Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Dessert | American
After testing many choc chip cookie recipes, YouTuber FutureCanoe came up with his ultimate recipe. I gave it a go and it was pretty great, so I had to share it with you all (with his permission of course). This cookie is golden on the outside, chewy and soft in the centre with melted chunks of dark and milk choc chips... and some chocolate hazelnut spread. Finished with sea salt flakes to cut through the sweetness. Thanks @FutureCanoe - go check out his YouTube channel!
My thoughts
This one is rich! So i will just warn you about that but the brown butter brings a really nice depth and nutty flavour to the cookies. If you do want to deep flavours, you need to let the cookie dough rest in the fridge overnight. I actually did a fun experiment and baked one straight away, the next one at 24 hours and the others at 48 hours. There wasn't a huge difference between 24 and 48 hours but the difference between 0 and 24 hours was huge. But if you don't have the time, it's still good if you bake them straight away.
Resting the dough in the fridge for 24 hours allows enzymes in the flour to break down starches into simpler sugars. Those sugars caramelise faster and more deeply during baking, giving you a more complex, toffee-edged flavour. Chilled dough also spreads more slowly in the oven, producing a thicker, fudgier cookie with better structure.
Ingredients
- 170g (6oz) chocolate hazelnut spread
- 225g unsalted butter
- 150g caster sugar
- 250g brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 3 vanilla beans, halved, seeds scraped
- 380g plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- pinch sea salt
- 85g (3oz) 70% dark chocolate, chopped
- 85g (3oz) milk chocolate, chopped
- 200g dark chocolate chips
- sea salt flakes
Directions
- Divide hazelnut spread between a 12 hole silicone mini muffin tray and freeze until firm.
- Melt butter in a medium saucepan and cook until browned and starting to smell nutty.
- Transfer to a bowl and place in a bowl of iced water. Whisk in an ice cube, then allow to cool, stirring occasionally.
- When cooled, whip the butter over the ice until light, then discard ice.
- Beat the sugars into butter until creamed.
- Beat in eggs 1 at a time, beating well between each addition until light and fluffy, then beat in vanilla seeds.
- Sift flour, baking powder, bicarb and the pinch sea salt together, then mix into butter mixture until a soft dough forms.
- Fold in chopped chocolate and choc chips. Cover dough tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
- Remove dough from fridge and hazelnut butter from freezer.
- Divide the dough into 12 equal portions.
- Take a portion of dough and shape it into 2 discs slightly wilder than the frozen hazelnut spread.
- Press a disc of hazelnut spread in the centre, then cover with the other piece of dough to encase and shape into a round.
- Place cookies on a tray or in an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to bake.
- Preheat the oven to 190°C fan force (375°F) and line 2 large baking trays with baking paper.
- Place cookies on trays, with at least 5cm gap between each for spreading (you may need to bake in 2 batches).
- Bake for 15 minutes, without opening the oven door. Sprinkle with a little sea salt as soon as they are out of the oven, then allow to cool for at least 15 minutes on the trays.
Recipe notes
Brown butter:
The browning happens when water evaporates from the butter and milk solids undergo the Maillard reaction. Use medium heat and stir regularly once the butter has melted. You’ll see it foam, then the foam subsides and amber-coloured specks appear at the base of the pan. Pull it off the heat at amber. Transfer immediately to a cool bowl with an ice cube and place over iced water. The difference between nutty brown butter and burnt butter is about 30 seconds.
Hazelnut spread (Nutella or similar):
It needs to be portioned into the silicone tray and frozen completely solid before assembly. If it’s still soft or only partially frozen, it will smear through the dough rather than staying as a distinct centre. Freeze for at least 2 hours, or overnight. Once frozen solid, work quickly during assembly before it starts to thaw.
70% dark chocolate (chopped):
Chopping your own chocolate into irregular pieces gives you a mix of shards and small chunks that melt at different rates. The 70% cocoa content gives a bittersweet flavour that offsets the sweetness of the brown sugar and hazelnut spread.