Who doesn’t love chocolate chip cookies? Myself, I must have tried about a dozen different chocolate chip cookie recipes.
Now! THESE chocolate chip cookies. They belong to Cooks Illustrated, so you know they have no other option but to be amazing. And they are. But with that it also means that they must contain a number of extra steps to complicate what should be a basic recipe.
What makes these so special and so different ,This recipe uses brown butter….

when you brown it, something happens… it becomes nutty and caramelly. It reaches these amazing levels of deliciousness. SO good.

Cooks Illustrated takes a portion of the butter in this recipe and browns it to enhance the depth of flavor in their cookie. It works. Fantastic. They also amp up the flavor by using dark brown sugar. They throw an extra egg yolk in there for good measure too.

(recipe from Cook’s Illustrated magazine)

ingredients
1 3/4 cups of unbleached, all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking Soda
14 Tablespoons of butter ( that’s 1 and 3/4 sticks)
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
3/4 cup of packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon of table salt
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 1/4 cups of semi sweet chips or chunks (I used bittersweet chips)
3/4 cup of chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

method
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and baking Soda. Set is aside.
Heat 10 tablespoons butter in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking, swirling pan constantly until butter is dark golden brown and has nutty aroma, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and, using heatproof spatula, transfer browned butter to large heatproof bowl. Stir remaining 4 tablespoons butter into hot butter until completely melted.
Add both sugars, salt, and vanilla to bowl with butter and whisk until fully incorporated. Add egg and yolk and whisk until mixture is smooth with no sugar lumps remaining, about 30 seconds. Let mixture stand 3 minutes, then whisk for 30 seconds. Repeat process of resting and whisking 2 more times until mixture is thick, smooth, and shiny. Using rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture until just combined, about 1 minute. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts (if using), giving dough final stir to ensure no flour pockets remain.

Preheat the oven to 375F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Divide dough into 16 portions, each about 3 tablespoons (or use #24 cookie scoop). Arrange 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets, 8 dough balls per sheet. (Smaller baking sheets can be used, but will require 3 batches.)
Bake cookies 1 tray at a time until cookies are golden brown and still puffy, and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft, 10 to 12 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack; cool cookies completely before serving.

Makes 16 cookies I got 22 🙂 enjoy!