Cinnamon & Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

July 10, 2012


It's been far too hot to turn on the oven (that's just a fact, not a complaint), so I haven't baked anything in almost a week. Luckily I have a few extra photos and recipes that are just begging to be shared.

I really hope that you're not getting sick of chocolate chip cookie posts. (Never mind all the lemon recipes. That's a refreshing, endless ocean I don't mind drowning in...and taking you down with me. ♥) I know cookies sometimes accidentally wander into Been-there, Done-that's, territory, but I promise to always try and keep things interesting in the realm of Cookiedom.

These cookies may look ordinary, fat and chewy as they are, but their flavour will knock your flip flops off. (And, if you're like me, make your shorts feel mysteriously tighter.) This is kind of a combination of techniques used in the Cook's Illustrated and Alton Brown recipes. 

Nutty brown butter + chewy-gooey decadence + extra salt + a kick of cinnamon = the Higgs boson of chocolate chip cookies. If only physics could be explained via cookies (I'd no longer feel the need to reach for them whenever someone tries to explain things to me). O_o


Cinnamon and Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes about 16-18 cookies

ingredients
16 Tablespoons (that's 2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temp. and cut into 16 pieces
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking Soda
2 generous teaspoons of ground cinnamon
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup tightly packed, light brown sugar (it's okay to use dark)
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 Tablespoons of strong, brewed coffee, cooled to room temp. (milk will work too)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
12 oz bag of chocolate chips

method
Place the butter into a medium-size saucepan. Over medium heat, cook the butter until melted, and browned. As the butter is cooking, use the handle of saucepan to swirl it around and prevent burning. As the butter browns, it will start to become frothy, as soon as the froth dissipates, keep a close eye on the butter. It should have a lovely nutty fragrance and the bubbles will be deep golden brown. (The browning process can take about 5-9 minutes.) As soon as the butter is ready, remove the saucepan from the heat and transfer the butter to a heat-proof bowl. Allow it to cool to room temperature.

In a separate, large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon; Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment (any large mixing bowl will work if you're using a hand-held), beat together the browned butter, and both sugars on medium-high speed until creamy and smooth (about 7 minutes).

Add the egg, egg yolk, vanilla, and coffee (or milk, if using). Beat on medium speed to combine.

On low speed, beat in the dry ingredients, beating just until they're incorporated into the wet.

Use a large rubber spatula or wooden spoon to fold in the chocolate chips.

Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate the dough for at least 12 hours. (Apologies.)

When you're ready to bake, remove the dough from the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature. [You want it soft enough to scoop.] Preheat the oven to 375 F. and line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Measure out about 1/4-cup of dough per cookie, and place them on the prepared cookie sheets, leaving about 2-inches of space between each mound of dough. [Note: Because I'm neurotic about everything being neat and tidy, I rolled the mounds of dough into balls and lightly pressed each one down with my palm. I don't think this necessary, but don't feel bad it you're as twitchy about free-form circles as I am.] ;)

Bake for 14-16 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are just starting to turn golden brown. [Note: My cookies were perfect after only 12 minutes.] Remove the sheet from the oven and allow the cookies to rest for a few minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. [Note: Don't worry if the centers look under-baked. They will firm up as the cookies cool off.]

recipe adapted from Food and Wine magazine, via The Curvy Carrot

39 comments:

  1. Delicious! Brown butter adds such a marvelous fragrance to baked goods.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  2. Oh look how chewy and amazing those look! I want my flip flops knocked off with one (or two!) :)

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  3. Ooo, the cinnamon caught my attention but that brown butter got me hooked. Can't wait to try these out, you can never have enough chocolate chip cookie variations :) Pinned!

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  4. These look wonderful! I'm interested that you put coffee in - I always add some to my chocolate cakes but have never thought to do the same with cookies. I will be making these ASAP :)

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  5. Also, if I may ask out of curiosity, why do you refrigerate the dough for so long and bring it back to room temp? I'm sure I'll devour the entire batch of dough while it's in the fridge haha...

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  6. You could post a recipe using browned butter every week, and I wouldn't get tired of it. (But do keep the lemon recipes coming too.)

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  7. @Courtney, I know...refrigerating dough is torture, but there's a method to this madness. :D

    Chilling cookie dough relaxes the gluten in flour, which helps reduce that rubber-like consistency that some cookies have. Also, chilling the dough yields plumper cookies! (It'll keep them from spreading all over the place.)

    The only reason you take this particular dough out of the fridge ahead of time is to make the scooping easier. (It gets quite hard.) But don't worry, even when you bring the dough back to room temperature, the gluten magic has already occurred.

