The secret to making the best gooey chocolate chip cookies is down to the quality of your chocolate and using delicious brown butter. The result is a thick and chewy chocolate chip cookie like you have never tasted before, and very easy to make.
Anyone else really struggling at the moment? I’ve worked from home before, but it is completely different with two small people around. Even in the summertime, I would at least have some summer camps booked in for wee folk. That and trying to ensure we’ve got food etc. We’re just very lucky we have got jobs that are still paying us at this time. That and I’ve gotten to read a ton of books (ok kid books) and endless games of soccer in the back yard.
We’re making gooey chocolate chip cookies
With none of us being able to leave the house, myself and Thing 1 decided our family needed a little pick me up. Chocolate chip cookies were the order of the day.
There is something utterly delightful about picking up a warm buttery chocolate chip cookie and sinking your teeth into it. We’ve all done it, pretended the cookies were cool enough and then scrambled to eat the whole thing before it falls apart on the way to our mouths. Melty chocolate, a soft chewy centre. Pair it with a glass of milk, and you have the perfect sweet snack.
I’ve made a lot of chocolate chip cookies over the years, but I’ve always struggled. Sometimes the result was like a cake-type cookie, other times the cookies were way to thin and crispy. The worst was when I’d make cookies and I’d open the oven to discover they’d all melted together into an uber cookie, and it was not good.
So, I wanted to make what I thought was a perfect thick and chewy chocolate chip cookie. It had to have some height to it, but have a chewy not cake-like texture. Plus, it had to hold its’ shape, and have loads of flavour. Honestly, these cookies delivered.
The equal amounts of brown and white sugar ensure it doesn’t go flat as a pancake, or as high as a kite. Using chilled butter and eggs means that they are no chill chocolate chip cookies and can be cooked straight from the mixer.
But, it was the addition of brown butter and milk chocolate chips that helped knock these cookies out of the park. We want to make another batch right away!
Ingredients
- Dark brown sugar
- White sugar
- Plain flour (not bread or self-rising)
- Eggs that are cold from the fridge
- Vanilla
- Salted butter, I’m using European butter which has a higher butterfat content than most American stuff (read more here)
- High-quality milk chocolate chips. I’m using Callebaut 823 which has 33% cocoa. You don’t need to use such an expensive product, I just felt like it. They are delicious.
- Milk
- Baking powder
- Salt
Instructions
Equipment
- A good mixer
- A baking sheet with a slip mat
- A large cookie scoop
Tips
Can chocolate chip cookies be frozen?
Yes, although it is better to freeze the dough and cook them from frozen. Just add 2-3 minutes to the baking time. You can freeze the baked cookies too, but let them fully thaw before eating. You might also want to put them in the microwave for 10 seconds to warm them up.
Do you have to chill chocolate chip cookie dough?
I made these cookies in batches, the first was right from the mixing bowl They worked really well. I did, however, put the rest in the fridge covered in some wrap to keep it chilled. They also worked well. So long as the dough is cool you are OK. If it is a warm day, definitely stick the dough into the fridge, as the butter needs to be kept cool.
Can I use margarine instead of butter?
Yes, however, you cannot turn margarine into brown butter. So it will have a different taste profile.
What is brown butter?
Butter is basically made up of three things, fat, milk solids and water. When you make brown butter, you are essentially boiling off the water and cooking the milk solids. The result is nutty butter that is
How do you make brown butter?
Very easily! Get yourself a pot on the stove, and on a low heat place all the butter. Let it all melt and cook, it will sputter and spit so be careful. I occasionally give it a bit of a swirl, but largely I leave it alone. Eventually, the butter will turn a dark brown. Take it off the heat, as you want it to be brown not burnt! Let it cool completely in a separate dish, stirring it every once in a while to make sure the brown bits are mixed with the butterfat. It will start to harden back into butter.
You might like these other recipes
Ok, so these gooey chocolate chip cookies are amazing, but these recipes are also great. Lots of chocolate options, and as a great pairing check out the ice cream from David at Spiced.
- Baked Mars Bar
- Chocolate Mocha Cake
- Cocoa Coffee Baked Donuts – The Beach House Kitchen
- French Vanilla Ice Cream – Spiced Blog
Pairings
Drinks
Well, milk, naturally!
Music
I’ve been relying on my Wild Kitchen playlist. Check it out on Spotify here.
