Whiskey Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yup, you heard right. Pretty much cookies from whiskey heaven. This culinary gift comes from Paula Bellalimento of Instagram fame @lesstalkmorebourbon. Perfect timing too as we all just happen to have a little more time at home these days. Why not take the bourbon out of the evenings into the daytime with socially acceptable whiskey laced cookies? Take it away Paula...

This might be my new favorite cookie of all time. That’s saying something. Chocolate chips are by far my go to cookie, they’re a no fail classic that everyone who’s anyone loves (I’m sorry we just can’t be friends if you don’t like them, or maybe we can and I can have your share. That works too).

Whiskey is also my go to drink so I’m not sure why I didn’t think to put them together before. It actually took a conversation with a fellow whiskey lover to put the idea in my head. Boom. Hot Shot Brown Butter Whiskey Chocolate Chip Cookies were happening. I went and whipped up test batch one within 15 minutes of that idea.

I took my basic brown butter chocolate chip cookie recipe and tweaked it. I knew I wanted bakery style cookies for this go round. Thick, fat, stick to your rib good old fashioned heavy cookies. You know the ones. To get those beautiful baked goods you’ll need to chill the dough.

It’s an extra step and practice in patience (which you know isn’t my strong suite) but it’s completely worth it.

I like to make the dough the night before and chill overnight, but if you’ve just got a hankering for cookies and can’t wait (I totally understand btw) you can bake them after a few hours of chilling.

Brown butter gives them a nice deep nutty flavor as well. Be sure to strain the butter so you don’t get any of the browned residue into the batter. Sometimes you might even have to strain it a few times. Patience grasshopper. It’s what my Mom says to me, it doesn’t work but I thought I’d give it a go with y’all anyway.

For the whiskey, I went with a Rye Whiskey. You can definitely taste it in the final product and it pairs beautifully with the brown butter and plethora of chocolate chips. Go big or go home, yeah? It’s pretty much my favorite cookie and drink all in one beautiful bite. Okay, two to three bites because that’s one giant cookie. The recipe makes 14 cookies in total which doesn’t sound like a lot, but each one pretty much fills the palm of my hand. Which is in no way a bad thing when it comes to cookies.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons rye whiskey
• 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup Ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate chips

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Into a heavy bottom pan, heat butter over medium heat, stirring as necessary. Cook until butter begins to brown. Strain butter to remove any remnants.
2. Into the bowl of your stand mixer add: butter and sugars. Beat until smooth and combined.
3. Add: egg, vanilla, and whiskey. Beat until combined.
4. Add; flour, baking soda, cornstarch and salt. Beat until combined.
5. Fold in chocolate chips.
6. Using a large cookie scoop, scoop dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat. Cover with plastic wrap and transfer to refrigerator to chill minimum of 4 hours to overnight.
7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for approximately 11-14 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on pan for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire baking rack to cool completely.

Check out more of Paula's recipes at her website here. When you've finished cooking this recipe why not try our previous batch from Chrissy Martin.