Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Brown butter is a simple yet overly satisfying twist on regular butter that strongly enhances the flavor of whatever it touches. By cooking the butter for a few short minutes, a hint of hazelnut is emitted. Before these cookies, I had only had brown butter in savory dishes, which is somewhat shocking since it tends to be a little sweet. It's no surprise that the intense brown butter flavor in these cookies brings the traditional Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie to another level. This is cookie sophistication at its finest. Enjoy!

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup loosely packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 3/4 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk the butter continuously as it bubbles, foams, and brown bits begin to form on the bottom of the pan (approximately 5 minutes). Once the brown bits form, remove the saucepan from the heat and allow the butter to cool (cool slightly for thinner cookies, or cool completely for thicker, puffier cookies--I only let mine cool slightly).

In a bowl, combine the flour, oats, salt and baking powder.

Pour the brown butter into a large bowl. Add both sugars to the butter and whisk until smooth.

Add the egg and vanilla to the butter/sugar mixture and mix until combined.

Slowly begin to add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, working in batches, and making sure that the dough is completely combined.

Fold in the chocolate chips and mix gently, ensuring that all ingredients are well-mixed.

Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.

Once dough has chilled, roll cookie dough into 1 1/2 inch balls, placing them on your prepared cookie sheet a few inches apart.

Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, or just until the edges begin to brown.

Allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Source: Adapted from Juanita's Cocina