Browned butter, maple syrup, and chocolatey toffee chunks are just a few of the amazing reasons why you NEED to give these cookies a try!
Apologies for the ridiculously long title of these cookies, but there’s so much amazingness packed into this cookie that it deserves that mouthful of a title. Because instead of just one or two things, I wanted allllll of the things in this cookie. Starting with browned butter. More importantly, SALTED browned butter. Although I’ve worked with browned butter plenty in the past, it wasn’t until now that I noticed something kind of monumental.
As I’m sure a lot of you have discovered, most baking recipes call for unsalted butter since it helps to give you control over how much salt is added. However, when it comes to browned butter, I believe salted is the way to go. Not only does it have a deeper caramelized aroma as it goldifies (totally a word), but the euphorically nutty flavor is much more noticeable in the finished product. Lifechanger, folks. LIFEchanger.
Next, we have one of my biggest fall addictions–maple syrup. Maple syrup has to be one of my favorite condiments. It’s like gold in liquid form, really. Whether fake (fool’s gold) or pure maple syrup, I love it all. In fact, I actually prefer the fake stuff. #NoShame.
Anyway, I knew instantly that the caramelized nuttiness of salted browned butter would pair flawlessly with the warm sweetness of maple syrup. And I was right. In fact, this sweet and salty combo is what brings about the perfect balance of flavors in this cookie. To amp up the maple sweetness even more, I added brown sugar. Not only does it provide that extra maple flavor, but it gives this cookie that soft and chewy texture we all demand from cookies.
Sticking with the caramelized theme, I tossed in a generous amount of Heath Toffee bits. It only seemed appropriate since toffee is literally made by boiling butter and brown sugar together–two ingredients that this cookie is loaded with. Since the toffee bits are coated with milk chocolate, I decided to add a little bit of contrast by throwing in some dark semi-sweet chocolate chips.
One ingredient you might find rather odd in this recipe is Greek yogurt. Now I’m no brain scientist, but from what I’ve read, the yogurt’s acidity activates the baking soda as it bakes. This not only assures that the cookies remain moist and chewy for days, but it also gives you those lovely craggy crinkly tops. And for extra cragginess, you can do what I did and tear the dough balls in half and mushing the smooth ends back together so that the rough texture is facing up.
Chilling this dough is absolutely mandatory to ensure that these cookies bake up thick and chewy–AT LEAST 2 hours. In fact, I chilled mine overnight. Another good reason for chilling dough before baking is that it produces more flavorful cookies. Similar to how the flavor of chilis, soups, and pasta sauces is so much better the day after, the same goes for cookies. Now, there’s a lot of scientifical blah-di-blah regarding this dough chilling/resting method, but I won’t bore you with it. Besides, all you really need to know is that it tastes 10x better. End of story!
One thing I read about chocolate chip cookies is that they never have nearly as much salt as they actually need to bring out all of their wonderful flavors. While there is salted butter as well as an extra dash of salt in the dough, a little sprinkle of coarse salt at the very end makes these cookies EXPLODE with flavor. Trust me, it’s totally worth the high blood pressure, guys.
So now that I’ve talked your ears off, let me give you the verdict. To put it simply, this cookie is absolutely lethal. I thought the dough was heavenly BEFORE baking, but once I popped one of these freshly-baked babes into my mouth, my salivary glands erupted. (It got pretty messy, guys. Not gonna lie.) My tastebuds didn’t know which flavor to focus on since every single bite was euphoric. The toasty notes of browned butter dancing with the maple sweetness. The crunch and butterscotch-like flavor of the toffee bits intertwining throughout the soft dough. And the overall texture of the cookie as a whole? Perfection–slightly crisp, yet chewy edges with pillowy warm centers.
Now THIS is what cookie dreams are made of…
Salted Brown Butter Maple Toffee Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup salted butter
- 2 ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons Greek yogurt
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¾ cup Heath toffee bits
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Coarse salt for sprinkling
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. As the butter melts, it’ll start to foam, then turn a clear golden color. Continue to stir the butter, scraping up any browned specks from the bottom of the pan as it starts to brown. It should have a nutty aroma. Once browned and nutty, remove from the heat; set aside to cool slightly.
- Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside.
- To the slightly cooled butter, add in the brown sugar, granulated sugar, maple syrup, Greek yogurt, egg, and vanilla, whisking vigorously until batter is smooth and silky. Switch to a wooden spoon and stir in the dry ingredients to just incorporate; batter will be thick.
- Fold in the Heath toffee bits and chocolate chips. Flatten dough into a thick disc and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate dough for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight, prior to baking.
- Preheat oven to 350ºF, line two baking trays with parchment paper, or spray with cooking spray. Roll the dough into balls about the size of a golf ball, then place them on the baking sheet about 2 inches apart. For extra craggy tops, read about my tip above.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the edges are set and the centers are puffy but still look slightly underdone. Immediately sprinkle coarse salt over the tops of each cookie. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.