Brown Butter NYC Cookies

Delicious and easy to be browned butter New-York Style cookies with triple chocolate chunks throughout. They are large, chunky, gooey, crunchy and soft all in one, with a delectable texture.

This cookie dough has a wonderful naturally nutty flavour to it from the brown butter, bringing these cookies to a whole never level.

What is brown butter?

Brown butter (often called beurre noisette) is ordinary pure block butter that’s been gently heated until it turns a warm golden-brown and smells rich and nutty. The flavour is much richer than regular melted butter: less creamy, more savoury and nutty, with a slight sweetness to it.

As the butter melts, it first separates into melted fat and milk solids. If you keep it over a low to medium heat, the water cooks off and the milk solids sink to the bottom and slowly toast. When they turn light brown, the butter develops a deep aroma similar to toasted hazelnuts, toffee, and caramel.

In cooking, brown butter is used to add depth rather than just richness. It’s common in cooking for the depth of flavour, but I adore using it in baking for biscuits, cakes, and blondies etc.

How to brown butter to bake with

The full recipe can be found in the recipe card below – You can brown butter by adding the butter you are using to a medium or so sized pan, and melting on a low heat. Once the butter has simply melted, you let it continue to cook over the heat. 

It will start to bubble quite a lot as the water content of the butter cooks off, so make sure to keep an eye on it, and swirl the pan or stir the mixture slightly to make sure that the mixture is cooking evenly. 

After a few minutes of cooking, the milk solids of the butter will sink to the bottom of the pan, turning golden brown. This is the stage in which it should become nutty and caramel like in colour – as soon as it reaches this stage, take it off the heat. 

If its your first time making brown butter, it’s best to slightly under-do it compared to over, because it can burn quickly once the solids brown, and taste quite bitter.

Ingredient notes + tips

This cookie dough is similar to my other new-york style cookies, and my brown butter cookie bars combined into one. The full recipe is in the recipe card below

• Butter – browned butter, as above
• Sugar – I used light brown soft sugar as it marries so well with the buttery flavour – can easily be swapped to a mix of LBS and granulated sugar, or even dark brown soft sugar
• Egg – one egg is best – I use medium in general, but one large is fine if that is what you have
• Vanilla extract – A dash of vanilla adds depth of flavour, but it’s completely optional.
• Flour – Plain flour is used for better control over rise and spread, since it contains no raising agents. I also add cornflour for texture – this can be replaced with 25g more plain flour.
• Raising Agents – A dash of bicarbonate of soda is important for the texture of the cookies as well as needing the baking powder to create the particular texture of the new-work style.
• Salt – A pinch of sea salt brings balance and enhances the chocolate and sweetness beautifully but again, this is optional 
• Chocolate – I used bars of chocolate that had been chopped up into smaller pieces. A mix of dark, milk and white created a wonderful triple chocolate flavour

Tips for making the BEST cookies

As there is a little more prep time due to having to brown the butter and then let it cool, it does take a bit longer to make these. The butter needs to firm up again and not be warm. You can make the butter in advance though as it will last in the fridge.

I find it best to make sure that the sugar is mixed well with the butter to prevent any lumps – and then you can add in the dry ingredients. You can use a stand mixer, hand mixer, or a bowl and spoon – whatever you have will work.

I find it best to weigh my cookies with scales to portion – as these cookies are meant to be huge. New-York style cookies are giant, chunky and delicious so it is worth it. Make sure to chill the cookies again in the fridge as this helps that texture again.

Try not to roll the cookie dough too tightly as this can cause problems later on with the cookies not spreading too much in the oven.

FAQS

Storage and Freezing

These cookies are best on the day of baking and when they are still slightly warm (As they should be served) but they easily last for 5-7+ days once baked. I prefer to keep mine at room temperature, but you can store them in the fridge if you prefer a chilled cookie.

You can freeze these cookies for 3+ months, baked or raw. If they have been baked you can thaw them in the fridge or at room temperature. If they are raw, you can bake them directly from frozen (add 1-2 minutes baking time) and the raw cookie dough can also last for 3+ months.