You will have to trust me on this. This chocolate chip cookie recipe does indeed require more than 24 hours to make. Most of the time it’s simply sitting in the refrigerator, where the batter will be in lock-down, off limits to sneaky fingers looking for a swipe. It won’t be easy. Especially if you are like me, and sadly accustomed to instant gratification when chocolate is involved. Well, here is a little exercise in self-restraint – consider it a late New Year’s challenge. Summon your will power and tip your hat to the process. Wait the full 24 hours between preparing the batter and baking the cookies. The results are what I consider the best* chocolate chip cookies I remember tasting. You can then congratulate yourself and your family on your discipline and proceed to eat as many cookies as you like.
24 Hour Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
I discovered this technique in the fall issue of the wonderful e-magazine Made with Butter. The following recipe is adapted from Jennifer Kaplan’s Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. Makes about 30 – 1 1/2 inch cookies.
3/4 cup unsalted butter
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Sea salt for sprinkling
Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Divide the butter in 4 pieces and add to the pan. The butter will begin to melt and foam. Continue cooking the butter until it becomes golden brown and the milk solids sink to the bottom, resembling small dark brown particles, 5 – 10 minutes. (It took me 7 minutes. Watch the butter carefully because it can burn very quickly.) Remove from heat, and cool for several minutes to lukewarm.
While the butter is cooling, whisk flour, salt and baking soda together in a large bowl. Set aside.
Once the butter has cooled, add both sugars to the skillet. Mix thoroughly to combine. Add the egg and egg yolk, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla extract. Pour the wet ingredients into the flour and stir to combine. Stir in the chocolate chips. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate 24 hours.
To bake the cookies, preheat oven to 375 F. Line a baking sheet with parchement. Scoop a heaping tablespoon of dough (it will be stiff) and place on baking sheet, leaving enough room for the cookies to expand as they bake. Lightly sprinkle with sea salt. Bake cookies until light golden in color and just cooked through, about 12 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on rack. If you are using the same pan for another batch of cookies, first allow the pan to cool completely. Enjoy!
The brown butter would impart a nutty flavour, right?
Precisely!
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The proof’s in the cookie, look at those!
LLvely cookies! This recipe is interesting.
Cheers,
Rosa
Well, I love a new take on a classic, but it must next to impossible to wait with out sneaking a swipe of dough. How do you keep the kids out of it?
I made the batter when they were at school and hid it in the back of the refrigerator 🙂
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Pretty dangerous, Lynda 😉
I can’t say I’ve quested for ‘the best’ chocolate chip cookie, but I will say that I can’t resist a good recipe. The brown butter sounds delightful and the crisp exterior and chewy centre would be a winner with us! Leaving them alone for 24 hours in the fridge is a bit risky, so I may have to pass to avoid the temptation.
That last picture is just gorgeous!
They do say good things come to those who wait 🙂
I’m always on a quest for perfect chocolate chip cookies- will have to try these! And brown butter makes everything taste better- what a great idea!
heehehehe… seeing this, I thought instantly, you could make them on the last day of december and serve them on the first day of the new year, and exclaim to your guests, “I hope you like these… they’ve taken a lot of work and time to make…. I’ve been working on this batch since LAST YEAR!”
..hehehe…. 😉
Oh my goodness.. these Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies look amazing. I LOVE this recipe and have to give it a try 🙂
I made blondie brownies with browned butter and was amazed at the difference the butter made. Now you’ve got me hankering to get to the kitchen and get these started. Alas, I have a full day! Definitely tomorrow.
I love the addition of brown butter!
I would be able to handle the 24 hour waiting period simply because this recipe doesn’t require “creaming butter and sugar together”. Even though I now have a microwave that can “soften” butter, I had too many bad experiences with chocolate chip cookies brought on by the fact that I wanted them THEN and NOW and I had only cold cold butter. So this recipe looks great to me. Plus, now that you’ve said they’re the best, I’m going to have to try them!
These look amazing, Lynda! I love the image of the batter being in lock-down mode in the refrigerator :-). And brown butter makes everything so much more wonderful. I’m trying this recipe the next time I make chocolate chip cookies!
These look delicious! Don’t know if overnight cookies would work in my house though… I tell me husband to not eat something and he has the bad habit of eating it anyways 😛
I will happily join the fray, make these bad boys and report back you with where we think they sit within the pantheon of great chocolate chip cookies. If they have your endorsement, I KNOW they will be dynamite!
Yep, you have entered a contentious area but with a description that reads “crisp exterior, meltingly chewy interior and rich, nutty flavor of browned butter” I think you might be just right! Trying these, but I can;t promise anything when it comes to batter eating…
These cookies set a new standard for chocolate chip cookies – that is the unanimous conclusion of our family. I made a few changes: used 2 cups choc. chips, 2 whole small eggs instead of 1 large egg and 1 yolk, reduced salt to 1/2 tsp, and did not sprinkle top with salt (we don’t like salty sweets). The flavor and texture are outstanding: lightly browned on the outside, but soft and barely cooked on the inside. I think they key is to brown the butter and refrigerate for 24 hours prior to baking. Tossing out an egg white was not necessary. I am surprised at how good the final cookies are, because the raw dough did not taste as good as raw dough made using the standard choc. chip cookie recipe on the back of the pkg of Nestle morsels.