Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

This post will be short and sweet.

I have one question for you.

Why would ANYONE go through the painful trouble of making caramel…

…When they could just brown butter and put its nutty, caramel-y wonderfulness in every baked good known to man, instantly making it five million times better?

Chew on that. And on these lovely Joy the Baker cookies.

Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes about 36 cookies
Adapted from the Joy the Baker Cookbook

16 tablespoons (2 sticks) plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp molasses
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Brown 1 stick plus 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat in a medium saucepan: allow to melt, then watch butter carefully until it turns dark brown and smells like caramel. Pour hot butter into a bowl to cool and set aside.

Whisk together four, salt, and baking soda and set aside.

In a stand mixer, cream the remaining 1 stick of butter with granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and molasses and beat until incorporated. Add cooled brown butter and brown sugar and cream for about 2 minutes. Add egg and egg yolk, and beat until well combined.

Add the flour mixture all at once and beat on low until just combined; fold in the chocolate chips. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

While chilling, preheat oven to 375 degrees F and prepare baking sheets with parchment paper.

Remove from fridge when ready and use a small cookie scoop to make tablespoonfuls of dough. Dough will be crumbly, but persevere. Place balls 2 inches apart on the sheet and bake for about 12 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to rest on the pan for 5 minutes.

Best right out of the oven when they’re soft and chewy, but will keep for 5 days in an airtight container (they become crispier with time).

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• browned butter
• chocolate