Brown butter miso chocolate chip cookies

This is a sponsored post by Challenge Butter, but the text and opinions are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands that make Kylee's Kitchen possible! 

Many people have opinions about what makes the perfect chocolate chip cookie, and I am certainly not here to debate them. The purpose of this post is for me to share a new kind of chocolate chip cookie with you—a brown butter miso chocolate chip cookie. This cookie is thick and chewy and sweet and salty and nutty and complex. They're everything I could want in a cookie, and it's all thanks to the addition of brown butter and miso.

Both brown butter and miso are trendy in the food world right now. Sometimes people overdo it with trendy ingredients because they don't ask themselves what purpose it serves. That's why I want to explain why brown butter and miso work well in chocolate chip cookies.

The easiest way for me to do that is with a series of questions.

What is brown butter?

Brown butter is butter cooked past the melting point so the milk solids caramelize. This results in a toasty, nutty flavor. You can make brown butter by melting butter on the stove. The butter will sizzle, bubble, and foam, and then you'll see amber-colored flecks on the bottom. Brown butter has a subtle nutty, caramel flavor that works really well with brown sugar in cookies.

What is miso?

Miso is fermented soybean paste. That probably doesn't sound like an ingredient you want in chocolate chip cookies. But the nutty, salty flavor of white miso paste is subtle, and it perfectly balances the sweetness of chocolate chip cookies.

Can any butter become brown butter?

Technically, yes, but I do have some suggestions. First, use unsalted butter. I always use unsalted butter when I bake so I can adjust the salt levels separately. Different brands of butter contain different salt levels. Second, if you're taking the time to brown butter, it's probably one of the star ingredients in your recipe, so I recommend using a good quality butter. I always use Challenge unsalted butter. Challenge butter is made with 100% real pasteurized sweet cream. That’s it. Nothing artificial or synthetic. 

Do I need to treat brown butter differently than regular butter?

Yes! I'm a proponent of weighing all ingredients for correct measurements, and this is especially true with brown butter. It's very important to weigh the butter AFTER browning because it loses water weight during the browning process. That's why you will notice that the initial weight of the butter in the recipe (310 grams) is different than the actual amount you will add to the dough (226 grams). You will probably have leftover brown butter. Lucky you! Spread it on toast or crackers for a delicious snack!

Can I use the brown butter while it's still melted?

No, I don't recommend it. When baking cookies, all butter, including brown butter, needs to be room temperature—not melted. That means you need to chill the brown butter until it is solid and then cream the butter with sugar. The sugar granules cut into the butter and create tiny air pockets to give it lift. If you don't do this, you'll end up with cookies that look like puddles. 

What type of chocolate should I use?

I like to use a combination of chopped dark chocolate and mini semi-sweet chocolate chips. I think dark chocolate pairs better with miso than sweeter chocolates like milk chocolate. And chopped chocolate results in a more even distribution of chocolate throughout the cookie.

Brown butter miso chocolate chip cookies

Yield: Makes about 28 cookies

Time: About 2 hours

Ingredients

• 1 cup + 6 Tablespoons (310 grams) Challenge unsalted butter
• 1 3/4 cup (375 grams) dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
• 3 Tablespoons (63 grams) white sweet miso paste
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 1/2 cups All Purpose flour (420 grams)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 cup (85 grams) dark chocolate, chopped
• 1/2 cup (85 grams) mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Heat butter in stainless steel pot with high sides over medium-high heat. Stir frequently, at least every minute. Butter will sizzle and foam. Once milk solids look amber in color and smell nutty, remove pot from heat and pour butter into bowl. Refrigerate butter until it’s room temperature.
2. Measure out 1 cup brown butter (226 grams) and place in mixing bowl. Add both sugars and miso to bowl.
3. Cream butter, sugars and miso on high speed until mixture is light and fluffy. 
4. Turn mixer to low and add eggs one at a time. Mix in vanilla.
5. In separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Add flour mixture to butter mixture, and mix until almost combined. 
6. Fold in chocolate, and mix until just combined.
7. Cover dough and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.
8. When ready to bake cookies, preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
9. Measure out 50 grams dough (about 1/4 cup) and roll into ball. Place dough on greased baking sheet or baking sheet with silicone baking mat. 
10. Bake for 11-12 minutes, rotating cookie sheet halfway through baking time.
11. Remove baking sheet from oven and cool for several minutes before moving to wire rack to cool completely.
12. Store cookies in airtight container for up to 5 days.