Oh, mid-November with your cadet blue skies, indecisive sun and smouldering nostalgia.
The Buttered Pine Cone, Lemonatry, The Kitchen Cardigan, Ah Choux, Northern Noshings...these were just a few blog names that I tossed around in my head before landing on une gamine dans la cuisine (waaay back in the spring of '09!).
Sometimes I wish I'd gone with something more simple (and perhaps less coy?).
But I'm not always simple and I can be, at times, coy. So I'm content with the name. It's become an extension of me, an homage to a mischievous childhood nickname that was pliable enough to extend its flour coated + brownie-stained fingers into adulthood. I hope that everyone who follows along with me, new and old, feels a certain sense of familiarity when they visit. The visage may have gone through several changes but at its caramelized heart, une gamine has always maintained an unadulterated love for sugar, carbs, butter, lemons and copious amounts of chocolate chip cookies.
There shall be more. Many, many, more.
I'm no longer going to rationalize my need to make chocolate chip cookies. It's here to stay. I've tried tossing it aside, but with its boomerang arc, escape is futile.
In my defense, I do try and change things up for you with each recipe...
This time I used fresh ginger to heat things up. The ginger is rubbed into the sugar, lemon zest style, before merging with the classic contenders--flour, brown sugar, vanilla, and oh yes, brown butter. I also threw in 2oz of chopped unsweetened chocolate (because I ran out of dark and because unsweetened chopped chocolate makes chocolate chip cookies insanely decadent!).
This recipe stands on its own so I'm not going to score, rank, or label it with a numerical value. Just know that the cookies are thick, spiced, chewy, Massive, and cosy. They're the sort of cookies that one would expect to see wrapped up in crinkly wax paper, resting alongside steaming cups of coffee, on any outdoor table of any given bakery.
Truly, Love is a warm chocolate chip cookie.
Ginger and Brown Butter Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies
makes about 11 large cookies
what you'll need
11 Tablespoons butter, softened to room temperature
1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract (yes, that's I Tablespoon)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons fresh ground ginger (or 1 teaspoon ground ginger)
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup + 3 Tablespoons light brown sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
5 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
Fleur de sel, for sprinkling (optional but highly recommend)
method
Melt 10 Tablespoons of butter in a medium saucepan (set the remaining 1 Tablespoon aside). Cook over medium heat, swirling occasionally, until the butter turns brown and develops a rich nutty aroma- about 5-8 minutes, depending on the heat. {Note: The butter will go through a "foamy" stage, once it settles down, keep a close watch on the colour.} Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the granulated sugar and fresh ginger. Use your fingers to rub the ginger into the sugar until it's slightly moistened and fragrant; Set aside. {Note: If you're using ground ginger, just toss it in with the dry ingredients.}
In a separate large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and brown sugar (and ground ginger, if using instead of fresh). Add this mixture to the bowl of granulated sugar/ginger. Whisk to combine. Add the cooled brown butter and the remaining 1 Tablespoon of butter. Using the paddle attachment, beat on med-low until you're left with something that resembles clumpy, wet sand. Add the egg and beat on low until just combined. Switch over to a large rubber spatula and fold in both chopped chocolates.{Note: My batter was a tad dry, but once I started forming the dough into cookies, it became more cohesive.}
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. For each cookie, measure out about a 1/3 cup of dough. Form each into a ball, place on the cookie sheet, and flatten slightly (to a little less than 1/2-inch thickness). Once all the dough has been measured out, cover the sheet with plastic wrap and chill for about 12 hours. {Note: The longer you chill the dough, the better the flavour!}
When you're ready to bake: Preheat the oven to 400 F. Line another cookie sheet with parchment paper. Place about 4 cookies on the sheet--leave about 1-inch of space between each cookie. Sprinkle with a little bit of Fleur de sel (if using). Bake for 8-11 minutes, or until the cookies are light golden in colour. {Note: My cookies were perfect after 9 minutes.} The cookies may look uncooked in the middle but they will firm up as they cool. Remove the sheet from the oven and allow the cookies to rest for about 8 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.
recipe adapted from Top with Cinnamon
