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Giant Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

A friend of mine nicknamed these cookies the $10 cookie, honestly, he may be on to something. These are my rich, decadent, giant brown chocolate chip cookies and I am truly obsessed with them. In this recipe I went “giant” because I love cookies and let’s face it, one little bite-size cookie just doesn’t get the job done. But these babies, don’t disappoint.

Chocolate chip cookies are a true American obsession. Chef Ruth Graves Wakefield has been credited for inventing chocolate chip cookies in 1938 when she owned the Toll House Inn, in Whitman, Massachusetts. I think it’s fair to say everyone knows what a Toll House Cookie is and chances are, you’ve probably made them yourself.

brown butter chocolate chip cookies

To clarify, chocolate chip cookies are one of the most well-known and loved cookies of all time. Some say, these cookies even have additive qualities in them which makes having just one, extremely challenging. According to a CNN Health article by Lisa Drayer, titled “What Makes Chocolate Chip Cookies So Addictive?“, our love and relationship with these simple cookies is somewhat complicated.

What Causes Cookie Addiction?

  • Emotions. Cookies are known to have an emotional connection, often to childhood.
  • Addiction. Sugar is known to induce cravings comparable (at times) in magnitude to those induced by addictive drugs.
  • Anandamide. Chocolate is said to contain small amounts of anandamide, a compound, a brain chemical that targets the same cell receptors as THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) responsible for its mood-altering effects, causing a “high“.

The article goes on to state that according to Gary Wenk, who is the Director of Neuroscience at Ohio State University and the author of “;” high-fat, sugar-rich cookies will raise the level of anandamide in our brains independent of what’s in the cookie because it’s our body’s response to eating such a tasty item. Wenk goes on to say that, “the fat and sugar combine to induce our addiction as much as does the anandamide,” Wenk said. “It’s a triple play of delight.” The takeaway, chocolate chip cookies (the really outstanding ones, like these) can be actually addicting. Maybe that’s how Mrs. Field’s fortune was made, playing on our weaknesses.

brown butter chocolate chip cookies

Science aside, I’m a cookie lover, and perfecting a chocolate chip cookie is goal-worthy. And these giant brown butter chocolate chip cookies are as perfect as I’ve come thus far. Although chocolate chip cookies have some “universally appealing qualities” that make them addictive, specific preferences vary. Soft, gooey, crisp, buttery, even the type of chocolate used is truly personal.

If you ask me, these decadent chocolate chip cookies touch upon almost all of the above. That is to say, they are soft, with a crisper outer edge, sweet with a salty finish, and two types of chocolate for flavor balance. To sum up, after all my hard work developing these cookies, I’m super curious to know what you think. If you make them, drop a comment, and tell me your thoughts, I’m dying to know if you find them as irresistible as I do.

About the Author

Andrea Potischman

I am a professionally trained NYC chef turned CA mom and food blogger. I post about real food, with doable ingredient lists that are family friendly.

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