Brown Butter Peppermint White Chocolate Cookies
Ha. That’s funny. Last week’s recipe also started with the word “brown.” Different types of browns though. And very different types of recipes. Last week’s recipe was a brown sugar Bundt cake. This week’s recipe utilizes brown butter. Both recipes have brown sugar in them though. If you want to start looking for comparisons or whatever.
K, what am I doing? Why do I get distracted like this? Let’s talk about these cookies already.
Brown butter peppermint white chocolate cookies. I mean, can cookies GET more holidayesque?? No. They cannot. Is the answer.
You may already be aware of the fact that I’m obsessed with cookies. They’re probably my favorite dessert. No joke.
You also may already be aware of the fact that I’m obsessed with brown butter. Do you know why? Because brown butter is the friggin besttttttt. It has this deep, rich, caramel, butterscotch flavor that is, simply put, supernatural.
And do you know how you make brown butter? By melting butter a few minutes past its melted stage until golden specks start appearing in the butter. Yep, just two extra minutes for a whole new world of flavor. SUPERNATURAL.
Why am I telling you this? Because these peppermint white chocolate cookies are made with brown butter!!! Obviously. I told you already.
And do you know what else is supernatural? How well white chocolate and peppermint candies pair with the brown butter flavor.
In short, these brown butter cookies are supernatural. Unworldly. Paranormal. Mystical. All these things.
But wait. It gets better. Because the base for these white chocolate cookies is very similar to the base for the best chocolate chip cookies ever that I posted on the blog several years back. And those cookies. I worked on that recipe for monthssss. Literally. So I need not tell you how special that recipe is. Which means these cookies are that special too.
Here’s what you’re getting from these brown butter peppermint cookies: a soft, tender, thick, chewy cookie with slightly crispy edges, caramel and butterscotch undertones, melted white milk chocolate puddles, chewy peppermint candy bits, and a hint more peppermint flavor from mint extract.
Need I go on?
As I’m sure you’re aware, it’s holiday season! Which means it’s cookie season! Which means you must make these white chocolate peppermint cookies. Before cookie season departs from our midst.
Not that you can’t also make these peppermint cookies any time of year. But, now would be an especially good time to bake these babies up. So don’t let the opportunity pass you by. I don’t want you to have any regrets in life, you know?
Soft and chewy. Thick and rich. Buttery and caramely. Pepperminty and white chocolaty. What I’m saying is, I’d marry these brown butter peppermint white chocolate cookies if I could.
Brown Butter Peppermint White Chocolate Cookies
Yield: about 26 medium-large cookies
1 3/4 sticks (7 oz. or 14 tablespoons) butter
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract (optional, if you want more mint flavor)
2 teaspoons greek yogurt
2 1/4 cups flour (well compacted, not spooned into measuring cup. It's just about 12 oz. when weighed)
2 teaspoons cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped white milk chocolate (or white chocolate chips)
1/2 cup chopped candy cane or peppermint candies of choice
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a light-colored (so you can observe the browning) skillet, brown the butter: chop up butter and place into skillet over a medium flame. First, the butter will melt. Once butter melts, it will foam and bubble. Make sure to stir the butter periodically with a rubber spatula. After a few minutes, the bubbling will subside and golden specks will appear on the bottom of the pan and the butter will start smelling nutty. This means your butter is browned! Warning: butter should have golden/amber specks, not completely brown ones. If the butter is too browned, your cookies may have a burnt/bitter taste. (Click here for video tutorial.)
3. Remove skillet from flame right away and pour the browned butter into a large mixing bowl to stop the cooking. Make sure to scrape in all the browned specks from the bottom of the pan.
4. Let butter cool five minutes in the bowl and then stir in both sugars and mix well.
5. Add in egg, egg yolk, and extracts and stir vigorously with your spatula until the mixture turns a lighter shade. Stir in the greek yogurt until fully incorporated.
6. Pour the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt over the wet ingredients and stir everything together until just combined. Fold in the chocolate and candies last.
7. Round medium-large sized balls of dough between your palms and space onto cookie sheets. (You can either bake cookies straight away now or, if you want the cookies to bake up thicker, refrigerate the shaped cookies on the sheets for at least 40 minutes.)
8. Bake cookies for 9-11 minutes, until the edges are barely golden and you can lift the edge of a cookie off the sheet a bit with your hand. Let cookies sit and firm on baking sheets for 10 minutes before moving them.
