Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Every little kid likes cookies, and my kid is no exception.  I recently decided to make a batch during daylight hours (daytime baking is a rare treat for me- most of it is done well after dark).  So I got my mini helper in the kitchen with me for some tasty treats.

My go-to recipe for chocolate chip cookies comes from the ever-trusty Alton Brown, of the Food Network show Good Eats.  Alton is my culinary crush (nerdy, cute, a killer cook- what's not to love?) and his recipes are at the top of my list when I'm looking for something new to try.

Alton's recipe uses melted butter instead of softened.  An article in my local paper got me thinking.  The article described a chocolate chip cookie made with browned butter- a simple but significant tweak in the flavor of that baking standby, by which the butter is melted in a saucepan and gently cooked until the butter solids turn golden brown.  This imparts a nutty, toasted flavor to the butter that is a great complement to many baked goods.

Since Alton's recipe has more brown sugar than white, I figured that the browned butter would go nicely to further the caramel-y flavor of the cookies.  I was right!

I didn't make any alterations to Alton's recipe, with the exception of browning the butter.  Make sure you are patient with the dough chilling portion.  I'm always scooping the dough while it's still soft, and my cookies are always too flat.  But they manage to wind up in my tummy anyway!  :)

First, get yourself an assistant-slash-taster.

Melt the butter gently in a saucepan.

It will foam quite a bit.  You can sorta see the solids browning.

Nope, that's not beer.  It's butter, baby!

Cute assistant sold separately.

Ghirardelli bittersweet chips are *the best tasting* chocolate chips for baking.  America's Test Kitchen told me so, and they were right!

Gotta make this kid earn her keep somehow.  Lookit those guns!

A one-ounce ice cream scoop works well for measuring out the dough.  It's also useful for meatballs.

Lumps of happy goodness waiting for the oven.

If you aren't impatient like me, your cookies won't be so flat.  Let the dough chill completely before scooping.

Flat or not, they taste frickin' awesome!