Earlier this year, I went to a friend’s housewarming party, for which I baked a lot. I don’t think I’ve ever baked this much in a single day my whole life!

I made two batches of my ginger cookies (see link here for the recipe), one batch of chocolate chip cookies, and one banana bread. The evening was on a Saturday, and so the plan was for me to make half of the desserts on the Friday evening, and the rest on the Saturday.

This did not happen.

For a reason that I cannot remember, I was unable to bake on the Friday evening, which means that I had an entire morning and afternoon to make four batches of dessert. Surprisingly enough, I did it, and to everyone’s satisfaction, all the desserts I had brought were super fresh, some of them were probably even warm still. See below for a picture of all of the desserts together.

Anyway, at that party, I had one gentleman inquire about my chocolate chip cookie recipe. I gave him my business card with a link to my blog, and I told him to keep a close eye on it, because I would post the recipe he was looking for on my blog “soon.”

This… also did not happen.

For a number of reasons that aren’t worth getting into here, this year has been unusually busy for me. I have since sent the recipe to this gentleman, but I still wanted to write about the recipe, since it’s one of my most popular ones, so here it is! The original recipe is from America’s Test Kitchen (season 10, episode 6: “The Cookie Jar”), with slight modifications. I recommend checking out the episode in question, if possible.

For the record, I don’t think I’ve ever actually done this recipe with walnuts, and they turn out just as good! Also, replacing chocolate chips with butterscotch chips also works perfectly. In any case, enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 14 tablespoons (1¾ sticks or 199 g) unsalted butter
• ¾ cup packed dark brown sugar (see note)
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon table salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips or chunks (see note)
• ¾ cup chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted (optional)

Recipe:

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Whisk the flour and baking soda together in a medium bowl; set aside.

3. Heat 11 tablespoons of the butter (156 g) in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking, swirling the pan constantly until the butter is dark golden brown and has a nutty aroma, 1 to 3 minutes.

Transfer the browned butter to a large heatproof bowl. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons butter (43 g) and stir until completely melted.

4. Add the sugars, salt, and vanilla to the melted butter; whisk until fully incorporated. Add the egg and egg yolk; whisk until the mixture is smooth with no sugar lumps remaining, about 30 seconds. Let the mixture stand 3 minutes, then whisk for 30 seconds. Repeat the process of resting and whisking two more times until the mixture is thick, smooth, and shiny.

Using a rubber spatula, stir in the flour mixture until just combined, about 1 minute. Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts (if using), giving the dough a final stir to ensure that no flour pockets remain.

5. Divide the dough into 16 portions, each about 3 tablespoons. Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart.

6. Bake one sheet at a time, rotating the sheet halfway through the baking time, until the cookies are golden brown and still puffy, and the edges have begun to set but the centers are still soft, 10 to 14 minutes. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack; cool to room temperature.

Notes:

1. Avoid using a nonstick skillet to brown the butter; the dark color
   of the nonstick coating makes it difficult to gauge when the butter is browned.
2. Use fresh, moist brown sugar instead of hardened
   brown sugar, which will make the cookies dry. This recipe works
   with light brown sugar, but the cookies will be less full-flavored.
3. If you’re using smaller baking sheets, put fewer cookies on each
   sheet and bake them in batches.

And that’s it! Let me know what other recipes you’d like me to write about and don’t forget to follow me on Instagram (@jo204.8) and on here to be notified when I post something new.

Until next time!

Jo