Chocolate Chip Crunch Cookies

Chocolate Chip Crunch Cookies - made dough August 11, 2018 from The Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke

This is the second of three chocolate chip cookie recipes I tried at once. Or at least I made the doughs on the same day. I was working from home a few Saturdays ago and while I was waiting to hear back from my various coworkers, I whiled away the time making cookie dough. Since I couldn't leave home as I had to collaborate back and forth with some work that had a Sunday night deadline, I might as well be productive, right?

I don't often try out recipes from my mystery books yet I read culinary mysteries partly for that reason. I've read the Hannah Swensen mysteries by Joanne Fluke almost from the beginning but have given up in recent years when her "love triangle" never resolved itself until she made it a square. After all that emotional investment into the characters (will it be Mike? But how about Norman? What, who's this other guy?), I couldn't continue the journey any longer. But I digress.

Whether you like the mysteries or not, a new chocolate chip cookie recipe in the first one almost begs to be tried. Although I've actually had this book for years and only just now tried this recipe. Mostly because it called for the use of cornflakes and I've never jumped on the cornflakes-in-cookies craze. But since I've discovered feuilletine, I decided it would make a great substitute for the cornflakes.

I thought they would remain airy-crispy in the cookie but alas, no. Actually it was hard to get any texture from them at all once they were mixed into the dough. I think the liquid of the brown butter did them in and instead they contributed a texture similar to what I would have gotten had I added oatmeal to the dough. More of a chewiness rather than a crispiness. Bummer.

However, all was not lost since, as with all recipes involving browned butter, the nice thing about using it, besides the flavor it contributes to the cookie, is, if you time it right and mix the dough while the brown butter has cooled enough not to cook the eggs when you stir them in but is still warm enough that when you add the chocolate chips at the end, the chips partially melt into the dough itself. Some remain intact but others melt into the dough, imparting a richness of flavor and texture that's a notch above your average chocolate chip cookie. This might still be crunchy if you stick to cornflakes but overall the flavor was pretty good. And they didn't spread very much, always a positive in my (mystery) book.

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups feuilletine
1 to 2 cups chocolate chips

1. Combine melted butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Add baking soda, salt, vanilla and eggs. Mix well.
2. Add flour and mix until just combined. Fold in feuilletine and chocolate chips.
3. Portion into golf-ball-size dough balls and flatten into thick discs. Cover and chill or freeze for several hours or overnight.
4. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Evenly space chilled dough discs and bake for 8-10 minutes or until edges are golden brown and middles no longer look raw. Remove from heat, cool on cookie sheets for 2-3 minutes then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.