A Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie

On days like these, it's the little things.

I can’t imagine actually being happy today knowing that you-know-who is being inaugurated (Voldemort). I also can’t imagine being submissively silent and not speaking on how I feel. The moment he won, I got the same dose of nausea in my stomach as I did waking up in 2015 and finding out he had beaten Hillary. I was living in Paris at the time, and Brexit had recently happened. I remember thinking “Americans won’t fall for something like this,” and then they (we?) did. And now they have again. I’m not sure what kind of person elects such a hateful, ego-driven, abuser-in-chief. But here we are, on the precipice of another 4 years of chaos and obsessively scrolling our newsfeeds in a totally unhealthy way. “What will he do next?” we’ll think as we watch him rampage. It’s truly sad that American culture can be so polarized, and it’s seemingly only getting worse. I miss the days when I felt happy to wave or wear a flag.

I’ve never wanted to take anything away from anyone in our country, even those who don’t agree with me. I think we all deserve to be free and live our lives as we desire, so it really complexes me that a campaign driven on hate and “us vs. them” can win over so many voters, twice. I could care less what they are doing with their guns, spouses, children, churches, etc.— I have better things to do with my time than obsess over the other half of America. Pondering it here in my baking newsletter is most likely as far as I’m going to go. I hope my right to marry stays intact, but if shit really hits the fan, I suppose marriage would become the least of my concerns. It’s scary how Christian nationalism is being shoved down everyone’s throat— from abortion to anti-trans legislature— using the taxpayer’s dollar from half of the country’s political representation. They’re getting paid to hate and further sow division.

So what do you do? What the f*ck do we do? We stay present and informed, we continue to vote, and we continue to speak up when things go wrong. We continue to believe in America, despite the constant uphill battles and pendulum swings. We will win again one day, and when we do, we will not target groups already facing challenges like deportation, lack of access to healthcare or abortion, systemic racism, food insecurity, or the right to exist as queers free from discrimination. I look forward to this day. I know it will come. I— and we— have to believe in it, so that it will come.

Today, all I have to offer are these thoughts and an easy chocolate chip cookie recipe. Now that I think of it, what’s more American than a chocolate chip cookie? Maybe we can all agree on this one thing, just for like 5 seconds? While baking cookies seems so pointless on a day like this, it also gives me the slightest feeling of ease and comfort. Sharing it with you all makes me feel less alone in what sometimes feels like a very hateful and negative country. If you’re reading this… thank you for being here.

Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Bake Time: 14-15 minutes
Servings: 12 cookies

10 tbsp (140g) unsalted butter
3/4 cup (150g) dark brown sugar
1/3 cup (66g) granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 egg
1 1/2 cups (190g) all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 cups mixed chocolate, chopped (dark and milk, if possible)

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line a baking sheet (or 2, if baking all of the dough) with parchment paper or a silicone mat and set aside.

2. Place the butter in a light-colored pot and cook over medium-high heat, whisking gently once it starts to foam, until the butter has browned. This will take around 5 minutes, and there will be speckles of brown particles towards the bottom of the pan. Scrape this mixture into a large mixing bowl (and all of the little bits, too).

3. Add both sugars, vanilla extract, and salt to the mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside for 5 minutes or so, until the bottom of the bowl is barely warm.

4. If you haven’t chopped your chocolate yet, do so now. Of course, you can use chips in this recipe, but using a mixture of milk and dark chocolates creates a decadent flavor profile.

5. Once the butter and sugar mixture is mostly cooled, add the egg and whisk until incorporated.

6. Add the flour and baking soda and stir with a spatula until a dough forms. This takes a little muscle, but is simpler than whipping out the stand mixer and its attachments (you can do that if you prefer, though!).

7. Stir the chopped chocolate into the dough. Portion the cookie dough into 12 balls at 60g each, or around 3 tablespoons per dough ball. You can also use my favorite yellow scoop for portioning these.

8. Place 6 cookies on a baking sheet, with room in between each for spreading. Bake for 14 minutes, then remove from the oven, sprinkle with flaky salt, and let cool on the pan for 5-10 minutes. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes: You don’t have to brown the butter for this recipe, but it makes them extra delicious. When you brown butter, some moisture is cooked away, so if you choose not to, the cookies may spread slightly more. For my chocolate of choice, I used Valrhona 70% & 40%, a dark chocolate and a milk chocolate. You can totally swap this out for bagged chips or chunks, but chopping your own chocolate creates a lovely texture. Smaller bits melt into the cookie, and larger pieces spread into beautiful puddles. If you save some dough and bake it later, make sure to soften it to close to room temperature so the cookies will still spread.