauties!
Tips on making perfect cookies
Cooling the brown butter
It is important to cool the brown butter enough before adding the eggs. If the butter is still hot it will cook the eggs, changing the texture of the cookie.
By adding the cold miso into the hot butter it should cool it down enough. However, if the butter is still too hot let it sit until it comes to room temperature.
Freeze the dough
Freezing (or refrigerating) the dough is extremely important as it helps the cookies from spreading. As the butter has been melted when browned it needs to firm up again before baking. This results in a thicker cookie with a chewier texture.
Use the right chocolate
As these are chocolate chip cookies the most important ingredient is the chocolate! The kind of chocolate you use will have a large impact on the recipe so choose wisely. Above all you should use high-quality chocolate, this will not only enhance the flavour of your cookies but also help the chocolate melt into perfect gooey puddles.
Low-quality chocolates tend to have a lot of other thickening agents and preservatives that give them a waxy taste. On the other hand, products like chocolate chips, especially, are made to not melt as they bake. This results in cookies with less of that caramelised crust and a doughier texture.
What kind of chocolate should I use?
My two favourite ways to make chocolate chip cookies is with either; a roughly chopped high-quality chocolate bar or chocolate melts/wafers.
A high-quality chocolate bar will never fail, and the resulting puddles of chocolate will be delicious and gooey. The only downside is the irregular shapes, however, sometimes you're after that rustic look!
Chocolate melts or wafers are thin discs of chocolate that are made to melt, not only do they give the cookies are gorgeous look, they melt into perfect pools of chocolate. They also have the ability to stack on top of each other in the cookie so you can maximise the amount of chocolate!
Why add Brown Butter?
Browning butter has become very common in cookie recipes because it adds that extra oomph that you can't find in store-bought or even bakery-bought cookies.
Essentially it's the browning of the milk solids in butter after it has melted down. If we are being scientific this is called the maillard reaction. My favourite kind of scientific reaction 😉 This is the reaction that gives you that beautiful golden crust on your pies, the crisp exterior to your cookies and fills your house with the smell of a bakery.
If you still don't get it, this reaction is basically the difference between a boiled potato and a crispy, golden roast potato. This reaction with your butter creates a nutty, deep and super fragrant butter that only adds flavour to your cookies!
Tips for browning your butter
- Use a light coloured pan: This will let you see the milk solids browning in the bottom of your pan, and prevent burning.
- Keep stirring your butter: Browned butter can burn easily when the milk solids are stuck to the bottom of your pan. Once the butter starts foaming keep stirring. The butter should be sufficiently browned when the bubbling stops and the butter smells fragrant.
- Keep a close eye on it: Once the butter starts browning it will transition to burnt very quickly. Once you notice it starting to brown never leave its side and keep watching it until it comes off the heat
Ingredients
The ingredients needed to make these cookies are pretty much all pantry staples!
- Unsalted butter, room temperature: Unsalted butter works great in this recipe, but if you prefer a cookie that is less-sweet feel free to use salted butter. If you use salted butter don't add the pinch of salt otherwise your cookie will be too salty!
- Miso paste: The star of the show! I would recommend using white miso as it is the least funky miso paste. Trust me, the miso that will bring a salty, umami kick to these delicious cookies.
- Brown sugar: Brown sugar in cookies adds texture and chew
- White sugar: White sugar in cookies adds sweetness and a lighter texture
- Egg: The binding ingredient to keep everything together
- Flour: Wouldn't be a cookie without flour! All-purpose flour/plain flour is perfect
- Baking powder: Baking powder is important for the texture of the cookies as it prevents them from getting too dense
- Baking soda: Baking soda plays the same role as baking powder, but it has more of a boost!
- Dark chocolate: Use your favourite kind of chocolate in these cookies. The better the chocolate the better your cookies will taste.
- Flakey salt: The finishing touch to your cookies! A sprinkling of flakey salt over the tops of these will help balance out the sweetness
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do these cookies last?
These cookies will last up to 5 days when stored in an airtight container in the fridge. If storing in the fridge remove and allow it to come to room temperature before consuming. I like to pop them into the microwave for 30 seconds to bring them back to the perfect texture.
Can I freeze these?
Yes! You can freeze these once they have been baked, or you can freeze balls of the cookie dough and bake them when needed. You can bake them for 18-20 minutes from frozen.
Can I leave out the miso?
If you don't have miso you can definitely leave it out and you'll still have an amazing cookie. If you are to leave out the miso I would recommend adding a heavy pinch of salt to balance out the sweetness instead
Let's Get Baking!
If you make this recipe make sure to leave me a comment and rating down below, I would love to hear how it went.
Also don't forget to tag me on instagram @catherine.justdessertsau and hashtag #cattycakes so I can see and share your desserts!
