brown butter chocolate chunk cookies

With Christmas just around the corner I thought I’d share one of my favorite cookie recipes with you.  A slight twist on an old favorite this recipe is enhanced with the addition of brown butter and chopped dark chocolate.  Chopping the chocolate gives you lovely little flakes of chocolate that melt into the dough and guarantees that you get a that rich chocolate flavor in every bite.

Even though I am not a crafter by any means I thought I’d share some of my favorite crafts that I’ve managed to pull together this year.  I am usually a dismal failure when it comes to making things from scratch.  I decided to try some homemade gift wrap and wreaths.  I was really happy with the wreaths and the gift wrap is really pretty but I’m not sure if I’d do it again since I probably won’t use the stamps much until next year.

Brown butter chocolate chunk cookies

Makes about 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 14 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 ¾ sticks)
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ¾ cups packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 ½ cups bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 teaspoon fleur del sel

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.   Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Whisk flour and baking soda together in a medium bowl; set aside.

Heat the butter in a medium skillet over medium-high heat until melted, and then continue to cook, swirling the pan constantly until the butter is dark golden brown and has a nutty aroma.  Remove skillet from the heat and transfer the butter to a large heatproof bowl.  Let cool slightly and then refrigerate for 15-20 minutes until the butter is slightly solid but not hard.

Add the cooled butter along with both sugars, salt and vanilla to a stand mixer and mix until light and fluffy 3-5 minutes.  Add egg and yolk and mix until the mixture is smooth.  Add the flour mixture until just combined.  Stir in the chopped chocolate.

Measure out 3 tablespoons of dough onto the prepared parchment sheet, you should have enough for roughly sixteen cookies.

Bake cookies 1 tray at a time until cookies are golden brown around the edges but still slightly soft in the center, 10-12 minutes.  Sprinkle the tops of the cookies with a pinch of the fleur del sel.  Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cook completely before serving.