Ultimate Choco Chip Cookies

Dessert (Cookies)

I got this recipe from Ambitious Kitchen and +Monique Volz, the genius creator, calls it Nutella-Stuffed Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sea Salt.

My boys are slaves to choco chip cookies (CCC) so I'm always on the lookout for the "perfect" recipe and I think I've found it. Thank you Ambitious Kitchen for discovering and sharing this ultimate CCC recipe.  It's so fantastic, I have to bake another batch for Christmas goodies since the first two batches were immediately consumed by my boys.

Soooo gooey, and the touch of salt adds the perfect contrast to the amplified sweetness of CCC stuffed with Nutella.  The browned butter with nutty flavour is a perfect complement to the Nutella.

First time I baked it, I followed the recipe to the letter by using both semi-sweet and milk choco chips.  Second time, since I didn't have enough anymore, I just used semi-sweet version. Still fantastic!

2 1/4 c all purpose flour

1 1/4 t baking soda

1/4 t salt

2 sticks butter

1 1/4 c packed dark brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk; lightly beaten

1 1/2 t vanilla extract

1 T plain greek yogurt

1/2 c semi-sweet choco chips

1/2 c milk choco chips

1 jar of Nutella, chilled in ref

coarse sea salt for sprinkling

• in a saucepan, over medium heat, brown the butter and set aside to cool

BROWNING BUTTER

I forget where I read this line but it has haunted me (too much??!?). "There's a thin line between browning & burning butter".  I don't have light coloured small pots anymore so I was actually hesitant to try out this recipe. If you have one, I strongly suggest you use it to avoid unnecessary tension. You can easily determine if the butter has browned.

Cut your 2 sticks of butter guided by the lines on the wrapper.  What's important is that all the slices are evenly sized so they would all cook at the same time.  On my convection stove, the process takes between 3 1/2 - 4 minutes, medium heat, with constant whisking.  The butter will start to vigorously bubble and you will start smelling the nutty fragrance emanating from the butter.  This means the butter is nearing browning stage.  Be alert to immediately remove your pot from heat!

• in a large bowl, combine well the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda and salt
• set up your stand mixer with the paddle attachment 
• beat browned butter and sugars until fluffy
• add the other liquids:  beaten eggs, vanilla & yogurt
• gradually add your combined dry ingredients until well combined
• fold in choco chips
• it's currently really cold in my kitchen so I didn't have to refrigerate; just left the dough for 2 hours on the counter; I guess come spring/summer, will have to follow the original recipe and refrigerate for 2 hours for the flavours to blend together
• pre-heat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit
• roll 1 1/2 T of dough and flatten it on your lined cookie sheet

  

  First circle of dough

• place 1 t of chilled Nutella in the centre; again, didn't chill the Nutella because of the cold kitchen situation- it was firm enough but not too tough to plonk on the dough

Nutella at the centre of the dough ball

• place another flat circle of cookie dough on top.  Original recipe says crimp the edges but was too impatient already to try the new recipe so I just flattened the top layer.  The original intention was to make them into dough BALLS.  Believe me, this still works :)
• place dough balls or flattened dough circles, 2 inches apart
• bake 9 - 11 minutes or until the edges are golden brown
• sprinkle lightly with sea salt (I used Himalayan pink sea salt) and let cool on wire racks
  

Cool before storing.  Here they are, all ready to be packed as Christmas give-aways.