For More Flavor In Chocolate Chip Cookies, Start Browning Butter
Who doesn't love a good chocolate chip cookie? It's certainly a classic for a reason and is often cited as cookie lovers' top choice. But, if you want to upgrade your chocolate chip cookie batch with a more dynamic flavor, there's one ingredient you need to know about: brown butter.
Brown butter is simply unsalted butter that has been cooked on the stovetop long enough that it becomes brown in color; to use it for cookies, you wait for it to cool before blending it into the sugar. Not only is the color different, but so is the taste. Adding brown butter results in a rich and nutty flavor that is partly born out of the blending of the butter with the molasses found in the brown sugar.
Here at Tasting Table, we love a good chocolate chip cookie made with browned butter and have our own recipe. But before you embark on trying it out yourself, there are a few things you should know about the process.
Brown butter is simple to make and will significantly change the taste
Making brown butter is much simpler than you may be thinking — in fact, it can be done in about five minutes. As pointed out by Tasting Table's how-to article, the main thing to worry about is cooking the butter for too long because butter's low smoke point means it won't take long before browning. In other words, you have to keep a close eye on it.
Here's how you do it: Begin by placing the butter in a pan on medium heat. Next, move the pan around in a swirling motion to get the butter to melt. When you spot brown flecks in the pan, that means the butter is browning. Once finished, remove the butter and place it into a cool bowl (remember, we don't want to leave it cooking in the pan for too long). From there, you can proceed with your chosen cookie recipe.
You may be wondering if this extra step is worth it. Well, it depends on the flavors you prefer. The brown butter will make the chocolate chip cookies taste much nuttier, whereas sticking to the traditional butter method will lead to a taste closer to that of a sugar cookie .