Ingredients:

  • 225g (1 cup) Unsalted European style butter
  • 200g (1 cup, packed) Dark brown sugar
  • 100g (½ cup) Granulated cane sugar
  • 1 Large egg
  • 1 Egg yolk
  • 2 tsp Pure vanilla bean paste
  • 325g (2 ½ cups) Unbleached all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp Baking soda
  • ¾ tsp Fine sea salt
  • 250g (9 oz) Bittersweet chocolate (60% cocoa or higher), roughly chopped
  • Flaky Maldon sea salt

Instructions:

  1. Place the 225g of European butter in a light colored saucepan over medium heat. Melt and continue cooking until it foam and smells intensely nutty. Note: Watch for small brown bits at the bottom.
  2. Pour the browned butter into a large mixing bowl. Let it sit for 5 minutes so it doesn't scramble the eggs.
  3. Add the 200g dark brown sugar and 100g granulated sugar to the butter. Whisk vigorously until the mixture looks like wet sand.
  4. Add the large egg, the extra egg yolk, and the 2 tsp vanilla bean paste. Whisk for 2 full minutes until the batter lightens in color and becomes glossy.
  5. In a separate bowl, stir together the 325g flour, 1 tsp baking soda, and 3/4 tsp fine sea salt.
  6. Gradually fold the dry ingredients into the wet until only a few streaks of flour remain. Note: Over mixing will make the cookies tough.
  7. Roughly chop your 250g bittersweet chocolate into varying sizes. Fold these into the dough.
  8. Cover the dough and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, though 2 hours is better. This allows the flour to hydrate fully.
  9. Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C). Scoop 3 tablespoon mounds onto a parchment lined sheet. Bake for 12 minutes until the edges are golden but the center still looks slightly underdone.
  10. Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle with flaky Maldon sea salt. Let them rest on the pan for 10 minutes to set.