Brown Butter and Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies are so legit. They're all the things a chocolate chip cookie should be. They're also another one of those that require the disclaimer "this is not health food"! They have sugar in them, no refined sugar, but still sugar and 6 cookies will send you into a sugar coma (trust me). I wanted to create a perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe in time for the holidays that tastes just like the real thing and this.is.it. They are the perfect soft baked, chewy chocolate chip cookie with crispy edges. No cakey-ness, no gritty-ness, no crumbly-ness.

As far as substitutions.... Don't make them if you want them to be exactly like this. I made these cookies approximately 900xs and this is the perfect ratio of ingredients. Traditionally, most recipes use both white and brown sugar for the perfect combo of crispy and chewy. Here I am using coconut sugar in place of brown sugar and organic unrefined cane sugar. I usually entirely avoid cane sugar, but this is for sure a special occasion recipe and since I can't have gluten at all I would rather splurge on the sugar a little and still avoid a reaction. I haven't tried any fat other than butter. The very first main photo is darker because it uses browned butter and the rest of the photos are made with just melted butter. Browning the butter gives it a nutty, caramel taste but is not necessary at all. You can just melt the butter without browning and follow instructions otherwise. Browning butter sounds fancy but is as simple as cutting it up and heating it until it becomes brown and aromatic, so don't be scared! You need eggs. Otto's has an egg free recipe on Instagram, check that out for an egg-free chocolate chip cookie. I first tried with one egg and they were too crumbly, the extra yolk binds it perfectly. These cookies must be chilled. If you don't chill them they will spread out like crazy and the texture won't be the same. Don't press the cookies down, they will do their own thing in the oven. When they're done they puff up a little then deflate to chewy crispy perfection once cooling. If you try to eat them when they're still piping hot, they will fall apart.

Browned Butter and Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies

Servings: 22 cookies Prep time: 15 mins Chill time: overnight or at least 4-6 hours Cook time: 10-12 mins

Ingredients:

Melt:

1 stick butter, browned (or just melted) and cooled to room temp *instructions are in directions

Dry:

3/4 cup Otto's Cassava Flour
1/2 cup organic cane sugar 1/2 cup coconut sugar or brown sugar 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt

Whisk:

1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Fold in:

1 cup chocolate chips or chunks Flakey sea salt for sprinkling on top (optional)

Directions:

Brown butter. Cut up the stick of butter and place pieces in a medium pan on med-low heat. Butter will melt then begin to bubble and turn brown and aromatic. Once this happens remove from heat so it doesn't burn and set aside to cool to room temperature. For regular chocolate chip cookies without the browned butter flavor, remove butter once it has melted and do not brown.
While butter is cooling, mix all dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.
Whisk eggs and vanilla in a small bowl.
Add cooled butter and egg mixture to the large bowl and mix to combine into a dough.
Fold in chocolate chips last. Mix to combine well. Place the bowl in refrigerator overnight or at least 4-6 hours.
Once chilled, preheat oven to 350F and line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Scoop cookies and roll into small balls. Place on parchment paper leaving room to spread out, I do 6-8 cookies per sheet. Sprinkle with flakey sea salt.
Bake for 10-12 mins, longer for crispier cookies and closer to 10 for gooey cookies. Check oven starting at 10 mins, cooking times will vary based on oven.
Remove from oven and allow 2 mins to cool before transferring to a cooling rack to fully cool. Like most grainfree baked goods, these will not become fully structured until cooled.