Soft and chewy with pools of dark chocolate and crisp edges, no mixer needed. These brown butter chocolate chip cookies are simply the best.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cup all-purpose flour (200g)
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup butter plus 1-2 tbsp extra, divided
• 3/4 cup brown sugar (150g)
• 1/4 cup sugar (50g)
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups chopped semi-sweet dark chocolate (about 8oz)
• Flaky sea salt to finish

How to make Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

1. Whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda in a bowl and set aside. Brown 1/2 cup butter in a saucepan, swirling, until butter foams and starts to turn brown and smells nutty. Transfer butter to a liquid measuring cup and see how much water content you lost. You want to have 1/2 cup of butter, so stir in the remaining 1-2 tablespoons of butter if you need it – the butter you add in should melt slowly and not foam up.
2. When the butter is melted and slightly cool, whisk in both sugars until incorporated with no lumps. Whisk in the egg until smooth and glossy. Stir in the vanilla and use a rubber spatula to fold in the dry ingredients until no dry spots remain. Fold in the chocolate.
3. Use a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop and scoop out two balls of dough, so that each cookie is 3 tablespoons large. Smoosh the two balls on top of each other – they should kind of look like a log and you should get about 14-16 cookies depending on how big your chocolate chunks are. Place the logs on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet, cover with plastic wrap and let chill in the fridge for 15-30 minutes, or as long as it takes for your oven to heat up.
4. Arrange the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and heat to 375°F. Space out the cookie logs (standing tall) on parchment paper lined rimmed baking sheets, leaving plenty of space in between. Bake, rotating and moving trays halfway if browning unevenly. Bake until golden brown and firm around the edges, 10-12 minutes.
5. Remove from the oven and bang the pan down against the countertop (this helps create a couple of ripples like you see on Instagram). Sprinkle with flaky sea salt, let cool on the baking sheets, and enjoy!

Helpful Hints:

• Ensure your egg is at room temperature to avoid shocking the warm butter.
• Use unsalted butter to control the salt content of your cookies.
• Chilling your dough helps develop a deep caramel flavor and gives you crispy edges, chewy insides, and crackly tops.
• Avoid over-mixing to prevent extra puffy cookies.