Hello hello!

Are you ready to meet your favourite new cookie? DUH. Of course you are. There are a few things that make this cookie stand out from the rest....and it all starts with brown butter. Browning butter is the easiest thing in the world, and has such a huge pay off. You basically are just cooking off the extra water in the butter, and browning the milk solids. What does this do? It creates the most magical nutty, caramely flavour, and is 100% worth the extra time it takes to do it.

Next up is spelt flour! It adds a little heartiness to these cookies, and I have to thank Thalia Ho from Butter & Brioche for educating me on that! This recipe definitely works just as well with just all-purpose flour, but I'd definitely recommend trying spelt flour if you can.

And finally, dark chocolate chunks round out the special guests present in this "not-so-average" chocolate chip cookie. I usually grab a few chunks of dark chocolate from the bulk baking section if I see them on sale, and love the bittersweetness that it brings to these cookies.

brown butter chocolate chunk spelt cookies

yields: 2 dozen cookies
recipe: Kelsey Siemens

ingredients

1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter (*NOTE: this will cook down to 180 grams of brown butter - so if you skip the browning step, please reduce the butter to 180g!)

1 1/4 cups (250g) brown sugar (I’ve used both light and brown - both are fab)

1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups (188g) all purpose flour

1 cup (125g) spelt flour (sub with all purpose if you don’t have spelt!)

1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3/4 cup (113 grams) dark chocolate chunks, roughly chopped (or chocolate chips)

flaked salt - for sprinkling on top if desired (I usually use maldon salt)

to make the cookies

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats (or parchment paper), and set aside.

Start by browning the butter. Chop butter into rough 1/2 inch cubes, this simply helps them melt and cook more evenly. Place the butter into a light coloured, medium saucepan, and heat over medium heat for 5-10 minutes to brown. Swirl the pot occasionally, and don’t walk away from it while it’s cooking! Use a wooden spoon to give it a stir as well, so you can see what’s going on at the bottom of the pot. The butter will start to foam a few minutes into cooking, and then you will start to see a bit of brown bits as you swirl the pot. These are the milk solids that are cooking, and they’ll start to smell a bit nutty! When all the solids are nice and brown, and the nutty smell is strong, then the butter is done. Make sure it’s doesn’t burn! Remove from heat, and let cool for a bit while you get the rest of the ingredients ready.

In the bowl of a stand mixer (or simply a large bowl), place the brown and granulated sugars, and set aside.

In a separate, small bowl, whisk together the all purpose flour, spelt flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, and set aside.

Add the browned butter to the bowl with the sugars, and mix together on medium speed for 1-2 minutes. It’s important that the mixture isn’t too hot at this point, so the egg doesn’t cook before it gets mixed in. Add the egg and vanilla, and mix on medium until fully incorporated, another 1-2 minutes. Mix in the dry ingredients on low speed until just mixed. The dough will be crumbly, that’s normal! Squeeze a ball together in your hand and see if it stays together. If it does, you’re good to go, if not, add 1-2 tablespoons of water until it holds together well. *The exact consistency can vary a little with the butter brand/how much water you evaporated out of the butter/flour measuring method/etc.

Use a spatula to scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl to ensure all the flour gets mixed in, and then fold in the chocolate chunks.

A note on chocolate: chocolate chips are the cheapest option, and are my go to for everyday cookies. Bittersweet Belgian chocolate is my favourite though, and I buy it in either in little discs or big blocks. The bigger you chop the chocolate, the more chocolate pools and craggy cookies you’ll get (which I LOVE).

Want chocolate pools, but also want to use chocolate chips? To make your fancy chocolate go further, simply place 1 chocolate disc or chocolate chunk on the top of each cookie before it goes into the oven, and be sure to give your pan a bang or two in the last couple minutes of baking to get the chocolate to spread into melty goodness.

Use a cookie scoop (or a spoon), to scoop out equal sized cookies. The dough will be a bit crumbly, which is normal! Simply use your hands to press the cookie balls together and place on the prepared pans.

Bake cookies at 375 degrees F for 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven before they look quite set, for a gooey-ish cookies, or bake until golden brown for a crunchier texture! Immediately sprinkle with flaked salt if desired.

Let cool slightly, and serve! I recommend storing in an airtight container in the fridge for the freshest tasting cookies. They’ll store for a few months just fine.

Notes:

I always recommend doing 1 or 2 test cookies, to figure out your exact desired cookie consistency - bake time will vary depending on the colour and thickness of your cookie sheet, as well as your oven! I prefer for my cookies to almost look underbaked when you remove them from the oven, to ensure that the middle is nice and soft.
If you prefer a flatter, crispier cookie, squish the tops down before placing into the oven, and add a minute or two of cook time.
Are your cookies too flat for your preference? Pop them in the freezer for a 5-10 minute chill, or try adding 1/4 cup more flour. This is why test cookies are important!
Flaked salt - always add to the tops of the cookies right our of the oven, or even within the last minute of baking. I think salt really elevates a cookie into something special, as it really brings out the flavours and complements the sweetness so well.
Chocolate - I use normal chocolate chips cookies most of the time simply due to cost. If I’m splurging a bit, I love a high quality belgian bittersweet chocolate, but this is completely up to your own taste! Use whatever chocolate you prefer.
Pools of chocolate on top - if you’re looking to get those amazing, melty pools of chocolate on top, you’ll want to press a chunk of chocolate into the top of each cookie before they go into the oven. I find that higher quality chocolate results in better pools of chocolate, as cheaper chocolate sometimes doesn’t actually lose it’s shape. Sometimes I’ll even use the back of a spoon to wiggle each chocolate pool when it comes out of the oven to help it settle into a pool - this will make sense once you’ve tried it!
Want fresh cookies all the time? Shape all the dough into balls, and freeze on a cookie sheet - make sure the cookies aren’t touching each other or they’ll freeze together. Once they’re frozen (after an hour or two) simply transfer them all into an airtight container. Pull one or two cookies out whenever you want to bake a fresh one! You may need to add 1 or 2 minutes of baking time if baking straight from the freezer.