Written By Catherine Parrott

Chewy cookies felt like a mystery I could never sold until I browned some butter and used light brown sugar. Feeling stupid that the solution so simple I was thankful that I had a cookie to help stroke my ego.

RECIPE:

  • 80g WHOLE BRAZIL NUT (Skin-on)

BROWN BUTTER COOKIE DOUGH

  • 225g UNSALTED BUTTER

  • 5g FINE SALT

  • 220g LIGHT BROWN SUGAR (bringing that “chew” to our cookie)

  • 65g CASTER SUGAR

  • 2 WHOLE MEDIUM EGGS (Fridge Cold)

  • 200g PLAIN FLOUR

  • 50g LIGHT RYE FLOUR (*The Rye flour is an optional extra to increase the nutty taste of these cookies, but using all plain flour will yield results just as good if you can’t find rye flour that easily)

  • 1 Tsp BAKING SODA

  • 180g DARK CHOCOLATE CHUNKS (70-80% Cooca Solids)

  • FLAKED SALT (to finish)

BEFORE YOU START…

  • Preheat your oven to 180c (fan oven, 185-190c for other, less powerful ovens)

  • Grease and line 3 baking trays.

METHOD:

Toast your nuts in an oven set to 160c for 10-15 minutes until golden and you can smell the nutty aroma. Leave to cool before chopping coarsely

FOR THE BROWN BUTTER COOKIE DOUGH…

Combine the butter and salt in a pan and heat gently until melted. Increase the heat and cook until bubbles foam at the top and you can smell nutty aromas. BECUSE THE BUTTER IS BROWN. YOU’VE JUST MADE BROWN BUTTER.

Decant into a measuring jug or small bowl to stop the cooking WE WANT BROWN BUTTER NOT BLACK BUTTER. Make sure the jug is small and deep enough to submerge into a cold water bath a few times to cool the hot butter down quickly. And then do exactly that to chill your butter.

Once the butter is cold to touch, combine with the sugars and beat together until combined.  Add the eggs gradually and whip vigorously until light and fluffy*

*This method was born out of arrogant impatience. Rather than to make the brown butter the day before and chill it for many hours, these two steps (using cold eggs and cooling the butter in a water bath) it cools the butter enough so that air can incorporated int eh mixing process (vital for the end texture of these cookies))

Add the Brazil nut along with the rest of the dry ingredients.

Weigh your cookie dough into 50g balls and refrigerate for 1-2 hours until firm (this recipe makes a nice and random 19- which means 18 to tell the family and a secrete one for the cook) Spread across you 3 baking trays and bake for 11 minutes straight from the fridge. Give s tray a tap on the kitchen counter or wire rack to level out the cookies before leaving to cool and firm up on a wire rack.

Catherine Parrott
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