    I hope that helps! :-D

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  8. I finallyyy tried brown butter for the first time last week, and I am obsessed. These look amazing!

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  9. Thanks, Bianca!
    Brown butter is wonderful! :)

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  10. It's been 103 degrees here in Michigan for about 3 weeks running, and I'm STILL gonna make these tomorrow. Brown Butter is so worth the heat exhaustion. :)

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  11. Hi Valerie

    Did you use a 1/4 cup measuring cup or a 1/4 cup cookie scoop. There is a difference between the cup and the scoop.

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  12. @Jackie, I didn't realize that there was a difference, good to know! :)

    For this recipe I used an actual 1/4 cup for each cookie. (So there were about 6 cookies on a sheet.)

    If you want more cookies, you can use 2 well-rounded Tablespoons...just reduce the baking time accordingly.

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  13. Oh man I could seriously eat a dozen of these right now!

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  14. I am dying over these huge chunks of chocolate? What brand did you use for this recipe?? I love how thick and chewy these cookies look also!

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  15. @Mercedes, I used a bag of Ghirardelli's 60% cacao chocolate chips, and 2oz of their 70% cacao baking bar. (But feel free to use any kind of chocolate you prefer.) :D

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  16. Oh wow, these look so delicious! Those huge chunks of chocolate. I must admit I normally get a bar and chop it myself rather than adding puny shop bought chips! Plus I've not seen big chunks ready done in a UK supermarket :(

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  17. I need to try this cookie recipe for the flavor combination alone!

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  18. i've never had cinnamon in a chocolate chip cookie before, i cannot wait to try these :)

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  19. I could never get sick of chocolate chip cookie posts. Brown butter and cinnamon sound like perfect additions!

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  20. @Annie, Don't worry about not being able to find large chocolate chips...it's always better to chop up a nice, beautiful bar of chocolate! (Sometimes I'm just too lazy.) :D

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  21. That's a huge cookie... Sigh... I want these so bad! Look at the chunks of chocolate.. It's too hot indeed... These with a cold glass of milk will be perfect.

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  22. Lovely photos and great recipe.

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  23. adoring your combination of flavours. this is a love letter to me in cookie form!
    xo
    http://allykayler.blogspot.ca/

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  24. At what point did you add the coffee/milk? I mixed it with the wet ingredients, but it wasn't included in a step.

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  25. @Anon, Oops! Sorry I forgot to include that step! Yes, the coffee (or cream), should be added with the eggs and vanilla.

    Thanks for bringing that to my attention!

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  26. Cinnamon - great idea! I even like same ol' type cookie recipes, but new ideas are always good.

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  27. Oh my....another cc cookie my daughter is going to want me to make for her. (I posted today about you and your recipe for 1000 layer cookies and the problems I had)
    I wonder if I should forward this to her?

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  28. One can never have too many chocolate chip cookie recipes. Kind of like my 6 kids--all very different but wonderful too!
    Great post.

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  29. Oh, yum! Cinnamon and brown butter!? Both are so delicious. What a great idea to combine them into cookie form. :) Definitely making these when the temperature cools down a bit :) Stay cool!

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  30. if i wanted to add pudding mix for moistness would i need a leveler?

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  31. @Anon, Unfortunately, I don't know enough about pudding mixes to give a definite answer...depending on how much mix you're using, my best guess would be to subtract a few Tablespoons of flour.

    I'm sorry I can't be more helpful. But I can tell you that these cookies are quite delicious just the way they are. :)

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  32. This have got to be THE BEST cookies I've had in a long time. And definitely the best I've ever baked. If you're thinking about making them: do! The dough is carmely and so delicious! Thanks Valerie

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  33. @Anon, I'm so happy to hear that you loved these cookies as much as I did! (That dough is wonderful, isn't it!?) :D

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  34. Mine smell amazing right now! Only problem is, I chilled them and they're still a little flat :( I feel like the butter to flour ratio is always hard....

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  35. @Anon, I'm sorry they turned out flat..hopefully the taste made up for their lack of thickness. :)

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  36. I made these several weeks ago and they were very tasty! I used whole wheat pastry flour, sucanat for the sugar, and chopped up milk and dark chocolate Hershey bars for the chips. Mmm...just typing this makes me want to make them again! :)

    - Kristin

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  37. @Anon, Thanks for letting me know!! Great substitutions...they're healthier, which means more cookie consumption, right? ;)

    Brilliant. :D

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Thanks for visiting, and for taking the time to read through my ramblings!
If you have a recipe comment or question, I'd love to hear from you.

Happy Baking!
♥ Valerie

 

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