A few weeks ago I received an email from Bon Appétit promoting a recipe of the day with the teaser: "Could This Recipe Be the Greatest Chocolate Chip Cookie Ever?" And even though I was pretty sure I already knew the answer to the question, I fell for the clickbait and tried the recipe.
The recipe for Brown Butter and Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies was submitted by Kate Davis of RageBake. To make the cookie dough, I beat browned butter (slightly cooled, but not strained) with sugar and dark brown sugar; add eggs and vanilla; incorporated the the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt); and mixed in toffee bits and chocolate chips. I didn't have Skor bars on hand so I used 80 grams of Heath English Toffee Bits. The recipe headnote says that using chocolate discs instead of chocolate chips is a "game changer." I used Cacao Barry 60% callets, which are larger than regular chocolate chips but smaller than Valrhona feves. I let the dough sit at room temperature for about an hour before scooping it out, sprinkling the cookies with fleur de sel, and baking. The recipe yielded exactly one quart of dough, because I used a #24 scoop and got 24 cookies.
These looked like ordinary chocolate chip cookies but they were definitely better than average. I appreciated the big chocolate callets and could definitely taste the toffee bits, which were a very nice addition. I wouldn't say that the brown butter made a big difference. This is a very good chocolate chip cookie, but is it the greatest chocolate chip cookie ever? No. In my book that honor belongs to Jacques Torres' recipe, which has a deep caramel flavor and substantial heft that puts the cookie in a class all by itself. And what's so wonderful about the Jacques Torres recipe is that it doesn't need any bells and whistles -- it's just a chocolate chip cookie and yet it is so damn good. I have made it with chocolate chips from Trader Joe's and I have made it with Valrhona feves -- either way it still tastes fantastic. And I'm pretty sure I'm never going to find a better chocolate chip cookie. I knew that going in, but I still had fun trying this recipe.
Recipe: "Brown Butter and Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies" by Kate Davis of RageBake, recipe available at bonappetit.com.
Previous Post: "Measuring Up the Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie," July 11, 2008.
The recipe for Brown Butter and Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies was submitted by Kate Davis of RageBake. To make the cookie dough, I beat browned butter (slightly cooled, but not strained) with sugar and dark brown sugar; add eggs and vanilla; incorporated the the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt); and mixed in toffee bits and chocolate chips. I didn't have Skor bars on hand so I used 80 grams of Heath English Toffee Bits. The recipe headnote says that using chocolate discs instead of chocolate chips is a "game changer." I used Cacao Barry 60% callets, which are larger than regular chocolate chips but smaller than Valrhona feves. I let the dough sit at room temperature for about an hour before scooping it out, sprinkling the cookies with fleur de sel, and baking. The recipe yielded exactly one quart of dough, because I used a #24 scoop and got 24 cookies.
Recipe: "Brown Butter and Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies" by Kate Davis of RageBake, recipe available at bonappetit.com.
Previous Post: "Measuring Up the Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie," July 11, 2008.
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