Chocolate Chip Cookies

Name: Chocolate Chip Cookies
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 55 min
Total time: 1 h 20 min
Cuisine: United States
Ingredients: 170 g (12 tbsp) unsalted butter; 150 g (¾ cup packed) dark brown sugar, or light brown; 75 g (⅓ cup + 2 tsp) granulated sugar; 1 large egg (about 50 g), at room temperature; 1 egg yolk (about 18 g); 10 ml (2 tsp) vanilla extract; 230 g (1¾ cups + 2 tbsp) all-purpose flour; 3 g (½ tsp) baking soda; 4 g (¾ tsp) fine sea salt; 200 g (7 oz) dark chocolate (60–70%), roughly chopped; flaky sea salt, for the tops

Crisp-edged, chewy-centered, with brown butter and pools of chocolate

Makes: 16 large cookies
Hands-on: 25 min
Total: 1 h 20 min
Level: Easy

Browned butter for nutty depth, more brown sugar than white for chew, and chopped chocolate instead of chips so you get both shards and puddles. A rest in the fridge before baking is optional, but it makes them thicker and more toffee-like.

Ingredients

170 gunsalted butter (12 tbsp)
150 gdark brown sugar (¾ cup packed)or light brown
75 ggranulated sugar (⅓ cup + 2 tsp)
1large egg (about 50 g)at room temperature
1egg yolk (about 18 g)
10 mlvanilla extract (2 tsp)
230 gall-purpose flour (1¾ cups + 2 tbsp)
3 gbaking soda (½ tsp)
4 gfine sea salt (¾ tsp)
200 gdark chocolate (60–70%), roughly chopped (7 oz)
flaky sea saltfor the tops

Diet: Vegetarian
Allergens: gluten, egg, milk
Origin: United States

Method

Melt the butter in a light-colored saucepan over medium heat. Keep cooking, swirling, for 4–6 minutes, until it foams, then turns golden with brown specks on the bottom and smells of toasted nuts. Pour into a large bowl, scraping in all the brown bits, and cool 15 minutes until warm but not hot. 20 min
Whisk both sugars into the butter, then add the egg, yolk and vanilla. Whisk hard for 1 minute until glossy, thick and a little lighter in color. 1 min
Whisk the flour, baking soda and fine salt in a separate bowl. Add to the butter mixture with the chocolate and fold with a spatula until no streaks of flour remain.
Cover and chill the dough 30 minutes (or up to 72 hours for deeper flavor). Meanwhile heat the oven to 190°C (375°F) and line two baking sheets with baking paper. 30 min
Scoop the dough into 16 balls of about 55 g and set 8 on each sheet, well apart. Sprinkle each with a few flakes of salt.
Bake one sheet at a time for 10–12 minutes, until the edges are golden and set but the centers still look soft and slightly underdone. For rippled edges, lift the tray and drop it on the counter twice at 8 minutes. 11 min
Cool on the sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack. They firm up as they cool. 5 min

Why it works

Browning the butter cooks off its water and toasts its milk solids, adding a caramel, hazelnut note; less water also means more chew. Brown sugar holds moisture and contains molasses, which is slightly acidic and helps the baking soda spread and brown the cookie. Chilling lets the flour absorb liquid, so the dough spreads less and the flavors deepen.

Common mistakes

Adding eggs to hot butter, which can scramble them. Cool the butter until it is warm.
Baking until they look done in the oven. Pulled soft, they cool chewy; pulled firm, they cool hard.
Crowding the tray. They spread to about 9 cm; give them room.

Variations

Skip the brown butter: Use 170 g melted butter for a quicker, lighter-flavored cookie; it still works.
Walnut: Fold in 75 g toasted, chopped walnuts with the chocolate.

Make ahead and storage

The dough keeps 3 days in the fridge or 3 months frozen as scooped balls; bake from frozen, adding 1–2 minutes. Baked cookies keep 4 days in an airtight container.

Notes

Fan oven: 170°C (340°F); two trays can then bake at once if you swap them halfway. Many dark chocolates contain soy lecithin; check the label if cooking for someone with a soy allergy.