Gently bronzing Lard Ass Unsalted Cultured Butter intensifies its naturally rich flavour, creating warm notes of hazelnut, caramel and toasted milk. Folded through a chewy cookie dough with generous chunks of dark chocolate, it produces crisp edges, soft centres and a buttery depth that ordinary chocolate-chip cookies simply don't have.
INGREDIENTS
200g Lard Ass Unsalted Cultured Butter
1 tbsp full cream milk
¾ cup (165g) brown sugar, firmly packed
½ cup (110g) caster sugar
1 large egg
1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1¾ cups (280g) plain flour
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp fine sea salt
220g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
Flaky sea salt, to finish
METHOD
Place the Lard Ass Unsalted Cultured Butter in a light-coloured saucepan over medium-low heat. Allow it to melt, then continue cooking as it foams, swirling the pan occasionally.
Watch closely as the foam begins to settle and golden flecks appear on the base of the pan. Once the butter smells nutty and turns a deep golden amber, immediately pour it into a heatproof mixing bowl, including all the toasted milk solids. Leave to cool for 15 minutes.
Stir the milk into the bronzed butter. This replaces some of the moisture lost during cooking and helps keep the cookies soft and chewy.
Add the brown sugar and caster sugar, whisking until glossy and well combined.
Whisk in the egg, egg yolk and vanilla extract.
In a separate bowl, combine the plain flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and fine sea salt.
Fold the dry ingredients into the butter mixture until almost combined. Add the chopped chocolate and fold gently until evenly distributed.
Cover and refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour. Chilling allows the butter to firm and prevents the cookies from spreading too quickly.
Preheat the oven to 180°C conventional or 160°C fan-forced. Line two large baking trays, approximately 30 × 40cm, with baking paper.
Divide the dough into 20 portions, each about 40g or roughly a generous tablespoon. Roll into balls and place 10 on each tray, leaving around 5cm between them to allow for spreading.
Bake for 10–12 minutes, until the edges are golden but the centres still look slightly soft.
Finish with a light scattering of flaky sea salt, then leave the cookies on the trays for 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack.
TIP
The difference between nutty, amber butter and burnt butter is only a matter of seconds. Because high-fat cultured butter browns quickly, stay beside the stove and remove it from the heat as soon as the milk solids turn deep golden and smell toasted.
