Crisp edges, chewy insides, puddles of semi-sweet chocolate chips, and a sea salt topping – plus nutty, caramel notes from the browned butter. These chocolate chip cookies are what dreams are made of!
When asked why these cookies are Steve Lindsey’s favorite, his answer was short, sweet, and summed up his award-winning recipe quite succinctly: “Brown butter and chocolate chips… nothing more to say!”
To his point, the nutty flavor created by browning the butter before adding it to the dough, along with the option for two kinds of chocolate, elevate what has long been the cookie of choice for many.
These cookies were a hands-down hit with family, friends, recipe testers, coworkers, my book club, and me. And though the recipe, as written, is a winner, it conveniently allows for several modifications, without being any less of a winner!
Steve submitted his recipe to a holiday cookie contest I had the pleasure of judging, and the eight finalists and their recipes were published in FIG magazine’s 2024 winter edition. The contest was sponsored by Garden Spot Village. (Kudos to both organizations for recognizing how much we all love to see recipes in print!)
Browned butter is the pixie dust that makes these cookies truly sparkle. In this step (which is explained below and in this “How to Brown Butter” Helpful Tip), you are simply cooking the milk solids in the butter just long enough to caramelize them.
This, in turn, injects nutty, caramel flavor into the batter. And because one-fifth to one-quarter of butter’s natural water content cooks off during this step, browned butter also contributes a slight denseness to the finished cookies, making them especially satisfying.
For the salty-sweet magic, some may argue that the final sprinkle of flaky sea salt is akin to pixie dust as well!
To prevent the cookies from spreading too much, it is important to refrigerate the dough for at least two hours, although I prefer an overnight chill. Up to several days is fine.
During this time, the moisture in the wet ingredients hydrates the flour, which leads to less spreading when baked. Similarly, cold dough also means less spreading.
For added convenience and evenly sized cookies, I like to roll the dough into balls before refrigerating. This way, they are ready to pop into the oven. You can also keep the dough balls in the fridge until ready to place on the baking sheet. The dough balls freeze well too.
If you follow these steps and helpful hints, you’ll end up with fabulous tasting cookies that spread just enough and boast the crinkly tops that are reminiscent of a specialty baker.
Because this recipe is so good and offers such broad appeal, I wanted to provide a worthy gluten-free adaptation for those who need it. Cup-for-cup gluten-free flours don’t often do justice in traditional chocolate chip cookies recipes; they tend to leave a hint of graininess and telltale “gluten-free” flavor, which I attribute to how the rice flour performs in this application.
Details are included in the recipe notes, but I’m delighted to say that replacing a portion of the cup-for-cup gluten-free flour with finely ground almond flour created a cookie that fooled even the gluten eaters. At a recent get-together where a half dozen or so varieties of cookies were served, including a different chocolate chip cookie recipe, the GF cookies disappeared first.
The key to the elevated flavor and texture in these cookies lies in the brown butter. In this step, the milk solids in the butter caramelize, By warming the butter to a light brown, the cookie has more depth of flavor. For detailed tips, check out my new post, How to Brown Butter.
Tips for Success:
- It’s worth mentioning that I had three different bakers test this recipe, and the cookie turned out a little differently for all of them – but every batch was deemed delicious. The difference primarily hinged on the spread of the cookie, and some of the following tips are helpful in that regard. Details like temperature of dough and baking sheet, color of baking sheet (dark or light), and accuracy of ingredient measuring are the main factors.
- For best accuracy, be sure to spoon the flour into measuring cups and then level off. Or better yet, use a kitchen scale.
- Be sure to refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours but ideally overnight. (I like the advance prep convenience this provides!)
- Cold dough = less spreading. To help the cause, keep the dough balls in the refrigerator until ready to go on the baking sheet. In other words, the cookie balls that aren’t currently in the oven should be returned to the fridge.
- Place the dough on a room temperature baking sheet. If the sheets are not cooled in between batches, the dough will start melting prematurely, resulting in a flatter cookie. If you have room in the fridge or freezer (or place them outside, if it’s cold), you can expedite the cooling process between batches.
- Dark baking sheets heat faster than light ones, so cookies baked on a dark sheet will tend to set faster and spread less than those baked on a light sheet.
- A stick of butter has about ¼ teaspoon salt. So, if using salted butter in this recipe, which calls for unsalted butter, simply omit the salt.
What our taste testers said:
- Chocolate chip cookie heaven!
- Gluten-free eaters thought the adaption I included in the recipe notes made for the best GF chocolate chip cookie they have had. On that note, I served the gluten-free batch at my book club alongside another batch of regular chocolate chip cookies. The GF batch disappeared quicker and earned more raves. Who would have thought!
We’d love to know if you try this recipe! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo @fountainavenuekitchen on Instagram and Facebook. Your feedback is always appreciated.
Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups (286g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter (2 sticks)*
- 1½ cups (300g) packed brown sugar**
- ¼ cup (48g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg + 1 additional egg yolk, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon (15g) plain Greek yogurt***
- 1½ cups (270g) semi-sweet chocolate chips****
- Maldon or other flaky sea salt, for sprinkling on top
Instructions
- Brown the butter: Add the butter to a saucepan and place over medium heat. (Helpful hint: A light-colored pan is helpful. Otherwise, it will be difficult to tell when the butter is done.) The butter will begin to crackle and eventually foam. Whisk constantly during this process. After a few minutes, the butter will begin to turn a golden amber color. Remove from heat as soon as the butter begins to brown (see photos) and give off a nutty aroma and immediately transfer to a heat-proof bowl to prevent burning. Set aside to cool.
- With an electric mixer, beat the brown butter and sugars until well combined, about 1 minute. (No mixer? Thanks to the melted butter, you could mix this batter by hand.)
- Beat in the egg, egg yolk, vanilla, and yogurt.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients (I do this in two additions) and beat on low speed just until combined.
- Add the chocolate chips and mix on low speed until incorporated. Or fold the chips in by hand.
- Refrigerate the dough for 10 minutes and then roll into 24 balls (I use 2 heaping tablespoons/48 grams dough per ball). Cover and refrigerate the dough balls for at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours. (Helpful hint: Refrigerating up to a few days is fine and the dough balls freeze well too.) Do not rush this process. The dough must chill to be perfect.
- Once the dough is chilled, preheat the oven to 350℉ and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the dough balls on cookie sheet, 2 inches apart.
- Bake 9-11 minutes or until the edges of the cookies begin to turn golden brown. (When making gluten-free cookies, I’ve cooked up to 12 minutes.)
- Remove from oven, sprinkle cookies with sea salt, and cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
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