By Abeer Khan
It was the first few months of the pandemic in 2020, I wasn’t leaving my house due to heightened anxiety and felt listless at home. To fill some time in my day and take a break from my computer—which had become my only source of entertainment, education and communication—I decided to take up baking. But unlike others who also channelled their inner Pillsbury Doughboy during the height of the pandemic and baked bread, snickerdoodles and a wide selection of treats, I stuck to only one baked good: the brown butter chocolate chip cookie.
I perfected the recipe by watching an endless supply of TikToks and taking the best parts of each recipe to create my own, alongside some personal touches. I made these cookies whenever I felt sad, lonely or bored. It was a great way to pass time while also treating myself and my family to yummy goods.
I hope that if you too, bake these cookies, they make you feel comforted and warm. Good luck and happy baking!
Ingredients:
1 cup of soft unsalted butter
¼ cup of granulated sugar
¾ cup of dark brown sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons (tsp) of vanilla extract
1 ¾ cup of all-purpose flour
2 tsp of corn starch
1 tsp of baking soda
1 tsp of salt
1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
¼ cup of milk chocolate chips
Instructions:
1. Start by browning your unsalted butter in a pan. Put it into the pan and let it bubble and then simmer on high-to-medium heat. Once it bubbles and settles into a deep brown colour, you’re done!
2. Transfer it to a bowl and let it cool for 15 to 20 minutes. If you don’t let it cool, it will cook the eggs and melt the chocolate chips when you go to mix everything together, so be patient!
3. In a separate bowl, mix your brown sugar, granulated sugar and egg together. Then, add your butter and vanilla extract.
4. In another bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Then, slowly add the dry mixture into the wet mixture in parts. Start off with half and then gradually add more. It’s better to mix in parts than all at once to avoid clumps and excessive exercise (RIP your arms).
5. Once the ingredients are mixed together, add in one cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips and give it another good mix.
6. Once the dough is combined, place it in the fridge to chill for 30 to 45 minutes or until you lose patience. Remember, the longer you let the cookie dough chill, the better your end result will be! Once the dough is chilled it’s ready to bake! Get some parchment paper and lay it out in a tray. If you don’t have parchment paper, line the tray with a sheen coat of butter. Take small pieces of the cookie dough—about the size of an ice cream scoop—and roll it into a ball, then place it onto the tray. Repeat until the tray is full! Make sure to leave enough room between each cookie so that they don’t spread and make one mega-cookie.
7. Pre-heat your oven to 350 C and once it’s ready, pop your cookies in and bake them for 11 to 13 minutes. Make sure to constantly check on them and take them out once they are golden brown.
8. Once they’re done, quickly take them out of the oven. While they’re still warm, take some of the milk chocolate chips and gently place them on the warm cookie. Let them cool for 10 to 15 minutes after and then enjoy your wonderful cookies!
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