MY Best – Browned Butter and Molasses Chocolate Chip Cookies #baketogether

Really…I’m not on a tangent about BESTS all of a sudden, it just happens that after a discussion on how I best like to make mashed potatoes that I wanted to post these cookies. I have tried so many recipes that people proclaim as the best. Whether they really think they are or are simply trying to get some Google juice from claiming they are, I had just never had a chocolate chip cookie that was unique enough to garner that praise.

I mean I’ve really tried and I’ve had some really good versions in the effort. I’ve tried the New York Times cookie inspired by Jacques Torres and admit that a bit of salt is a super idea. I’ve also made the chocolate chip cookies from David Lebovitz and Alice at Savory Sweet Life that I’ve seen highly praised and they too are really, really good. BUT. Yes, but… I have never had a cookie that made me want to shout it from the rooftops…these are the BEST! Granted I live in a city that could be renamed #CookieFail due to high altitude issues so I’ve long grown accustomed to seeing cookies that look fabulous elsewhere but are a bas relief of chips and nuts here when the dough falls flat. Crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside? I sure as heck better get them straight to a storage tin for that to be the case…cookies dry out here so quickly that leaving them at room temperature even briefly can spell doom. I should write a cookbook titled, ‘From Cookie to Biscotti in One Easy Step.’ It would be a short book; one page really. Simply let them sit out in a high altitude kitchen for 1 hour. Done.

What makes these so different then? How did they qualify? Well, first…did you read that title? They are made with brown butter. Isn’t everything better with brown butter? I use KerryGold Butter for my baking and it is a favorite right out of the package but taking it to a brown butter stage? Oh my. Just be careful to not only watch but smell the butter; it can go from a fabulous brown nutty state to burned quickly. I know these things.

I also love molasses in cookies…it ads such a warm note. You could say that molasses and granulated sugar are the same as brown sugar but I think it’s MUCH more better (No that is not a grammatical error, it is simply a statement of fact!). Yes, they are both brown but mixing them yourself really does up the flavor profile of molasses. Um, um, good. That little bit of extra moisture can’t be all bad either in our cookie to biscotti environment either!

These cookies are a mutt for sure. I first saw Cake Duchess modify a recipe from Joy the Baker that was inspired by Alton Brown who suggested using bread flour for cookies. I’ve taken something from all of those resources and added my own. While tagging these as #Irene cookies because our beloved #baketogether leader Abby Dodge struggled with that massive storm, I was also keenly aware of friends dealing with #TXWildfires. So I’ve combined a great cookie with a hurricanish swirl of chocolate that I topped with some toasted walnuts in consideration of the toasting of Texas. Altogether just one fabulous cookie and to my mind? The best chocolate chip cookie ever!

For all of the modifications I have to take to get the kind of results I crave, the one thing I’ve found that helps both the texture, the rise and the taste? Freezing the dough. That’s right. I started freezing cookie dough years ago so that I am not tempted to eat an entire batch all by myself in two days. What I’ve found is that the freezing not only helps with texture and achieving results that are not so flat but that the flavors meld more and just taste better. Who doesn’t want that?

MY Best – Brown Butter and Molasses Chocolate Chip Cookies #baketogether

Ingredients

• 2 sticks unsalted butter
• 2 cups bread flour
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon dark molasses, not blackstrap
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups dark chocolate chips or chunks for cookies
• Extra chocolate for garnish, melted (optional)
• Toasted chopped walnuts for garnish (optional)
• Maldon Sea Salt Flakes

Preparation

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Brown the butter in a heavy-bottom medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Pay close attention...it can be hard to see the browning with the foam on top. I can usually tell when I can start to smell the nuttiness come out. About 3-5 minutes; a bit longer when I use KerryGold.

In a medium sized bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.

In mixing bowl, mix the granulated sugar and molasses until thoroughly combined.

Once the butter has cooled to lukewarm, add it to mixing bowl with sugar and cream on medium speed for about 3 minutes.

Add one egg and mix well. Add the yolk and vanilla and mix until well combined.

Spoon the flour mixture in gradually until thoroughly combined.

Stir in the chocolate chips.

Chill the dough for about 20 minutes, then scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets. (To freeze, scoop dough onto baking sheets and freeze. Store in ziploc bags).

NOTE: If topping with Maldon sea salt, sprinkle top with a few crystals now, before baking)

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until set; longer if using frozen dough (I add about 3 minutes to my baking time).

Pay close attention! These cookies are already brown from the browned butter and molasses so visual appearance and scent is more important than color.

Cool completely.

Garnish with optional chocolate and walnuts, let chocolate harden and store in airtight container.

Notes

When I'm not doing hurricane swirls and toasted walnuts, I'm normally going to just sprinkle on a bit of sea salt but did not use this time.

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http://www.creative-culinary.com/2011/09/best-chocolate-chip-cookies/

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