What else are you supposed to do on a cold rainy Sunday afternoon in east Texas? Bake cookies of course with your adorable todder. It must have been the thing to do because my friend Brooke called to ask a cookie related question at the exact time we were ‘making’ them. (Adorable side note, Kirkley always says we’re going to ‘make’ instead of ‘bake’. I love it).
After a long week, and poor Doug getting his tonsils taken out, we were ready for a weekend at home to relax with daddy. We actually had a birthday party at Pump It Up before the baking adventure. Her sweet little friend, Laney, had her 3rd birthday party there. Kirkley actually loves that place, but was a cranky mess when we got there. Due to a mishap with rain and umbrellas in the target parking lot prior to…we were both a little frazzled at first. She climbed half way up the slide first thing, freaked out half way, went all the way to the top. She then sat at the top crying in a corner for 5 minutes. I was a little worried to climb up myself and get her for fear the whole thing would pop under pressure :-). Thankfully one of the sweet staff members went up after her. After that, she was good to go and I even partook without them popping.
Now about the cookies. I have already posted what I had thought were the perfect chocolate chip cookies. While I do still feel strongly about them, I have moved these Browned Butter Chocolate Chunk ones to the top of my list. While I’ve dabbled in browned butter before, I’m really a little late to the party. It really takes things to a whole new nutty level! So so so so amazing. So next time you get the hankering for some chocolate chip cookies, please do yourself a favor and make these. Feel free to add pecans, m&m’s or even toffee. Ok, now I wish I would have added toffee.
- 1 cup (16 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon molasses
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup Nestle semi-sweet chocolate chunks
- coarse sea salt, to sprinkle on top (I used shaved sea salt)
- Place half the butter (8 tablespoons) in a small pot on a burner over medium heat. Melt the butter, swirling occasionally. Let the butter foam up a bit while its cooking, it will make popping noises as it cooks, don't be alarmed. The crackling will stop, at this point keep watching and swirling the pot. It will quickly turn brown and start to smell nutty with brown bits sticking to the bottom of the pan. Once it turns to a nice amber color, remove from heat and pour into a small container to allow the butter to cool. Let it cool to close to room temperature, approximately 20 minutes. You just don't want it to be too hot when you pour it in the dough mixture.
- Once the browned butter has cooled beat the remaining 8 tablespoons of butter and brown sugar in a mixer for 3-5 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the vanilla extract and molasses.
- Pour the cooled browned butter and the granulated sugar. Beat for at least 2 minutes, until smooth. At this point the mixture should lighten in color and become fluffy.
- Add the egg and egg yolk, and beat for one minute more.
- Add the flour, salt, and baking soda, beating on low speed until just combined.
- Fold in the chocolate chunks until well incorporated.
- Transfer the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap. Cover and form into a disk, and stick in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. (Side note, use regular cookie sheets for these, not the air bake kind. I did 2 regular cookie sheets and accidentally used an air bake for the third. They did not bake right.)
- Once the dough has been refrigerated amply, remove the dough and scoop the dough in 2 tablespoon-sized balls onto the prepared baking sheets. Leave about 2″ between the cookies because they will flatten and spread in the oven.
- Before putting in the oven, sprinkle the cookies with sea salt to taste.
- Bake the cookies for 12 to 15 minutes, until they’re golden brown. Remove them from the oven, and allow them to rest on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes before moving them.
- Serve right away or store airtight at room temperature for several days. For longer storage, wrap well and freeze.
[…] of course offered to bring desserts, my new favorite cookies and these brownies. I also said I’d bring a side dish but I had no idea what. Finally […]