DARK CHOCOLATE CRAQUELIN BROWN BUTTER COOKIES

Notes:

Most everyone loves a chocolate chip brown butter cookie, but I’ve attempted to elevate this favorite in my own way. I have created a dark chocolate craquelin in lieu of chocolate chunks or chips that melts on top and gives a gorgeous, shattered look to top of the cookies while also tasting fudgy and divine. I personally like the chocolate to cookie ratio in this recipe very much. I use 70% dark chocolate so the cacao is very present, but if you like your cookies to be basically half chocolate then you can add extra chopped chocolate to the dough. This recipe makes about 11-12 cookies and, as usual, ingredients noted in grams were weighed.

Special Equipment:

• Ice cream scoop

• Rolling pin

• 3 inch cookie cutter (for craquelin)

• Everyone has baking sheets, but I highly suggest getting baking sheets like the following from Nordic Ware (or other brands with the same style of sheet) for the most evenly baked and consistent results; They are pure aluminum, and thick with sides and NO non-stick coating. Instead, always use parchment paper or silicone baking mats: Nordic Ware Naturals Big Baking Sheet, 2 Pack, Silver

Ingredients:

Brown butter cookie dough

• 1 cup (227g) Unsalted butter (at least 85% butter fat)

• 1 and 2/3 cup (220g) AP flour

• 1 tbsp cornstarch

• 1 tsp salt (I used pink Himalayan)

  If using kosher salt, use a little less: 3/4 tsp

• 1 tsp baking soda

• 3/4 cup (155g) dark brown sugar

  *It should not really affect the recipe, but I specifically used coconut dark brown sugar. If you’re using a cup measure tightly pack the brown sugar.

• 1/4 cup (55g) granulated sugar

• 2 tsp vanilla extract

• 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk

  *Save the extra egg white for breakfast :)

• Flaky sea salt, for garnish

Dark chocolate craquelin:

• 6 oz (170g) dark chocolate, chopped

  *I used 70% dark chocolate

• 85 g Almond flour, finely milled

• 24 g AP flour

• Pinch of salt

Directions:

Brown butter cookie dough

1. Add the butter to a small saucepan over medium heat.  Stir to melt, then continue to stir as it goes from bright yellow, to bubbly. Next, it will turn foamy which is when the browning process starts. Keep stirring and keep your eye on the butter as it quickly darkens to a deep amber color. Remove it from the heat and pour into a glass measuring cup to make sure you have exactly 1 cup of butter. If its less than a cup you can drop in an additional tablespoon (or two) of unmelted butter to bring it up to 1 cup. 85% butterfat butter doesn’t have much water so there won’t be much evaporation so it’s unlikely you’ll need to do this. Set the butter aside to cool.

2. In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda and set aside.

3. Once the brown butter has cooled (it can still be a little warm and you can refrigerate to speed up the cooling), pour it into a large mixing bowl along with the dark brown sugar and granulated sugar. Thoroughly whisk to combine. Add in the vanilla, egg + egg yolk and thoroughly whisk.

4. Pour in the dry ingredients and use a rubber spatula to fold the dough together. The dough should look shiny and smooth.

5. Refrigerate the cookie dough uncovered for at least 1 hour (4 hrs is even better, and overnight is best).

6. Make the dark chocolate craquelin while the dough is chilling. See directions below.

7. After the dough is chilled use an ice cream scoop to portion the dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, with the cookies spaced at least 2 inches apart.

8. Take the dark choclate craquelin discs out of the freezer and center one disc on the top of each cookie and press down lightly.

9. Preheat the oven to 350 F and place the cookies back in the fridge while you're waiting for the oven to come to temperature.

10. Bake for 12-14 minutes (I baked mine for 12 mins) or until the edges are golden and crinkly and the cookies have mostly flattened and spread.

11. Let the cookies cool for a few minutes and don’t move them from the sheet. At this point you can garnish each cookie with an optional pinch of flaky sea salt. Let the cookies cool and further set up for 10-15 mins before transferring them off the baking sheet.

12. These cookies are best enjoyed slightly warm or at room temp. Welcome to brown butter and chocolate paradise.

Dark chocolate craquelin

1. Chop up the dark chocolate and melt using the microwave tempering method: A 30 second burst to start, then mix thoroughly with a spatula, followed by another 20 second burst, and a thorough mix. Follow with 1-2 additional 15-20 second bursts as needed. On the last microwave burst you should still have some visible lumps of unmelted chocolate that melt completely on your last mix.

2. Add in the almond flour, AP flour and a pinch of salt and mix thoroughly

3. Roll the craquelin between two sheets of parchment paper to 4-5 mm thickness and freeze for at least 15 mins.

4. Out of the freezer the craquelin will be hard and perhaps hard to cut with a cookie cutter, but it will soften quickly. If it gets too soft throw it back in the freezer for 5 mins so you can handle the craquelin discs without tearing or warping them. Once you've cut out at least 11-12 discs, place them back in the freezer until ready to top the portioned cookie dough.