Brown Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

Or BBBCCC

All cookies should be made with brown butter; yes or yes?

I typically go for chocolate chunks over chocolate chips these days, but something about the chips for these just seemed right. They hearken back to the banana muffins my mom used to make that I would refuse to eat unless they had copious amounts of chocolate chips and were completely saturated in butter.

The banana flowers are a cute touch, though totally optional. They’re easy to make, but they do require a bit little time and forethought. I sliced my bananas into about 1/4 inch slices, then used a small cookie cutter to cut them each into little flowers. I baked them at 200 degrees for 2-3 hours until they were dry to the touch. The petals curled up perfectly as they cooled.

Servings: 10-12 large cookies
Preparation Time: 4 hours (ideally at least 24 hours)

Cookies

---

• 127g (9 T) butter, browned

• 1 banana

• 220 grams brown sugar

• 1 egg yolk

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 160g all-purpose flour

• 1/2 tsp baking soda

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 115g chocolate chips

Method

---

1. Brown the Butter: In a medium/large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Stir constantly until the butter foams and then turns golden brown with a nutty aroma. Remove from heat and let it cool slightly.

2. Prepare the Wet Ingredients: Mash the banana right into the brown butter in the saucepan until smooth. Add the brown sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla extract to the butter & mashed banana. Mix until well combined.

3. Add the Dry Ingredients: Gradually add the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt to the wet ingredients, mixing until just combined. Be careful not to over-mix the dough.

4. Add Chocolate Chips: After the dough has cooled completely, gently fold in the chocolate chips.

5. Chill the Dough: Cover the dough and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, if not one or even more days. There is a significant difference between this cookie being baked after chilling for a few hours vs overnight. The longer it sits, the more of those chewy ripples develop around the edge during baking.

6. Preheat the Oven: Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) when ready to bake.

7. Shape and Bake the Cookies: Scoop 1.5 oz portions of the dough. I used this guy. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, giving them lots of room to spread. I only baked 3 at a time. Bake for 13-16 minutes, until the edges are golden and the centers are just set. The cookies get very brown and will stay pretty soft in the center even after they cool.

8. Cool: Sprinkle with chocolate chips and coarse salt as soon as they come out of the oven. Now is the perfect time to add the banana flowers too, while the chocolate chips are soft and will allow you to “glue” them on. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.