Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (with Coconut)

Brown butter is quite the craze lately and it's easy to see why.  It turns plain butter into a caramelly/toffee tasting substance which is SO yummy to cook with.  These cookies were really delicious but I couldn't help but think how much yummier they would be if they morphed with my new favorite cookie recipe-  Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Cookies

This brown butter cookie is SUCH a great base but I think it could be even better if you added the mix-ins from the cookie above. If you want to do this I wrote the step into the recipe for you, but you'll need 3/4 cup broken pretzels, 3/4 cup peanut butter chips, and 1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips.

There is coconut in this recipe but you can't really taste it.  It is more of a texture thing.  You can omit it if you want or replace it with oats.

Brown Butter Toasted Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recipe adapted from Joy the Baker

-1 cup butter (2 sticks), melted and browned to about 3/4 cup butter

-1 cup sugar

-3/4 cup brown sugar

-1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

-2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (12.5 oz)

-3/4 teaspoon baking soda

-3/4 teaspoon salt

-1 large egg

-1 large egg yolk

-1/3 cup toasted coconut (omit if doing the pretzel version)

-1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Place coconut in a cold skillet and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly until toasted.  (Careful because it goes from toasted to burnt quickly.)  Pour immediately into a bowl to cool.

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly.  The butter will foam and crackle so don't be alarmed.  When the crackling stops and the butter turns brown and smells like toffee, it's time to take it off the heat.  This can burn really easy so watch it closely.  If it gets black and tastes bitter, it has burnt and you'll need to try again.

Pour immediately into a small bowl to cool.  (I just pour it into my glass pyrex.  It doesn't have to be 3/4 c exactly but if it's not even close it may not have browned enough.  If you have "extra butter" do NOT pour it out or your cookies will be rocks.  Use it all even if it's more than 3/4 c.)

Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.  

In an electric mixer, cream together both sugars and the 3/4 cup brown butter.  Add egg and egg yolk. Add vanilla. Beat for 2 minutes or until smooth. 

Pour in dry ingredients and beat just until combined. 

Fold in toasted coconut and chocolate chips.

(OR- For Milk Chocolate PB Pretzel version, add 3/4 cup broken pretzels, 1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips, and 3/4 cup peanut butter chips here.  Flatten each dough ball with your palm.  Adding all the mix-ins makes these bake up pretty much the exact shape as the dough.)

Form dough into Tbsp-sized balls and place on a baking sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for 9 to 12 minutes, until golden around the edges.  Let cool on the pan for about 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack.