Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Light-colored saucepan for browning butter
• •Electric hand mixer or stand mixer
• •2-tablespoon cookie scoop
• •Rimmed baking sheets
• •Wire cooling rack

Instructions

1. 1

   Brown the butter

   Cut butter into tablespoon-sized pieces and place in a light-colored saucepan over medium heat. The light pan matters: you need to see the color change. Swirl occasionally as the butter melts and begins to foam. Listen for the sizzle to quiet down. That's the water evaporating. After 4 to 6 minutes, the foam will subside and golden-brown specks will appear at the bottom. The kitchen will smell like toasting hazelnuts. Remove from heat immediately when it reaches a deep amber color. Pour into a heatproof bowl, scraping every precious brown bit from the pan. Let cool for 15 minutes.

   Brown butter goes from perfect to burned in seconds. Stay present. Watch the color, not the clock.
2. 2

   Prepare dry ingredients

   While the butter cools, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and fine sea salt in a medium bowl. Set aside. This takes thirty seconds and prevents lumps of baking soda from creating bitter pockets in your finished cookies.

3. 3

   Cream butter and sugars

   Add both sugars to the bowl of cooled brown butter. The butter should be warm but not hot, roughly body temperature. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes. The mixture will look grainy and somewhat paste-like. This is correct. You're dissolving sugar and incorporating air, not creaming soft butter in the traditional sense.

   If your butter is too hot, it will melt the sugar into a greasy slick rather than incorporating it properly. Patience here pays off.
4. 4

   Add eggs and vanilla

   Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. The mixture will look curdled and strange after the first egg. Keep mixing. After the second egg and 30 seconds of beating, it will come together into something glossy and cohesive. Add the vanilla extract and beat briefly to combine.

5. 5

   Incorporate dry ingredients

   Add the flour mixture all at once. Mix on low speed just until the last streaks of flour disappear. Stop the mixer. Overworking develops gluten, which makes cookies tough rather than tender. A few small flour spots are better than an overworked dough.

6. 6

   Fold in chocolate

   Add the chocolate chips and chopped chocolate chunks. Fold by hand with a sturdy spatula or wooden spoon, distributing the chocolate throughout. The combination of uniform chips and irregular chunks creates texture variation in every bite: some bites with pools of melted chocolate, others with substantial shards that stay intact.

7. 7

   Chill the dough

   Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap pressed directly against the dough surface. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight. This rest is not optional. Chilling solidifies the fat for a thicker cookie, hydrates the flour for better texture, and allows the flavors to meld. The dough will keep refrigerated for up to 3 days, improving in flavor each day.

   Overnight rest produces noticeably better cookies. Plan ahead when you can.
8. 8

   Portion and bake

   Preheat oven to 375°F with a rack in the center position. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop rounded 2-tablespoon portions of dough, rolling briefly between your palms to form rough balls. Arrange on prepared sheets with 3 inches between each cookie. They spread. Press a few extra chocolate chunks onto the tops for visual appeal. Sprinkle each with a small pinch of flaky salt.

9. 9

   Monitor for doneness

   Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. The cookies are done when the edges are set and golden but the centers still look slightly underdone and puffy. They will continue cooking on the hot pan. Remove from oven when you think they need one more minute. This is the moment that separates good cookies from transcendent ones.

   Every oven lies. Use the visual cues: golden edges, pale puffy centers, crackled tops.
10. 10

    Cool and serve

    Let cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. The centers will sink slightly and the structure will set. Transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. The flavor develops as they cool, but warm cookies with still-molten chocolate are a particular pleasure I encourage you to experience at least once per batch.

Chef Tips

• •Use a mix of chocolate: chips hold their shape while chopped chocolate creates those appealing pools and shards. Aim for at least 60% cacao in your chopped chocolate for depth without excessive sweetness.
• •Weight measurements matter in baking. If you own a kitchen scale, use the gram measurements. A cup of flour can vary by 30% depending on how you scoop it.
• •The dough freezes beautifully for up to 3 months. Portion into balls, freeze on a sheet until solid, then transfer to a freezer bag. Bake directly from frozen, adding 2 to 3 minutes to the bake time.
• •For bakery-style thick cookies, chill portioned dough balls for 30 minutes before baking, even if the bulk dough has already been chilled. Cold fat means less spread.
• •Maldon or Jacobsen flaky salt on top is worth seeking out. The large crystals create pockets of salinity that make the sweetness sing.

Advance Preparation

• •Dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days. Flavor improves with time.
• •Portioned dough balls freeze for up to 3 months. Bake from frozen, adding 2 to 3 minutes.
• •Baked cookies keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 5 days, though they rarely last that long.
• •Brown butter can be made up to 1 week ahead and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before using.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 36g)