Follow me on facebook, pinterest, youtube and tiktok for more of my baking creations and updates! Until next time... happy baking!
Print📖 Recipe
Miso Brown Butter Chocolate Cookies
A soft cookie with a golden crust, studded with dark chocolate and a salty twist. The secret to these brown butter cookies is a touch of miso paste.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 9 1x
- Category: cookie
- Method: Easy
- Cuisine: Asian Fusion
Ingredients
- 110 g Unsalted butter (½ cup)
- 30 g White miso (1 tbsp)
- 100 g Brown sugar (½ cup)
- 70 g White sugar (⅓ cup)
- 200 g Plain flour (1 ⅔ cup)
- ½ tsp Baking powder
- ½ tsp Baking soda
- 1 Egg
- 180 g Dark chocolate wafers/melts or a roughly chopped bar (6oz)
- Flakey salt, for sprinkling
Instructions
- In a small saucepan heat the butter over medium heat until dark golden brown (there should be specks of brown milk solids at the bottom of the pan)
- Remove from heat and transfer to a large mixing bowl
- Add the miso paste and stir to cool the butter down
- Add the brown sugar, white sugar and egg, mix until well combined
- Stir in the plain flour, baking powder and soda until just combined
- Lastly, fold in the chocolate
- Divide the dough into 9 even balls and place in the freezer to chill for 30 minutes (or fridge for an hour)
- Bake at 175°C / 360°F for 12-15 mins
- Remove from the oven and let cool for 15 mins
- Sprinkle over flakey salt and enjoy!
Keywords: cookie, miso, chocolate chip, blonde chocolate, caramelised white chocolate
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Thank you for the recipe! I made these yesterday (in the middle of the biggest heatwave in recorded history... maybe was not the best idea to be in front of an oven...) and they are absolutely delicious. I used regular white chocolate, I have not seen caramelized white chocolate in stores here. I did need to add more flour to get the dough to be more dough than batter, but perhaps that was also due to the heat. Next time I will make them in smaller portions, though, because one of these cookies is almost a meal in itself!
Hi Mina,
So glad you enjoyed the cookie recipe! Yes the heat probably would've made the dough a little softer and harder to work with, but I'm glad they turned out delicious 🙂
Hey there! I think there's a typo - 110 g is around 1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter, not 1 cup.
i rlly wished i read this comment before making these rip
Hi Meg, Thank you for letting me know, I've fixed it up now 🙂
There’s definitely an error. The video shows 1/2 C butter. I just wasted 2 sticks of butter.
Hi JH, I'm so sorry about that... I've fixed the mistake up so there won't be anymore problems
can you store this in a freezer if you don't want to bake it all?
Yes definitely, when you take them out to bake aim for 15-20 minutes 🙂
How do you caramelise white chocolate?
Essentially you bake the chocolate until is caramelises and becomes golden. Here is a recipe! https://www.sugarsaltmagic.com/caramelised-white-chocolate/
I'm excited to try this out but wondering if you can specify what you mean by a serving? This says 9 servings, does that mean 9 cookies? Thank you!
Yes that means 9 cookies!
Can I use red miso? Thank you!
Hi Mikki, Red miso has a stronger flavour than white miso, so as long as you are ok with that then go ahead!
Hey Catherine! What size cookie scooper are you using? Or how many grams should we portion out each cookie? Love the recipe!! Can’t wait to try it out!
Hi Alina, I use a regular ice-cream scoop which is about 1/4 cup. Hope you like the recipe!
Baked this tonight and it's absolutely delicious, Catherine! Thank you for sharing this. 🙂
Side note: Can I ask if your 110g of unsalted butter accounts for the moisture loss after browning it? If not, how much actual brown butter needs to go into the batter?
Hi Saan, No problem, so glad you liked them. Yes the unsalted butter accounts for any moisture loss so you don't need to worry about weighing the butter after it has been browned! 😊
Hi. Thanks for the recipe. Just wanted to let you know that on the video it says to bake @350F, but the recipe says to bake @360F.
Can’t wait to make this recipe!
Hi Chris, thank you for letting me know! There shouldn't be any big differences between the two temperatures, but follow the recipe in this case 🙂
Hello Catherine! Thank you for sharing this, will bake it soon! Will it be okay if I add mocha filling in this recipe?
typo! Mochi**
Hi Helen! Yes of course, that sounds delicious 🥰
I made these cookies some time ago using white chocolate chips and they were absolutely delicious! Great combination of salty and sweet. I do recognize the recipe was changed to using dark chocolate instead of white chocolate. Was there a specific reason for that (or did I miss sth)? Just curious. 🙂
★★★★★
Hello! I have made these many times because i love them so much! Want to ask how do I make the cookie to be baked flatter? Mine is a bit thicker…
Hi Helen! You can press them down a little bit before baking to help them flatten 😊