Browning the butter gives an amazing deep toffee flavor–it’s well worth the effort. You can bake as soon as making the mix, but it you have the time, let the batter sit 24 hours, or at least overnight in the fridge to intensify flavor. If you really want to nerd out, see the full ratios and recipe development Google Sheet here
Makes about 15-17 large, or 23-25 medium cookies
INGREDIENTS
- butter (unsalted): 200 g/7 oz/14 Tb
- flour: 325g/11 oz/2.33 cups
- baking soda: 1 tsp
- eggs: 2
- vanilla extract: 2 tsp
- salt (table): 1 tsp
- light brown sugar (UK: muscovado): 180g/6 oz/1 cup lightly packed
- white sugar: 145 g/5 oz/.75 cup
- 70% couverture dark chocolate bars (or high quality chocolate chips): 240 g/8.5 oz (e.g. Lindt, Felchlin, Valhrona)
- coarse sea salt: a few flakes for each cookie (e.g. Maldon)
STEPS
- Heat oven to 350 F/175 C (if making cookies right away)
- Brown the butter. In a light colored sauce pan (the light color allows you to see the butter darkening), heat the butter over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes. The butter will go through phases…it will begin to develop bubbles, then the bubbles subside and the mixture gets a frothy top–remove the pan at this stage. There will be dark butter solids at the bottom of the pan. Remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool completely.
- Combine the flour and baking soda in a bowl and whisk together.
- Whisk the eggs with vanilla and salt in a separate large bowl, then add both sugars and the butter (including the solids from the pan). Continue whisking for several minutes to completely integrate all ingredients into a smooth batter. Whisk another minute.
- Add the flour using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, mixing just enough to incorporate all the flour.
- Chop the chocolate into small pieces, about .5-1cm/.25-.5 in. Mix into the batter.
- Use right away or refrigerate. Ideally let the mixture sit overnight or 24 hours, but the dough can be used right away.
- Bake. Form balls approximately the size of a golf ball, about 70 g/2.5 oz for large cookies, or 50-55g/1.75-2 oz for medium size, and add to a room temperature baking tray lined with parchment paper. Do not flatten the ball–this helps to keep the cookies from spreading too much. Bake for about 15 minutes total for medium cookies, a couple minutes longer for large. Rotate the tray halfway through and add a small pinch of sea salt flakes (adding halfway allows the cookies to spread a bit but still be pliable enough for the salt to stick). The cookies should have formed firm edges, but are still a bit soft on the top. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. You can do 2 trays at a time but please swap high-low halfway through.