Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've got a LOT of chocolate chip cookies on this blog, and right now this one is my favorite. The recipe all started when I wanted to make sugar cookies using my new Heilala Vanilla. Long story short, I had to use some of the dough for chocolate chip cookies, and wow. These were so good. 

Sweet & chewy with layers of caramel and browned butter flavors, with creamy dark chocolate chips. Mmm. A cookie exceptional enough to warrant its own post here. 

Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients 

• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter
• 1/4 cup Crisco
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar 
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¾ teaspoon baking soda
• 2 ½ cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 10 ounce bag of Nestlé Dark Chocolate Morsels
• 1 ½ cups chopped pecans (optional)

Instructions

1. Prepare the browned butter by placing 4 tablespoons of the butter into a small heat-safe mixing bowl.  Place the remaining stick of butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir with a silicone spatula until it's foamy on top and you can see the butter solids turn a deep golden brown color. Pour hot browned butter over the 4 tablespoons of butter in the small bowl. Allow to cool completely before proceeding. 

2. Cream cooled butter, Crisco, egg, vanilla, & water in a medium size bowl. (This may take a little while for the wet ingredients to emulsify and turn creamy.)

3. In a large bowl, stir together with a whisk the sugars, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and flour.

4. Combine the creamed mixture with the dry mixture just until it comes together (do not over mix). Add the chocolate chunks and pecans & mix to incorporate.  Refrigerate dough two hours or over night. (I also scoop all my dough and freeze the dough balls on a wax paper lined cookie sheet.  Once frozen, I transfer them to a gallon zip-top bag.)

5. Preheat oven to 375°F. Scoop dough into balls that are about 2 tablespoons and place them one inch apart on a parchment lined cookie sheet. 

6. Bake 8-11 minutes, or until puffed and light brown around the edges.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies

Butter -- some browned, some not

All of the wet ingredients get mixed together first.

I love seeing all of the flecks of browned butter at this stage.

Sugars, flour, salt, soda, and baking powder get mixed.

Nestlé Dark Chocolate Chips are my current fav.

I almost always scoop and freeze my choc chip cookie dough.

Some of these have nuts and some don't. All delicious though.