Brown butter chocolate chunk cookies
Prep Time: 25 minutes active + 30 minutes rest
Cook Time: 12-14 minutes
Keywords: snack cookie soy-free vegetarian dessert sugar chocolate flour
Ingredients (makes 16 cookies)
- 1/4 cup / 2 ounces / 56 grams unsalted butter (to make brown butter, recipe below)
- Avocado OR other mild-flavored vegetable oil to add to the brown butter to obtain 2 ounces
- 2 tablespoons / 25 grams granulated OR superfine sugar AND enough light brown sugar to obtain 3 1/2 ounces / 100 grams total
- 1 1/2 teaspoons / 1/2 tablespoon / 7.5 ml vanilla extract
- 1 large pastured egg at room temperature
- 6 ounces / 170 grams of a combination of flours:
- 1 1/2 ounces / 42 grams pastry flour OR all-purpose flour
- 4 1/2 ounces / 128 grams whole-grain flours: 1/3 whole rye, 1/3 whole-wheat pastry, 1/3 whole spelt AND sprouted whole quinoa
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 5 1/4 ounces / 150 grams extra-dark chocolate (I use 88%), cut with a knife into small pieces
Instructions
Brown the butter in advance. Cut the butter into small pieces and put them into a small saucepan. Melt the butter while stirring then keep the melted butter on the heat, stirring. The butter will foam as water evaporates then the solids will caramelize. Remove the saucepan from the heat, pour the brown butter into a ramekin and let cool. The process is fast and requires full attention as the solids go from brown to black in a few seconds.
Let the brown butter soften in a mixing bowl. Weigh the butter and add enough vegetable oil to get to 2 ounces / 56 grams. Add both sugars to the mixing bowl. Mix with a spatula until the sugars are well blended into the butter. Add the egg and the vanilla extract and mix until well combined. While I prefer to mix butter and sugar with a spatula, I like to use the electric mixer to mix in the liquids.
Sift and weigh the flours into a small mixing bowl. Sift in the baking soda and baking powder, then add the salt. Add about half of the dry ingredients to the wet ones and mix briefly, using either a spatula or the electric mixer. Add the rest and mix just until the flour is incorporated. Finally, add the chocolate chunks and incorporate using a spatula.
Cover the mixing bowl and place it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to firm up the dough, longer if possible (it will be easier to handle and the cookies will remain chubby).
Preheat the oven to 350 F/177 C.
Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
Take the cookie dough out of the refrigerator. Weigh approximately 32 grams of dough for each cookie. Shape each piece of dough into a half dome, tap the top to flatten it slightly and place on the baking sheet, leaving 1 1/2-2 inches/4-5 cm of distance between them.
Bake for 12-14 minutes. Check the cookies after 12 minutes and bake longer if needed. The edges should be golden brown.
Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack and cool completely.
Store the cookies in a sealed container.
