Bourbon Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm not a fan of bourbon at all (too strong for my taste), but last week, I ended up getting a bottle to make a tasty-looking bourbon molasses pork recipe. It turned out great, but now I have this giant bottle of bourbon that I'm certainly not going to drink!

Luckily, the bourbon isn't going to go bad anytime soon, so I can take my time baking and cooking through it. Last night was a bourbon kitchen fest - bourbon chicken AND these featured bourbon cookies. Even after all of that, the bottle is still more than two-thirds full. Guess I'll be using it for the next year or so. 

The cookies pack quite of bit of flavor. Besides bourbon, they also contain browned butter (which I have used in recipes in the past). Browned butter may seem daunting to make, but it just takes patience and a watchful eye to make sure the butter doesn't burn. You simply just melt the butter and keep heating it until it begins to caramelize and turn brown. My recipe below has more details on how to do this properly!

And since it's September, the cookies also have cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice because if Starbucks can start selling Pumpkin Spice Lattes now, we can all start using fall spices. 

To top it all off, I also threw in chocolate chips, because why not? Bourbon goes well with chocolate, right? (Especially in cookie form). 

Here's to the end of summer and the start of fall baking!

Bourbon Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (makes 18 cookies)
Adapted from Dixie Crystals

• 12 Tbsp (1½ sticks) unsalted butter
• 200g (1 cup) dark brown sugar
• 100g (½ cup) white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 3 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsp bourbon 
• 312g (2½ cups) flour
• 1½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• ¾ tsp ground cinnamon 
• ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
• ¼ tsp ground allspice
• ~1 cup of milk chocolate chips

1. Make the brown butter: melt the butter over medium heat in a small saucepan. Whisk constantly as the butter slowly begins to brown after a few minutes. Brown bits will start collecting at the bottom of the pan. Keep stirring until butter is golden brown and smells nutty. 
2. Remove browned butter from heat and let cool in fridge. 
3. Mix cooled browned butter with the sugars in a stand mixer on medium speed until smooth.
4. Mix in egg, yolk, and vanilla extract, followed by the bourbon, and continue mixing until completely combined. The batter should be thin and smooth. 
5. Mix the flour with the baking soda, salt, and spices in a separate bowl, and then add the dry ingredients to the wet. Mix slowly until just combined.
6. Fold in chocolate chips. 
7. Wrap dough in saran wrap and chill in fridge for at least 1 hour. 
8. Preheat oven to 325F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
9. Using a cookie scoop (or your hands), form dough into 3 Tbsp balls and place at least two inches apart (cookies will spread as they bake). 
10. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the bottoms are browned. Let cool.
11. Enjoy!