Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've baked a lot of cookies through the years. So many that I'm dangerously close to being known as the cookie lady. Their portability makes them a favorite in this house. DH has often walked in at various times throughout the day and if I'm taking a sheet of cookies out of the oven, his eyes light up. It's easy for him to grab a handful as he walks back out the door. I love popping a ziploc bag of cookies in the mailbox at the end of the road for our mailman, handing one to our UPS and Fed-ex man, and stashing them in the brand inspectors', vets', and cowboys' rigs for trips back home as an extra treat.

I've got a good collection of favorites, but the ultimate chocolate chip cookie has eluded me...until now. This Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie rolled across my screen when I was on Pinterest one day and it sounded promising so I mixed up a batch. Oh, WOW! My search for the perfect chocolate chip cookie has ended.

                             

Here's the link to the original recipe from Monique over at Ambitious Kitchen

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Monique's recipe is much more detailed with helpful tips, but I am posting the recipe here as well because I made a small change in the original recipe...I added more flour and baked them a little longer. I also think these would be amazing with dark chocolate. These take a little more work than your average chocolate chip cookie recipe as you need to brown the butter, but I promise it'll be worth it. That, along with the dark brown sugar and sprinkle of sea salt gives these cookies a deep, rich flavor profile and makes them irresistible. 

                               

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/2 C flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 C unsalted butter

1 1/2 C packed, dark brown sugar

1/4 C granulated sugar

1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk at room temperature

2 tsp vanilla

1 Tbsp plain Greek yogurt or sour cream

3/4 C semi-sweet chocolate chips

3/4 C milk chocolate chips

sea salt for sprinkling

*Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. You will need to whisk continuously while making the browned butter. After a bit, the butter will begin to foam. Remove from heat when it begins to brown and butter begins to give off a nutty aroma. Pour into large bowl and let cool. Add sugars and mix well. Add eggs, vanilla, and Greek yogurt or sour cream - mixing until combined.  Add dry ingredients, mixing on low speed until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Roll into balls. Chill for 2-3 hours. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 12 minutes. This will vary as each oven bakes a little differently. Sprinkle with sea salt as soon as you remove them from the oven. The original recipe calls for removing the cookies before they look set, but we like our cookies a little more done. 12 minutes was perfect for us. The cookies were perfectly crisp on the outside, and soft inside and I'm going to have a lot of happy cowboys next time we have them out to work cattle.