I got to know “Beautiful Disasters” through The Secret Recipe Club, when Casey, a very fit and active high school student, made a recipe from my blog. She hit the jackpot: her post was the most popular of our group! I always look forward to her articles, not only for the recipes, but for the “Random fact of the day“. Did you know that the average shoe size of a gorilla is 17? Well, I didn’t, but learned on her site. 😉
Recently Casey wrote this enticing post about her favorite chocolate chip cookie, and the description and photos got my immediate attention. At first glance, the recipe seems pretty straightforward, using the usual suspects for this traditional American favorite: butter, sugar, baking soda, walnuts, and chocolate chips. But, what sets it apart is the browning of the butter, and the toasting & grinding of the walnuts. Brown butter. Ground walnuts. Who would imagine they could make a simple cookie so decadent and delicious?
BROWN BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
(from Beautiful Disasters)
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 + 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 + 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 + 1/2 cups chocolate chips
1 cups walnuts, toasted and ground
1-2 teaspoons of milk, as needed
The day before (or at least 3 hours before making the cookies), heat the butter over low heat in a small saucepan. It will foam and bubble, slowly acquiring a tan color. Keep stirring, watch it carefully so that the solids won’t burn. Cook until the butter is a deep caramel color (it took me over 12 minutes). Pour into a pyrex type dish, and refrigerate until solid.
Heat the oven to 300 degrees F, and toast the walnuts on a baking sheet for 12 minutes, or until fragrant and starting to get some color. Transfer to a small food processor and turn it on and off a few times, to grind the nuts. Reserve. (You can also finely chop them by hand, but it’s a bit cumbersome).
Cut the brown butter in small cubes, place it in the bowl of an electric mixer, and cream it with both sugars. Beat in the egg, vanilla, and baking soda. Add the flour and salt, mixing gently. Finally add the ground i nuts and chocolate chips. If the dough is too crumbly, add a couple of teaspoons of milk.
Scoop the dough onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper, and bake in a 300 F oven for 18 minutes. Let cool on wire rack.
ENJOY!
to print the recipe, click here
These are some amazing cookies! Hot from the oven, they were simply irresistible… I had THREE cookies. Now, keep in mind that when I make a batch of cookies I eat one, and that is pretty much it for me. I had three. One, then another. And then another. (sigh)
My moment of pure joy, on a Sunday afternoon…
A cup of steaming spiced almond milk…. (for recipe, click here)
With bites of insanely good chocolate chip cookies…
Thank you, Casey!
ONE YEAR AGO: Tidy Sourdough
TWO YEARS AGO: Vienna Bread
Bewitching Kitchen 
I love Casey’s blog. She’s a truly accomplished baker and already at such an early age…amazing. I love her facts of the day too. (Unless it’s about spiders. Those just freak me out.) 😉
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Indeed… you never know what she’ll come up with for the fact of the day, better watch out 😉
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Isn’t this a clever idea! Thanks Sally! 🙂
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I thought it was brilliant… and tasty!
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The browned butter is so good in cc cookies. Cooks Illustrated published a recipe three years ago for Perfect CC cookies using browned butter. I’ve made them using part whole wheat pastry flour -the browned butter accents that flavor nicely.
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Now that I see your comment, I seem to remember that recipe from years back. Of course, never made it, just mentally “bookmarked it”
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I always feel that brown butter takes food to a whole other level of deliciousness. These cookies must be dreamy in every possible meaning of the word.
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The smell while they were baking was intoxicating… in the best possible meaning of the term, of course…
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Haha, love the random fact! Come to think of it, I have never contemplated a gorilla’s shoe size… what’s wrong with me?
These cookies look positively – dangerously – delicious. I have caramelized butter/sugar many times but I don’t know if I have ever (intentionally) browned butter on its own before… how interesting, I have to try this…sound too good to miss out ;). Love the dark colour of the chocolate chips Sally… the cookies look so ooey, gooey delicious – I wish I could reach in and grab one right now!
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You and me both, never thought about the shoe size. Now, the other interesting question would be how many average-size male human beings would take to put the shoe in the gorilla? I say 12, but some might not survive the experience!
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I’ll bet these are good. I browned butter last week for a muffin recipe and the kitchen smelled amazing.
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‘xactly! The smell is something!
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Those sound fantastic!
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Go for them! 😉
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Yay! Glad you loved them, you’re the best 🙂 thanks for the kind words and lovely post. Your cookies look like they turned out perfect!
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nice to “see” you, Casey! Thanks for the recipe and constant inspiration…
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Brown butter and ground walnuts sound heavenly! I can only imagine how good this would taste. Maybe I would give this a go using dates instead of chocolate because I don’t have any now
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Hummmmm…. dates do sound great with this type of cookie… hope you’ll try the recipe
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Oooh, I’m loving the combination of that coffee and cookie!! The toasted ground nuts is different, never heard of that in a cookie….must be the secret to the great taste!!
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Simple pleasures are the best!
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I am a fan of brown butter but I have never used it in cookies. These look delicious and will soon be moving from your kitchen to mine. I hope you have a great day. Blessings…Mary
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Hi, Mary! I hope you make them, they are at their peak still warm from the oven…. sooooo delicious!
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How yummy. I made these by replacing some ingredients with vegan butter, soy milk and dark chocolate – To make it vegan delicious. They look and smell soo good. Thanks for sharing.
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