Miso Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Name: Miso Brown Butter Chocolate Cookies
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 9
Cuisine: Asian Fusion
Ingredients: 110 g Unsalted butter (1/2 cup); 30 g White miso (1 tbsp); 100 g Brown sugar (1/2 cup); 70 g White sugar (1/3 cup); 200 g Plain flour (1 2/3 cup); 1/2 tsp Baking powder; 1/2 tsp Baking soda; 1 Egg; 180 g Dark chocolate wafers/melts or a roughly chopped bar (6oz); Flakey salt, for sprinkling

August 1, 2020 by Catherine Zhang 31 Comments

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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?
Tips on making perfect cookies
Why add Brown Butter?
Ingredients
Frequently Asked Questions
📖 Recipe
💬 Comments

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.

Miso Brown Butter Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

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 Cooking

If you liked this recipe make sure to leave me a comment and rating down below, I would love to know how you went. Also don't forget to tag me on Instagram @catherine.desserts so I can see and share your desserts.

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