Salt, browned butter, chocolate, all in one cookie. Need I say more? I’m a sucker for browned butter and all it’s nutty richness. And chocolate, who doesn’t love chocolate? I’m also a firm believer that every dessert needs some salt.
Some people think adding salt to baked goods is crazy, but I think its brilliant. It doesn’t make the baked good salty per se, it really just makes the other ingredients sing, and adds an additional layer of flavor. It makes people go, “why are these so delicious?”
That’s exactly what happened with these cookies. In between bites, my brother said, “this is one of your best recipes yet.” Mission accomplished.
Salted, Browned Butter, Chocolate Chunk Cookies
1 cup salted butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt salt + more for on top of the cookies
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chunks
Brown 1/2 cup of the butter. Do this by putting the 1/2 cup of butter into a small sauce pan and cook over medium heat. The butter will melt, then foam, and then go from yellow, to a soft brown. You know the butter is browned when it starts to smell nutty. Put the browned butter in a bowl to cool.
In a stand mixer on medium-high speed, cream the remaining 1/2 cup butter with the brown sugar, for about 5 minutes, or until extremely fluffy. Beat in vanilla, granulated sugar, and cooled browned butter. Continue to beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes. Add the egg and egg yolk, beat until incorporated.
In a separate bowl mix flour, salt, and baking soda. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture in 3 stages, beating on low speed, until almost incorporated after each addition. When the dry ingredients are just incorporated into the butter mixture, turn the mixer off and mix in the chocolate chunks by hand.
Cover dough and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Once the dough is refrigerated, scoop it into 2 tablespoon sized balls, and put on a cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Sprinkle each unbaked cookie with a small pinch of sea salt. Bake cookies at 350 degrees for 9-11 minutes, or until golden. Enjoy!
Note: dough will keep in the refrigerator for about 5 days, and in the freezer for about a month, if completely covered multiple times with foil. Baked cookies will keep for a few days if stored in an air-tight container.
This recipe is adapted from Joy the Baker.
