October 4, 2010

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies/The Revamped Chewy

Alright, these are good. I have to stop naming favourites because it is nipping me in the butt. I don't want to name these my favourite as a result but if I were to hypothetically name a favourite, it would be these. Are they hypothetically better than the Chewy? Yes. However, they are the Chewy! .. so it's not really naming a new favourite. Literally, there are only two different additions, lemon juice and cream, which replace the milk. And the butter is obviously browned. But it makes it that much better. It brings an almost caramel flavour to the cookies. From now on, I will only brown, not melt, butter.
The Revamped Chewy

2 1/4 Cups bread flour 
1 Teaspoon baking soda
1 Teaspoon kosher salt
1 Cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1/4 Cup sugar
1 1/4 Cups dark brown sugar (packed)
1 Tablespoon Half and Half or heavy cream
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
2 Teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk 

2 cups milk chocolate chip cookies 

Mix the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and set aside for later. Start by adding your butter to a medium pot over medium-low heat and let it melt. Once it starts frothing, turn the heat down to low and whisk the butter. As the butter cooks, the water will evaporate from the butter leaving only the oil and the milk solids. Eventually, the milk solids will separate out and start to brown which gives it the distinct brown color and also the delicious nutty flavor. It’ll take about 15-20 minutes for the butter to brown. Just whisk it every minute or so to make sure that it’s heating evenly. Let this cool for a minute and then add all your sugar to the brown butter. Stir it all together. It's okay if your sugar and butter separate out a bit. Let the butter/sugar mixture cool down before continuing since we are going to be adding eggs to them. You don’t want to cook the eggs! From here on out the process is the exact same as making any cookie dough. Add the butter and sugar mixture to a stand mixer or use a hand mixer on medium to cream the butter and sugar together. It should lighten up a bit and turn fluffy. Mine never turned fluffy exactly just not as saucey as before and cooler. Then add your egg and egg yolk and continue to mix. Add the vanilla, half and half, and lemon juice, and eventually you’ll have a very smooth caramel colored mixture. Turn the mixer to low and stir in the bread flour mixture in a few batches just until it’s combined. Then add in all the chocolate chips and stir again until they are evenly distributed. Try not to over-mix the dough. The dough must be chilled for about an hour or two before baking. I kept mine in overnight and let them sit out for a bit before scooping. I made two dozen one night and the next, then only a dozen worth of dough was left the next night. When you’re ready to bake, roll the dough into tablespoon sized balls and add them to a cookie sheet with parchment paper. They don't spread so they don't need to be very far spaced apart, about an inch is recommended. Bake them at 350 degrees for 9 minutes. I love them chewy. Let them cool for a few minutes then move to a wire rack. I highly recommend just digging in right away. Makes five dozen cookies.

* On a side note, I joined the 12 weeks of Christmas cookies! I saw it on Baked Bree, love!, and had to join. Perfect reason to make even more cookies around here.

3 comments:

Lisa said...

I've never heard of adding either of those things to peanut butter cookies before. However, I love chewy cookies so I'll really have to try that. I'm baking along with 12 Weeks too and can't wait to see what else you come up with. By the way, you have some amazing recipes on this site. I'll have to return to check the rest of them out.

Lisa said...

Sorry, I meant to browned butter cookies.

Hannah said...

Thanks Lisa! The twelve weeks of cookies is a great idea, I'm looking forward to seeing all the cookies submitted too.