Recipe
Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
- Baking sheet
- Cookie scoop
- Stand mixer
- Saucepan
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups Chocolate Chips
- 2 3/4 cups Plain flour
- 2 1/4 sticks Salted butter Europen style if possible
- 1 cup Dark brown sugar packed
- 1 cup White sugar
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon Baking powder
- 1 tablespoon Vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon Ground nutmeg
- 2 Eggs cold
Instructions
Make the brown butter – extra step, but worth it!
- In a saucepan place all the butter and put onto a low heat. Stir, or swirl, every few minutes as butter melts. Let it bubble away until the butter is a dark golden brown.
- Carefully pour the brown butter into a heat proof bowl and let is solidify. Give it a bit of a stir while it cools to mix up the browned mix solids. It should have a softened butter consistency to be ready to use.
Making the cookies
- Preheat your oven to 350F, or about 290F if you have a convection oven.
- Place the softend butter into the bowl of a stand mixer, along with all other ingridents except for the eggs, flour and chocolate chips. Mix on a medium speed for 3-5 minutes until well combined and fluffy.
- Next, keep the mixer going and add the eggs one by one. Ensure each is combined before adding the next.
- Finally, turn of the mixer to add the flour and chocolate chips. Turn the mixer on low to combine all the ingridents, until a dough is formed. Be sure to stop once you a dough, you want to keep the chips in tact!
- Use the cookie scoop to scoop out 16 cookies. These can now be frozen if you wish to keep them for later. Otherwise, arrange them on your baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes or until the edges are golden brown and the centres have set. Let them cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, and then remove to a cooling rack.
Nutrition
Gooey chocolate chip cookies are always a good idea! Great weekend baking project right there! Plus, I’m obsessed with brown butter. That stuff is incredible! Hope you guys are doing well! Have a great weekend 🙂
Brown butter is pretty awesome, isn’t it! Hope you doing well too Dawn!
Chocolate cookies, chewy or crisp, are always a favourite. These with milk chocolate look fantastic!
Thanks Angie!
I like gooey cookies. And I have resigned myself to some degree of weight gain in April – so I am on this recipe! And milk stout.
Ooh, now that is a great idea Milena!
It’s been challenging here Matt, but we are learning to adapt with our new routine. Lynne is on conference calls throughout the day at home. Me – well I’m an “essential worker” in the bank I took a part-time job in last year so I head there daily at the moment to help out all the people financially suffering at the moment. These gooey chocolate chip cookies are just want anyone needs, who is needing something comforting and homely at the moment!
I hear you Neil. I’m also classified as an ‘essential worker’ as a teacher, but so many of our students have been kept home that I’m also now at home until the schools open. Hope you are both staying safe and well.
I love that photo of Thing 1 (or is it Thing 2) staring at the stack of cookies! That would be me for sure. I agree with you that I have had many disappointing chocolate chip cookies over the years…but this recipe sounds fantastic! Laura actually just suggested that we bake cookies with Robbie sometime, and then you go and post this. Timing perfection right there! Putting this on the list…and I’m pretty sure I have all of the ingredients in the pantry already! 🙂
It is pretty fun to make food with your kids. Thing 1 (in the photo) highly enjoyed both making and eating these. Hope you three are staying safe!
Love the sweet little face behind the cookie stack Matt! These look delish and just what we all need right now!
Thanks Mary Ann!
Ooh, these look fantastic!
My kids never say no to homemade chocolate chip cookies – what sane person does though??. I love the use of the brown butter. Such a good idea!
There is nothing like a homemade chocolate chip cookie to make everything just a little better. These ones look divine, and I love the brown butter tweak. Thanks for sharing.
Great cookies and beautiful pictures! They look so yummy and tempting. Just cannot wait to try them out. Thanks for sharing.
Struggling indeed! I’ve actually had more time to work lately (I’ve been writing and working from home for a few years, but now my wife is at home more too), but with three kids around all day every day, things are getting a bit crazy. That’s why it’s good to have a delicious baking project to turn to! I’ve been meaning to try a browned butter cookie recipe for a while, and you’ve given me a perfect excuse (and a great recipe). Cheers!
Always love a good chocolate chip recipe. Adding this to the library!
Omg that overhead shot of all the scoops of dough on the baking sheet is swoon-worthy! These look sooooo good. Perfect for dipping in milk!
These are amazing! My new go-to cookie recipe.