Brown Butter Toffee & Macadamia Nut Chocolate Chip Cookies.

It's 2013... and I am still baking cookies absolutely everything with brown butter. 

I know. Now is the time for new. It's the time to be unexpected and bold, to make changes and lists and resolutions, to really get out there and live differently and adventurously and by the seat of our pants. I think it might also be the time for salads and juicing and getting ourselves to the gym... but let's just pretend no one ever said that. 

I mean, be real: let's celebrate the new year with salads! ... said absolutely no one ever.

Personally I think January is more about taking the best bits of 2012 and infusing them into our new year. Like... how I ate my weight in milk chocolate toffee-covered macadamia nuts last fall in Hawaii. How I discovered a favorite new way to bake perfect chocolate chip cookies... and fell in love with a simple fancy way to sass up basically anything: golden, nutty brown butter. 

Since 2012 started with triple fudge oreo cruch cookies, I'm of the mind that 2013 should start exactly the same: with loaded-up chocolate chip cookies. 

Unrelated: should I be worried that most of my new year's resolutions have to do with butter and brown sugar? Like... bake on the edge, be more adventurous, create new recipes, try new things, figure out vanilla beans, and seriously... bake a pie. No? Okay, good. 

There are some new things happening here though! Things like... there are nuts in my chocolate chip cookies. This is definitely an unexpected seat-of-the-pants situation... because the only thing I ever want in my chocolate chip cookies is more chocolate.

Oh hey. There's sea salt on these cookies too. That's totally living bold.

And there's this one new shiny, cherry-red thing in my life. It's totally not a big deal except it is.

In love/obsessed/cannot even deal.

These cookies are also kind of a big deal and start with my go-to chocolate chip cookie base (and one of my personal most-made cookie recipes from last year): brown butter chocolate chunk cookies. They were an instant 2012 favorite... buttery soft, perfectly chewy, extra thick, and full of that rich, nutty brown butter flavor that made them something more than just another chocolate chip cookie.

As if "just another" chocolate chip cookie could ever be a bad thing.

And the rest is just straight cookie math. 3/4 cup of everything within arm's reach went into these cookies. Crushed milk chocolate-covered toffee pieces + dark chocolate chips + chunks of macadamia nuts + a sprinkle of sea salt = the only way to really start the new year.

And... done. We're officially in this 2013 thing. Happy new year (21 days late)!

Brown Butter Toffee & Macadamia Nut Chocolate Chip Cookies

Printable Recipe

1 cup (2 sticks) + 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup dark chocolate chips

3/4 cup chopped macadamia nuts

3/4 cup crushed toffee pieces (I used Heath milk chocolate toffee bits)

Coarse sea salt for sprinkling on top

Brown 1 stick plus 1 tablespoon butter (more information on browning butter here). Once butter is browned, remove from heat and pour into a bowl to cool slightly.

In a stand mixture fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the other stick of butter with the granulated sugar until creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the vanilla and beat until incorporated. Add the slightly cooled brown butter and the brown sugar and mix on medium speed for about 2 minutes. Add the egg and egg yolk and mix until fully incorporated. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Add all at once to the butter mixture and mix on low speed until just incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips, macadamia nuts, and toffee pieces with a wooden spoon or spatula.

Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 375°F. Scoop dough into balls using a small cookie scoop and place 2-inches apart on a lightly greased or Silpat-lined baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until just starting to turn golden brown around the edges. Remove from oven and sprinkle with sea salt. Allow to cool 5 minutes on baking sheet before transferring to wire racks to cool completely. 

Source: Brown butter chocolate chip cookie recipe from the Joy the Baker cookbook.