Brown Butter Bourbon & Rye Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ok, so I didn’t plan it this way. I started working on this recipe about a month ago, with no concrete idea of when I’d have it ready. And it just so happens that the day I finally post it is National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day. Talk about serendipity! Let’s all give a hearty welcome to Brown Butter Bourbon & Rye Chocolate Chip Cookies.

I know I already have a boozy chocolate chip cookie recipe on my site (Kahlua Chocolate Chip Cookies), but can you really have too many recipes for chocolate chip cookies, much less boozy ones?? I don’t think so.

This recipe is adapted from Joy the Baker’s Best Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. I ran across her recipe recently, and fell in love. Brown butter is the best thing to happen to cookies since…well, butter…and I loved her addition of just a smidge of molasses and a longer dough chilling time to bring out those rich, caramel notes that make a chocolate chip cookie so irresistible. That caramel flavor immediately made me think of bourbon, so naturally I added some and wouldn’t you know it? It’s delicious.

I’ve also been playing around with whole grain flours lately, and have particularly enjoyed rye flour. It adds such great texture to baked goods, as well as a lovely earthy flavor that’s not overpowering. In this cookie, it blends beautifully with the nutty brown butter and sweet, caramelly bourbon, and adds just a slight chewiness. In a word, YUM.

Chill, and don’t be afraid of brown butter!

Browning your butter might seem like an unnecessary step at best, and a little scary at worst (what if I burn it?). But trust me when I say it’s not that scary, and once you try it you’ll be hooked. Seriously, it’s life-changing (do I need to get out more? Probably, but still – it’s SO GOOD). Check my post here where I walk you through how to do it.

Also, this recipe calls for chilling your dough for at least 2 hours. I know, I know, we all hate it when recipes say that. But you guys, this is a CRUCIAL step. Chilling the dough allows the fats to solidify, which helps keep your cookies from spreading too much when baking. Also, and maybe more importantly, chilling the dough allows the flours and sugars to absorb the fats from the other ingredients to create that rich, caramelly flavor we’re looking for. I found that chilling my dough for 24 hours resulted in the best flavor, though I don’t blame you if you don’t want to wait that long for cookies. A couple of hours should do the trick.

After all of this hard work and waiting, you’ll end up with the boozy, nutty, chocolate-puddled cookie of your dreams. It’s worth it. Especially on National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day.

Print Recipe

Brown Butter Bourbon & Rye Chocolate Chip Cookies

Nutty brown butter and sweet, caramelly bourbon blend with earthy rye flour and deep dark chocolate to create the best darn chocolate chip cookie you've ever had. Adapted from Joy the Baker's Best Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Prep Time45 minutes mins

Cook Time10 minutes mins

Chill Dough2 hours hrs

Total Time2 hours hrs 55 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Brown Butter Bourbon & Rye Chocolate Chip Cookies, Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Servings: 32 cookies

Ingredients

• 1 c butter softened
• 1 c light brown sugar packed
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 T bourbon
• 1 tsp molasses
• 1/2 c granulated sugar
• 1 lg egg
• 1 lg egg yolk
• 1 c rye flour
• 1 1/4 c all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 c bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate chunks
• 1/2 c pecans coarsely chopped
• coarse sea salt to sprinkle

Instructions

• Brown HALF of the butter (leave the other half at room temp to soften). See my post on "Brown Butter" for instructions. Pour brown butter into a bowl or other container to cool for 20 minutes.
• In a small bowl, combine the rye and all purpose flours, salt, and soda. Set aside.
• Beat the other half of the butter with the brown sugar until smooth, about 2-3 minutes on medium speed.
• Add vanilla, bourbon, and molasses and mix until combined.
• Add the COOLED brown butter and the granulated sugar. Beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes on medium speed.
• Add egg and yolk. Beat until well combined, about 1 minute.
• Add flour mixture and mix on low just until combined. You should still have some bits of unmixed flour throughout the dough.
• Fold in chocolate chunks and pecans, using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula.
• Refrigerate dough for a couple of hours or overnight (or at least 30 minutes if you can't wait that long:)). This step is CRUCIAL – don't skip chilling your dough!

  When you're ready to bake, set the dough out at room temperature for 10-15 minutes to soften up a bit (it will make scooping easier).
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Using a cookie scoop or your hands, form dough into about 2T balls and place 2" apart on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle each one with a little coarse sea salt.
• Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until beginning to brown around the edges. They'll be a tad doughy in the middle, but will continue to cook as they cool on the cookie sheet.
• Remove from oven and allow to cool on cookie sheet for a bit (10ish minutes), then move cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely.