Brown Butter Chocolate Butterscotch Chip Cookies
Makes 2-3 dozen cookies
Over the holidays, I discovered the magic that occurs when you bake with brown butter. Brown butter is simply butter that has been cooked on the stovetop to a point where the butter breaks down and the milk solids get all nice and toasty brown. Not only does it smell heavenly, it imparts a nutty, caramel flavor to the recipe - which works wonderfully with these rich cookies. This recipe has quite a few steps, but make sure you follow each one precisely - it'll be worth it in the end!
Ingredients:
- 2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons butter – room
temperature if possible
- Place a ceramic or glass bowl in the
refrigerator
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon water
- 1 ½ cups butterscotch chips*
- 1 ½ cups good quality semi sweet (60%) chocolate
chips*
- *OR 1 cup butterscotch chips + 1 cup semi
sweet chocolate chips + 1 cup chopped pecans
Instructions:
- To make the browned butter, place sticks of butter in a nonstick pan (I like to use a white ceramic coated pan because it’s much easier to see the butter brown) on high heat until melted
- Once the butter is melted and bubbling, turn
the heat down and constantly stir the butter, scraping the bottom of the
pan, with a rubber spatula.
- Stir stir stir until the milk solids in the
butter begin to turn brown.
- Remove from heat once the butter has browned
(the color of an almond).
- Immediately pour the butter into the chilled
glass or ceramic bowl, scraping the pan again with a rubber spatula
(that’s where all the good flavor is!).
- If your butter has become too brown, strain
the mixture as you pour it into the bowl. Taste it to see if it’s burned (it’ll taste bitter)
and if it is, start over.
- Place the bowl of browned butter in the
refrigerator for about 1 hour, stirring after a half hour, to cool and
set.
 |
| Chilled Brown Butter |
 |
| Making Brown Butter |
 |
| Brown Butter |
- After the browned butter has chilled
completely, place it in the bowl of stand mixer (you can also use a hand
mixer) fitted with a paddle.
Cream the butter on medium high speed, until it looks fluffier and
lighter in color. Then add
the sugars and beat till it’s light, white and fluffy – about five
minutes.
- This stage of creaming together the butter
and sugars is essential for the proper setting up of the cookies – I
would recommend creaming the butter for five minutes, and then adding the
sugar and beating for 5 minutes
 |
| Creamed Brown Butter |
 |
| Creamed Brown Butter |
- Scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber
spatula
- Add the eggs, vanilla and water – beat until
combined (about a minute) and scrape sides of bowl
 |
| Creamed Brown Butter |
- Whisk together the dry ingredients (flour,
salt, and baking soda)
- Add dry ingredients and beat at low speed
until just combined.
Do NOT overmix
- Remove the bowl from the mixer and stir in the
chips and/or nuts by hand
- Place dough in the refrigerator for at least a
half hour – up to 1 hour
- This dough can also be made the day before
and then taken out 10 minutes prior to baking to thaw a bit
- Preheat oven to 375
- Roll tablespoon sized balls of dough by hand
and drop them onto cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone
mats. Leave about an inch
between the cookies
- Bake for 8-10 minutes.
- After 4 minutes, rotate the cookie sheets
from top to bottom and also rotate the sheets so that the cookies in the
back are rotated to the front.
This is important for even baking
- Remove the cookies from the oven and allow
them to sit on the sheets for 1 minute before transferring them to cooling
racks.
