Comments

    • I owe you another batch, my friend! And this recipe is even better than the ones I made you last time.

  1. Why in the world have I never browned the butter first!!! Also have to admit I’ve never chilled the batter. Too impatient usually. Will see if we can have enough restraint next time to do it.

    • Amanda, once you start browning the butter, I promise you will start doing it on everything! Brownies, blondies, you name it! (And yes, I will posting recipes for those too!) Trying chilling the batter at least once and see if you notice the difference. At least throw it in the freezer for 20 minutes if you’re impatient, and in the meantime do the dishes. The time will fly by, and we all know frozen cookie dough is amazing.

  2. I can’t wait to try this, in terms of cooking, cookies are my passion! The first and only time I tried brown butter, I burnt it. Reading your instructions really helped me see where I went wrong. Thanks! And thanks to Kellie you got a new follower here!

    • Hi Terri, I’m so glad you found the instructions helpful, and I hope that you report back when you try the cookies! Thanks for following!

  3. I reduced the amount of salt as it seemed a lot and will reduce again as found them still a little salty in the aftertaste. They were still a terrific hit though! Up the top with the chocolate cake.
    Will do more with brown butter now.

    • Hi Lorna, I’m so happy to hear that they were a hit and that browning butter is something you’ll do again. I’ve always been a fan of salty cookies, but know that not everyone else is. I love that you are changing them to fit your taste, because that’s the fun part of playing in the kitchen! Thanks so much for writing!

  4. Aloha K and T.O. readers –

    As usual, K, so proud of you!

    Below are two recipe notes and two musings from the brother who makes an unnamed cameo at the beginning of this recipe, and who has been working on the “perfect” chocolate chip cookie for a just a little longer than, and perhaps not as successfully as, Karen.

    1. Browning butter is unquestionably decadent and a step in a direction that is, for some, a point of no return. Do NOT blame Karen for the outcome of this revelation and its application in other recipes. It is your own fault for reading this prodigiously gorgeous weblog. However, I have found, in countless batches of browned-butter chocolate-chip cookies, that taking the extra step of cooling, yes – cooling, the golden sunshine of browned butter helps to prevent cooking the eggs, natch, as well as melting your sugars (which IMHO changes the flavor and texture and possibly the space-time continuum).

    2. Karen – whose culinary savvy leads you down life-changing paths (cf. “Brown Butter,” above) – has introduced you to the absolutely important chilling stage. However, the longer you can resist the No-I’m-not-eating-before-baking-honey-I’m-just-spooning-this-manna-from-heaven-into-my-mouth-to-test-for-poison denial syndrome, the better. While K advocates a 30-minute busy-mom-schedule interlude, I’ve found a 12-to-24-hour pause (in an airtight container) is better for your waistline as well as the flavor. And, after a day, flavor doesn’t meld more, AFAICT.

    Now, two musings:

    3. How does the chemisty of baking soda affect lift in a finished cookie? Greatly. Are eggs important in binding all bakery treats? Absolutely. But guess what spooners. Yes, you know who you are (cf. “Test-for-Poison” and “Denial,” as well as “Kellie,” above). They DO NOT need to be in your cookie crudo. Yep – skip the soda and the eggs and you and you can eat the whole bowl, worry free. Flavor identical, no chilling needed. And this is where NOT chilling the browned butter is a treat. Yup, melted sugar makes for smoooooth – Billy Dee Williams smooth – spooning. (Sure, chill for richer, bolder flavor, but… caveat: more than two boules at any stage will cause you to immediately clean the entire kitchen while singing “C is for Cookie” in a sugar rush and then be struck with advanced, kitten-level narcolepsy.)

    4. Finally, feel free to imitate that unnamable goo in the blue plastic tube that K remembers so fondly. I line up my homemade dough on some Stretch-Tite, roll it into a log, and then slice it up when chilled firm. No muss, no fuss.

    With love…

    A

    • Oh, And, you crack me up! Thanks for the response, and the suggestions. :-) It’s true, pouring hot browned butter into the sugars right away does change the flavor, and personally I think that is a great thing. That’s where the caramel notes in this cookie come from, and I probably should have mentioned that in the post. But you’re right, you have to be careful to stir long enough so that the eggs don’t cook in that warm buttery sugar mix. If you let it sit for a minute or two before adding the eggs in VERY slowly, you should be safe though. And chilling 30 minutes is for those in a rush, but an hour or two is ideal. Any longer the dough may actually get a little hard (not a bad thing,) and be more difficult to spoon out. I love the tip too of skipping the eggs and baking soda for the safer raw dough experience. And for the freeze and slice cookie approach, I have a great Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookie recipe that does the same thing. Pure heaven.

  5. I’ve just taken the first pan of these out of the oven and begun taste testing. Thanks for sharing the secret to how to get a hint of toffee in a chocolate chip cookie! Awesome!

  6. I just tried your recipe last night for these. I do not need any other chocolate chip recipe ever again. I had been using browned butter but following the serious eats recipe which was much more labor intensive for a less desirable texture. These cookies are crispy AND chewy…the best of both worlds. I knew your recipe would be amazing and I was right. Thank you for posting this!!!

  7. These cookies are incredible!! Thank you! I had never browned butter before, but it was super easy. I ended up kind of underbaking them, I think because the dough chilled in the freezer for 6 hours or so. But that was totally fine with me because I like a soft cookie over a really crisp cookie. They came out great. I still have some of the dough in the freezer–how long do you think it will last in there?

    • I am so glad you made them! I have frozen the dough already shaped into little balls,and they keep for months. (As long as you don’t repeatedly sneak to your freezer every night to grab a couple to eat straight up as dough. I’m just saying… It’s not like I’ve ever done that or anything.) But conservatively, dough frozen as balls or in logs should keep at least 4 months if wrapped or sealed tightly in an airtight bag or container. But honestly, I’ve been known to keep things up to a year and find they’re still fine once I’ve dug them out of the depths of my monstrous freezer. So feel free to freeze away!

  8. These are so amazing, Karen. I don’t think I let the butter brown quite enough (I was too nervous) but I can still taste a difference. And the salt in the batter is exactly what it needed to offset all the sweet. Just marvelous, friend!! Brava!