Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

After three iterations, I finally feel like I can post this recipe! It is based on the famous Cooks Illustrated browned butter chocolate chip recipe. These cookies are a great way to use up any leftover pumpkin you may have from baking a pie for Thanksgiving. They also happen to be fantastically tasty!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 14 tablespoons butter, separated
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chip cookies
• 1/2 cup toasted pecans, chopped

1. Adjust oven rack to the middle position. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Whisk flour, baking soda and spices together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
3. Heat 10 tablespoons butter in a light colored sauce pan (you need to see the color of the butter as you brown it) over medium high heat until melted. Continue cooking, stirring or swirling the pan constantly until the butter is a dark golden brown and has a nutty aroma--another 1 to 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and pour into a large heatproof bowl. Stir in remaining 4 tablespoons of butter into hot browned butter until it has melted.
4. Add both sugars, salt and vanilla to bowl with butter and whisk until fully incorporated. Whisk in egg and egg yolk. Whisk in pumpkin until smooth.
5. Let the mixture stand for 3 minutes, then whisk for 30 seconds. Repeat process of resting and whisking 2 more times (this let's the sugars dissolve), until the mixture is thick, smooth and shiny.
   
6. Using a rubber spatula, stir in flour mixture until just combined--about 1 minute. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts, making sure no flour pockets remain.
7. Spoon dough 2 inches apart onto prepared baking sheets. Bake cookies one tray at a time until cookies are golden brown and still puffy; the edges will have begun to set, but the centers will be still soft after 10-14 minutes. Rotate the sheet halfway through baking.
8. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack and cool cookies completely before serving.

Browned Butter White Chocolate Chip Cranberry Cookies

Let us talk about decadence. Let us talk about Christmas cookies. Let us talk about butter. Lots and lots of butter--browned butter to be exact.

These browned butter chocolate chip cookies have that caramelized, butterscotch-y taste that makes the most memorable chocolate chip cookies so memorable. They also have those crispy-delicious crunchy edges juxtaposed with a soft center. It is impossible to choose my favorite part of these cookies--it is the overall experience that makes them so grand.

These cookies, when made with white chocolate chips and dried cranberries, are not messing around. This is one rich, sweet cookie. But I contend that the holidays are a perfect time for this cookie. We all indulge a little this time of year, right? These cookies also involve two extra steps. When you are baking a lot for the holidays, maybe you are not inclined to make cookies that have two extra steps. Maybe you just want to get the cookies over with. Those regular cookies will taste good, I don't doubt it for a second.

BUT, I assure you these cookies will taste better. Like many things that take a little extra effort, it is worth it! First, there is the browning of the butter, which imparts a lovely depth and adds extra complexity. I actually really like this step because when I want to make cookies, I rarely remember to get butter out so it can warm to room temperature. Here you melt the butter, so it eliminates that problem altogether.

The second extra step doesn't take much effort, just a little extra time. You whisk the butter and sugars and then let them rest. Over an interval of about ten minutes, you repeat that process a few times. During this step, the sugars dissolve. To be honest, I don't know exactly how dissolved sugar helps these cookies. You'll have to ask Cook's Illustrated about that. Maybe it's a textural thing. All I know is that it works.

So bake a batch or two. Share some. Save plenty for you and yours. Curl up on the couch near the Christmas tree. Have your friends and family gather 'round and give everyone a cookie. To me, this is what the holidays are all about.

Browned Butter White Chocolate Chip Cranberry Cookies

~Print Recipe~

• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 28 tablespoons (yes, 3 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 4 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 large eggs
• 2 large egg yolks
• 2 1/2 cups white chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 cups dried cranberries

1. Put an oven rack in the middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. 
2. Whisk the flour and baking soda together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
3. In a large heatproof bowl, cut 8 tablespoons (1 stick) of butter into a few pieces. Set aside. Heat 20 tablespoons (2 1/2 sticks) of butter in a light colored skillet over medium-high heat. (Do not use a non-stick pan if you can avoid it. You need to see the color of the melted butter to know when it has browned.) Once the butter is melted, continue cooking and stirring until the butter is a dark golden brown and has a nutty aroma, 2-3 minutes. (This will seem to take awhile, but change will happen quickly so pay close attention.) Remove the skillet from heat and our into the large bowl. Stir until all of the butter has melted.
4. Add both sugars, salt and vanilla to the butter and whisk until fully incorporated. Add the eggs and the egg yolks. Whisk until smooth. Let the mixture stand for 3 minutes, then whisk for 30 seconds. Repeat process of resting and whisking 2 more times. The mixture should be thick, smooth and shiny.
5. Stir in the flour mixture until just combined. Stir in white chocolate chips and cranberries, making sure no flour pockets remain.
6. Spoon dough in 3 tablespoon portions spaced 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. (These cookies will spread, so I recommend 8 to a sheet for perfect cookies. 10 to a sheet if you don't mind the edges sometimes touching.) Bake cookies 1 tray at a time, rotating halfway through, until the cookies are golden brown and still puffy; the edges will have begun to set, but the centers will still be soft--10 to 14 minutes. 
7. Cool cookies on the baking sheet placed on a wire rack until the cookies can be transferred to the rack itself to cool completely. (If you can wait that long.)

Makes 3 dozen cookies

Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

The perfect chocolate chip cookies--Cook's Illustrated's claim, not mine. But, these cookies are truly great. I haven't met anyone who doesn't love them.

There are a number of specific changes Cook's Illustrated made to your standard Toll House cookie recipe in order to achieve these results. Melted butter makes them chewier. Browning the butter makes them tastier. More brown sugar than white makes them chewier, too. Allowing the sugar to dissolve completely into the liquid ingredients lets the sugar caramelize better, enhancing flavor. It also makes the edges crispy, while leaving the center chewy. Behold:

Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

~Print Recipe~

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 14 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips (Ghiradelli, for best results!)
• 3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (toasted)

1. Adjust oven rack to the middle position. Heat oven to 375 degrees. (I always wait to do this step because my oven only takes a few minutes to pre-heat.) Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. (I actually have found that it is perfectly fine to re-use parchment sheets, so I use the same cookie sheet sized-parchment around 3 times--parchment's not cheap!)
2. Whisk flour and baking soda together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
3. Heat 10 tablespoons butter in a 10-inch skillet (try not to use a non-stick skillet. I used a light colored sauce pan--you need to see the color of the butter as you brown it) over medium high heat until melted. Continue cooking, stirring or swirling the pan constantly until the butter is a dark golden brown and has a nutty aroma--1 to 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and pour into a large heatproof bowl. Stir in remaining 4 tablespoons of butter into hot browned butter until it has melted.
4. Add both sugars, salt and vanilla to bowl with butter and whisk until fully incorporated. Add egg and egg yolk; whisk until smooth--around 30 seconds.
5. Let the mixture stand for 3 minutes, then whisk for 30 seconds. Repeat process of resting and whisking 2 more times (this let's the sugars dissolve), until the mixture is thick, smooth and shiny.
   
6. Using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture until just combined--about 1 minute. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts, making sure no flour pockets remain.
7. Spoon dough in 3 tablespoon portions 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets--8 to a sheet. Bake cookies 1 tray at a time until cookies are golden brown and still puffy; the edges will have begun to set, but the centers will be still soft after 10-14 minutes. Rotate the sheet halfway through baking.
8. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack and cool cookies completely before serving.

*Makes 16 cookies, which in my experience is not enough. I'd recommend doubling the recipe, for sure.