heenie's food blog

         We call all sorts of bakery bought and boxed butter cookies “biscuits” in Pakistan.  Our local specialities of assorted biscuits are loved by all and kids pick all those chocolate biscuits with a a big dot of chocolate glaze first and when you need something to serve your guests with tea, you’ll find only zeera (cumin) biscuits  in the jar. This is a national cookie eating tradition.

I was following one single recipe for chocolate chip cookies for the past eight years or so with occasional addition of nuts, raisins and oats  which my family never appreciated. Their taste buds only identify chocolate chips in a cookie and rest is all unnecessary so why bother elaborating the list of ingredients? Recently I found brown butter cookie method and absolutely love it. It takes the flavor of butter in cookie to a whole new level, gives deeper taste and enhance the aroma.

ingredients: ( 2 1/2 -3 dozen cookies)

1 cup butter, softened to room temperature

1 cup brown sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup caster sugar

1 large egg

1 egg yolk

2 1/8 cups flour

2 tbsp cornflour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

method:

brown butter:  

Put half cup of softened butter in a small pan/skillet and melt it over low heat, keep swirling the pan after every 10 seconds. There will be froth and foam on the surface as it cooks and it will crackle and pop. Once crackling stops, takes around a minute and a half, keep swirling the pan to avoid burning. The butter will smell nutty, start developing a deeper color and brown bits will form in the bottom. In around two and a half minutes butter will be of amber color, remove from stove top and pour into a small heat proof bowl. Make sure to get all the brown bits in the bottom of the pan. Allow to cool for about 20 minutes.

for cookie dough:

Beat remaining half cup softened butter with with brown sugar in a large bowl for about 2-3 minutes till light and fluffy. Add vanilla extract. Pour in cooled browned butter and sugar and beat for another minute. The mixture will get lighter in color. Add egg and egg yolk and beat till well incorporated. Add flour,cornflour, salt and baking soda and mix well using a wooden spoon. Fold in chocolate chips. Cover the bowl with cling wrap and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes. (This step is optional, see note.)

Preheat the oven to 180 C / 350 F about 15 minutes before you are ready to bake.

Scoop the dough in about 1 1/2 tbsp sized balls onto the baking sheet, leaving at least two inches space between each cookie as they’ll spread during baking. Bake for about 12-15 minutes until golden brown. After removing form the oven let them rest in the baking tray for 3-5 minutes and then transfer to wire rack to cool completely. Store in airtight containers.

Inspired by Joy the baker.

NOTE:

Bring all ingredients to room temperature.

Feel free to use salted or unsalted butter. Both will do just fine.

Never soften butter in the microwave as it will effect the consistency of cookie dough.

Adding an extra yolk and cornflour (as in this recipe) will enhance the texture of cookies.

Be sure not to over measure flour.

Do not substitute baking soda with baking powder.

Over mixing after the addition of flour will toughen the cookies.

Refrigerating the dough prior to baking is optional. In my personal experience it gives a little crunch around the edges and keeps the center chewy.

Watch the oven temperature! Do not over bake the cookies.

Resting cookies in the baking sheet is important. Due to high butter content cookies will break very easily if you try to remove them as soon as they are out of the oven. Staying in the pan for few minutes brings the temperature inside the cookie down and make it retain it’s shape.

If your baking/cookie sheets aren’t non stick, line them with parchment paper.

I prefer using caster sugar as local granulated sugar has real big granules and they don’t incorporate well.

Cookies spread a lot during baking so don’t place them too close.