Salted Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Who can resist the sweet and salty combination?! This salted brown butter chocolate chip cookie takes the humble chocolate chip cookie to a whole new level. Extra nuttiness from the brown butter and the perfect soft chewy texture.

Chocolate chip cookies. I don’t think I know a single person that doesn’t love a good chocolate chip cookie. Chocolate chip cookies are the epitome of baking and the inarguable god of baked goods. That being said, I’ve had a lot of cookies in my lifetime and not all of them have been the best experience…

I am a picky cookie eater. They have to be soft and chewy with a crisp exterior. The perfect balance of sweetness with a depth of flavour. And have just the right amount of chocolate to dough. My journey with cookies hasn’t been easy, but the final product won’t disappoint. These cookies are my go to, the love of my life and the perfect cookie to me ❤️

These salted brown butter chocolate chip cookies have a depth of flavour from the browned butter, an extra richness and chew from an added egg yolk, balance of flavour through the use of salted butter and the perfect distribution of bitter-sweet chocolate puddles. I hope you love these cookies as much as I love them!

Tips on browning butter perfectly

My previous cookie recipe Espresso Chocolate Chip Cookies uses as similar brown butter dough base. Head to the recipe for tips on how to brown butter to perfection.

Why salted butter?

A lot of you will be familiar with the ‘unsalted butter’ that pops up in 99% of all baking recipes. This is because the salt content in salted butter can be too much in regular baking. However, in this case the extra salt in the butter adds to the flavour of the cookie, creating the perfect balance. Chocolate chip cookies are made from a sugary dough, and then studded with sweet chocolate, and at times it can be over powering. By adding that extra kick it mellows out the sweetness without compensating things like texture and browning, creating a delicious cookie!

Chocolate Chunks or Chocolate Chips?

When it comes to a chocolate chip cookie, they may be called “chocolate chip”, but chunks are always the way to go. Chocolate chips are made in a way which allows them to keep their shape when baked. They often contain extra thickeners and oils to help them retain that ‘drop’ like shape, and as a result are usually made from a lower quality chocolate. Of course this isn’t the case with all chocolate chips, but nonetheless baking with chocolate chunks will allow you to achieve those gooey puddles of chocolate in your chocolate chip cookies.

On top of that you have a choice over the kind of chocolate you use, whether that be your favourite chocolate bar, or a chocolate bar that has been sitting in your pantry for a while. Chop it up into your preferred chunk size and mix it in!

Achieving the perfect looking cookie

These days the perfect chocolate chip cookie have a golden crust, distinct cracks and grooves with puddles of chocolate. Not to mention a good sprinkling of flakey salt.

It isn’t hard to achieve those trademark cookie characteristics.

1. Make sure your dough is chilled before baking, this will help keep your cookies from spreading too thin and allowing you to get a good thickness : On that note there have been some comments about cookies not flattening as much. This cookie recipe does tend to bake up nicely, so when you roll the balls flatten them a little before placing them in the oven.
2. Giving your tray a bang after baking: This is a take on Sarah Kieffers from the Vanilla Bean Blog’s pan-banging cookies, however not to achieve the same ripples as her famous cookies, but rather a few wrinkles and grooves- this creates a stunning cookie
3. Giving your cookies a ‘scoot’ : The ‘cookie scoot’ named by Erin from Cloudy Kitchen uses a technique where she takes a cookie cutter slightly larger than the cookie and wiggles it around the cookie while it is still warm. This pushes in any imperfections and rounds the edges of the cookie giving it the perfect round shape.

The importance of flakey salt

These days all cookies are finished with a sprinkling of flakey salt. It not only adds that extra sparkle to the top of your cookie, but it is SO important for flavour. I find that the flakey salt makes the cookie. It rounds off any extra sweetness while adding another dimension to the cookie. Flakey salt may not be a staple in everyones household, but trust me when you try it you won’t be able to go back…

Salted Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

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5 from 7 reviews

Who can resist the sweet and salty combination?! This salted brown butter chocolate chip cookie takes the humble chocolate chip cookie to a whole new level. Extra nuttiness from the brown butter and the perfect soft chewy texture.

• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Total Time: 35 minutes
• Yield: 9 1x

Ingredients

Units MUS Scale 1x2x3x

• 110 g Salted butter (1/2 cup)
• 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 Large egg
• 1 Egg yolk
• 200 g Dark chocolate (3.5oz)
• Flakey salt

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Instructions

1. 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)
2. Remove from heat and cool for 5 minutes
3. In another bowl whisk together the plain flour, baking powder and baking soda
4. Add white and brown sugars into the cooled brown butter, along with the egg and egg yolk, mix until well combined
5. Add the dry ingredients into the wet mixture and stir until just combined
6. Fold in the chopped dark chocolate
7. Divide the dough into 9 even balls, flatten slightly and place in the freezer to chill for 30 minutes (or fridge for an hour)
8. Bake at 180C/ 355F for 15 minutes
9. Remove and cool

Catherine Zhang

My name is Catherine, a food blogger and dessert lover. If I look familiar you may have seen me on NETFLIX's Zumbo’s Just Desserts S2! As an Australian-Chinese pastry chef and recipe developer I share recipes and tips on desserts inspired by amazing flavours, fresh produce and of course my Asian background.

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