Homemade on the Heights: The Ultimate Brown-Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

If I walked around Boston College’s campus and asked everyone I saw, “What’s your favorite sweet treat?”, I doubt anyone would say a chocolate chip cookie. To be candid, if someone did, I would assume one of two things: this person has an incredibly mundane palate or this person is eating some crazy chocolate chip cookies.

Though chocolate chip cookies are rarely someone’s favorite treat, they remain a staple in bakeries around the world. We can always count on this crowd-pleasing sweet to grace the counters of a bakesale or fundraiser. Grandparents worldwide have unique takes on the recipe, whether it’s the addition of oatmeal or almond extract, creaming the butter and sugar, or baking the cookies at varying temperatures. Chocolate chip cookies are everywhere.

But these cookies exist on an extraordinarily wide spectrum, and everyone has a different preference—soft vs. crunchy, lots vs. few chocolate chips, dry vs. moist—the list goes on. This week, I set out to create the best chocolate chip cookie of all time. I needed to crack the code—what makes a chocolate chip cookie worthy of being the favorite? After many trials and tribulations, I think I’ve finally done it. These cookies are soft in the middle, crunchy on the edges, and filled with a rich, buttery, super-chocolatey favor. I hope you all agree and thoroughly enjoy!

DISH: The Ultimate Brown-Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

INGREDIENTS:

Cookies:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 cup white cane sugar

1 cup light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon instant coffee granules

1 teaspoon sea salt 

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 ½  cups white flour

Ghirardelli chocolate chips as desired

Caramel (optional):

2 tablespoons butter (salted or unsalted)

⅓ cup cane sugar

½ teaspoon baking soda

INSTRUCTIONS: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Butter and flour the cookie sheets.
3. If adding caramel, melt butter and cane sugar in a saucepan over medium heat until liquid and light brown in color.
   1. Remove from heat and add baking soda to the mixture.
   2. Place on parchment paper and allow to cool!
4. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Continue stirring until brown in color and moderately bubbling. Stir every minute or so, turning down heat if bubbling is too extreme.
5. Allow butter to cool.
6. Whisk together both types of sugar in a separate large bowl, thoroughly.
7. Once mixed, add vanilla, coffee granules, and eggs to the bowl, mixing with each addition.
8. Add dry ingredients to the bowl and fold until the mixture forms a dough-like consistency.
9. Add chocolate chips and crushed caramel pieces (if desired).
10. Allow dough to cool for 20-30 minutes. This step is crucial! It allows the brown butter flavor to seep into the dough.
11. Line balls of dough (balls should be slightly larger than a tablespoon) on the cookie sheets.
12. Top balls of dough with a few chocolate chips, crushed caramel pieces, and flakey sea salt.
13.  Bake cookies for 10-11 minutes.
14.  You have just made the best chocolate chip cookies ever—enjoy!