Ginger and Dark Chocolate Brown Butter Cookies

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These Ginger and Dark Chocolate Brown Butter Cookies are a celebration of the timeless and classic, festive flavour combination of dark chocolate and ginger. Browning the butter, takes these cookies up a notch by deepening the flavours and adding a rich, caramelised, nutty unami to these wonderful winter treats.

They are crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside – exactly the way cookies are meant to be – but if you prefer crispy cookies, simply cook them for a little bit longer. Eat them 15 – 20 minutes after they have come out of the oven, (and cooled enough to hold their shape and not burn you!) and enjoy puddles of molten, luscious dark chocolate in each and every cookie. Let them cool completely, and enjoy delectable little nuggets of solidified chocolate throughout. Your choice. If you are like me, some straight away, and more later!

How to make Ginger and Dark Chocolate Brown Butter Cookies

The recipe is based on my Chocolate Chip Cookies – Core Recipe. The changes I made were:

• using delicious nutty brown butter instead of normal unsalted butter
• adding some milk to compensate for liquid lost when making brown butter
• adding some festive ginger and mixed spices

Making Brown Butter

If you would like further details of how to brown butter, please check out my post here.

Collect all your ingredients together:

• unsalted butter
• dark or light soft brown sugar
• caster sugar
• fine salt 
• egg
• vanilla extract
• milk
• plain/all-purpose flour 
• ginger powder
• mixed spice
• baking powder 
• dark chocolate, 70% cocoa solids, chopped into chunks

How to make these fabulous and festive cookies:

1. Around an hour before you make want to make the cookies, brown the butter: this must be done at least 1 hour before but can be made up to 3 days in advance. Chop the butter into squares and place in a saucepan. Heat over a moderate heat, stirring from time to time, until the butter turns brown. To read more about browning butter, please see here.
2. Pour into a mixing bowl big enough to make the cookie dough in. Let it cool a little and then pop it in the fridge to harden.
3. Make the cookie dough: when the butter has hardened in the fridge, add both of the sugars and the salt and beat until light and fluffy. (NB If the butter is completely solid when you take it from the fridge, you may need to beat it with an electric whisk until light and fluffy, before adding the sugar.)
4. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula and add the egg, milk and vanilla extract. Beat again with an electric whisk until thoroughly mixed.
5. Add the flour, spices and baking powder to the butter mixture. Either beat with an electric whisk on the slowest speed, or mix in with a wooden spoon, until nearly mixed in. Do not over mix.
6. Cut the dark chocolate into chunks and set 4 – 5 chunks aside to use later. Add the chocolate to the mixing bowl and fold in.
7. Use a small ice cream scoop or a spoon to divide the mixture into balls, roughly 30g each – you should make around 24 – 25 cookies. Place, spread out, on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment.
8. The final cookie is often devoid of chocolate chunks – add the 4 chunks you set aside and stick them into the base of the last cookie.
9. If you want to freeze any uncooked, now is the time. Spread out on a baking parchment lined board or baking tray, cover with cling film and freeze. As soon as the dough balls are solid, they can be transferred into labelled freezer bags or containers. Alternatively, you can store them covered in the fridge for up to 3 days and then bake them when you are ready.
10. Bake the cookies: when you are ready to cook them, preheat the oven and place the dough balls spread out on a baking sheet. Bake in a pre-heated oven for 10 – 12 minutes.
    • Baking one tray at a time: bake in a pre-heated oven for 10 – 12 minutes. (I cook mine for 11 minutes.)
    • Baking two trays at a time: add one minute to the total time to cook. Bake for half this time and then quickly swap the trays over i.e. put the top tray on the lower shelf and the tray from the lower shelf on the higher shelf and cook for the remaining time.(So for one tray I cook for 11 minutes. For two trays I cook for 6 minutes, swap the trays and then cook for another 6 minutes = 12 in total.)  
    • The cookies are cooked when: they have spread out, are starting to brown on the edges and look ever so slightly underdone. They should still be soft in the middle.
11. Let them cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.

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What chocolate should I use?

Use your favourite chocolate! You can use eating or cooking chocolate, but make sure it has 70% cocoa solids. Baking chocolate has more stabilisers in it (which can affect its flavour) to help keep its shape when cooking, whereas eating chocolate may spread more. However, eating chocolate will solidify when it cools and still taste like your favourite chocolate. You could argue that eating chocolate doesn’t look quite so good in cookies, but I always put taste, rather than looks, first. Plus I like the look of puddles of chocolate in my cookies.

Softening Brown Sugar

Have you ever taken soft brown or muscovado sugar out of the cupboard and found it was rock solid? If this has happened to you and you need to know how to fix it using the microwave rather than a hammer, please see here.

Can I bake these cookies directly from the fridge?

Unlike many recipes, these cookies do not have to be chilled prior to baking. They can be cooked as soon as they are made. However, if you want to prepare the dough ahead of time, simply store them covered in the fridge for up to 3 days and then bake them, directly from the fridge, when you are ready.

What is the best way to store these cookies?

When you store cookies, it is important to cover them and store in an airtight container. They keep well for 3 – 4 days at room temperature or 5 – 6 days in the fridge. However, if you are storing them in the fridge, remember to take them out to warm up to room temperature before you serve them.

Can I freeze these cookies?

Yes you can! You can freeze the cookies prior to cooking and after cooking.

Freeze prior to cooking:

One of the wonderful things about this recipe (and most cookies in general to be fair) is that you can make a big batch and freeze them uncooked, but oven ready. To freeze, place them on a baking parchment lined board or baking tray, cover with cling film and place in the freezer until solid. As soon as the dough balls are frozen, they can be transferred into labelled freezer bags or containers. They can be cooked directly from frozen. Freshly baked warm cookies on demand – what is not to like?

Cook directly from the freezer:

Bake directly from frozen, as described in the recipe. Simply allow 1 – 2 extra minutes bake time.

Freeze after cooking:

These cookies can also be frozen after you have cooked them. Freeze in labelled or sealed containers/bags for up to 3 months.

Made this recipe?

If you make this recipe, do please tag me on instagram @daffodil_kitchen. You could also leave a comment in the box directly below the recipe.