12 DoC // Brown Butter Cookies!

It's cookie time! Ready for an amazing chocolate chip cookie recipe? It's a family favourite in this household! :) 

Random cookie picture I took a couple days ago ;) These aren't brown butter cookies, btw :P 

Oh yeah, and you should probably know, I may or may not have interspersed the recipe with comments of my own. Serious or silly, you'll get a mix. I think ;) I'll leave them in bold so you don't get confused :) 

Brown Butter Cookies 

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature 

1 cup packed light brown sugar

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon molasses 

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 large egg yolks

1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans (optional) 

1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips (not optional. Or else it wouldn't be a chocolate chip cookie, now would it? ;))

Coarse sea salt for sprinkling (optional. Do you like crunching salt with your cookies? Just wondering...) 

Directions

(this might look long and complicated, but don't worry, it's not that at all! You can do this!! :D) 

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside. (see, not so hard! ;)) 

Start by browning 1/2 cup butter. In a medium skillet (or pot) melt butter over medium heat. Once the butter has melted completely, it will begin to foam and froth as it cooks. The butter will also crackle and pop. That's the water cooking out of the butter. Swirl the pan occasionally (whoops, you're supposed to swirl it? I never did that :P) and keep an eye on the melted butter. The butter will become very fragrant and brown bits will begin to form at the bottom of the pan. (Note: There are times when the butter will become so foamy, it is close to over-boiling, so make sure you watch it closely! Eagle's eye!) Once the bits are an amber brown, immediately remove pan from the heat and pour browned butter (bits and all) into a small bowl. Leaving the butter in the pan will burn it. Allow butter to cool. (this is probably the hardest part of the recipe. If you can conquer this, you can definitely do the rest of this recipe! *whispers* I burnt the butter black the first time I tried it :P) 

In the bowl of a stand mixer (or just a regular bowl if you don't mind having a sore arm after a ton of stirring) fitted with a paddle attachment, cream remaining /2 cup of butter with brown sugar. Cream on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. (then taste it, if you've a mind to ;)) Add the vanilla extract and molasses and beat until incorporated. 

Once the brown butter has cooled slightly, pour the butter (brown bits and all!) into the creamed butter and sugar mixture. Add the granulated sugar and cream for 2 minutes, until well incorporated. Add the egg and egg yolk and beat for 1 minute more. 

Stop the mixer and scrape the bottom of the bowl to ensure that everything is evenly mixed. Add the flour mixture (forgot about this, didn't ya? you didn't lose it, right? ;) all at once to the butter mixture and beat on low speed until the flour is just incorporated. (To minimize the mess that will inevitably occur unless you have a cover on your bowl...place a dishcloth, a clean dishcloth, around the bowl. That way the flour stays inside. Like it's supposed to) Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and use a spatula to fold in pecans and chocolate chips. 

Spoon batter onto a piece of parchment paper and wrap into a disk or cylinder. Allow to rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. 

Place racks in the centre and upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees f. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop dough by whatever size you'd like. (I tend to use ice cream scoops, and then splitting those in half. Makes a good size ;)) Sprinkle with salt (if you're using it, that is) Be sure to leave about 2 inches of space between each cookie. 

Bake for 12-14 minutes or until cookies are golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Serve warm or allow to cool completely. Cookies are best enjoyed within a few days. Duh. 

And voila! 

I'm not kidding, these are like one of THE best chocolate chip cookies ever. You gotta try them! :D 

If you make them, let me know! Send some pictures, tell me if you liked them, (or if you didn't like them), was the recipe hard? ;) 

Now I've got to run...gotta make a batch of these for a party today!! ^_^