Brown Butter Pretzel M&M Cookies.

If you’ve been reading for awhile, you may be familiar with my favorite soft-baked chocolate chip cookie recipe.  Many of you have made these cookies and are hooked too!

The secret behind the cookies is adding a bit of cornstarch, which softens and expands the dough making the cookies extra thick in the process.  Think of how cornstarch thickens soups, gravies, and pie fillings – well, it does the same thing in cookie dough.

I’ve used this cookie dough base recipe with cornstarch in many of my cookie recipes, using all sorts of different add-ins like white chocolate and  caramel.  However, there is one thing that I have never done with this recipe: I’ve never changed the actual dough base.  Why fix it if it ain’t broke?

Craving something salty and sweet, I decided to take a risk and make the cookies in a very different way. And boy, am I glad I did! I used pretzel pieces, M&Ms, and browned butter.

And can I just say… wow! What a combination. Brown butter is my secret little weapon in the kitchen. It adds so much more concentrated, deep flavor to your baked good than creamed or melted butter would. Think lots of caramel and butterscotch undertones paired with a nutty aroma.

Brown butter makes something ordinary… extraordinary.

Even though I love brown butter so much, I have always favored using butter in its solid state over butter in its liquid state for my cookie recipes.  Comparatively speaking, creaming solid butter makes the cookie dough less greasy and prevents the cookies from spreading so much in the oven. My cookies are always thicker when I use creamed butter over melted/browned butter. 

I decided to test my super thick chocolate chip cookie recipe with browned butter.  Given the cornstarch and full teaspoon of baking soda in the cookie dough recipe, I figured using browned butter wouldn’t make my cookies flat like it usually does.  After browning the butter, I cooled it in the refrigerator in a shallow dish so it became solid again. Then I creamed it into the dough like I usually do.  Even though the brown butter was in its solid state after chilling it, it still is a bit more greasy than softened butter is.  However, the cornstarch worked its magic and the cookies still came out super thick.  Mission accomplished.  

Let’s talk about the secrets behind browning butter.

It’s pretty easy to overcook and burn butter when you are browning it.  Brown → Burnt is a VERY thin line, so you have to be very careful and watch it closely.  First, melt 1.5 sticks of unsalted butter in a saucepan. I usually do this over low-medium heat. Constantly stir the butter around with a whisk.  The butter will begin to bubble and get a bit foamy. Keep watching it and keep whisking it.  After 2-3 minutes of bubbling action, you’ll notice the color of the butter change to amber brown. Once you begin to see brown specks in the butter, remove it from heat – you’re done.

Brown butter smells amazing – kind of nutty and almost like pancakes. Am I the only one who thinks it smells like pancakes? Anyway, if you brown your butter for too long (even just 10 seconds too long), you’ll wind up with burnt butter. You’ll know you’ve burnt the butter just by its smell.  If you burn it, I suggest dumping it and starting over.

In short: browning butter is quite easy if you use visual cues like watching for the butter to turn an amber color with little specks of brown.  Constantly stir it, constantly watch it.  Use your nose and wait for that distinct nutty aroma.

The best part about using brown butter for this cookie recipe is that you don’t have to plan ahead and bring your butter to room temperature. You can use cold butter when you are browning it.

After you have your brown butter, be sure to chill it and allow the butter to become solid again – this step is mandatory to avoid your cookies from spreading too much in the baking process.  I’ve made these cookies twice now and the first time, I did not chill the brown butter. The cookies were MUCH thinner than today’s.

Using a shallow dish, cooling the brown butter to a solid state will take about two hours in the refrigerator.  Then, make the cookie dough as usual.  Using a mixer, cream the solid brown butter with your sugars. I always like to use more brown sugar than white sugar, which keeps the cookies extra moist and soft.  Then add the egg, vanilla, and the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt.  Isn’t that easy?

The nutty, caramel-y vibe from the brown butter pairs well with salty pretzels and chocolate. I used mini M&Ms for my sweet chocolate craving and pretzels for my salty craving.

Be sure to chill the dough again. Yes I know – chilling the brown butter and then chilling the dough?! Trust me on this.  Chilling the dough will make it much easier to handle, produce a much thicker cookie, and allows the flavors to get nice and friendly.  Chill the dough for 1 – 2 hours (or even overnight).  I chilled my dough for 2 hours before scooping and baking. The longer, the better.

You’ll have to roll the balls of dough with your hands and not scoop them with a cookie scoop – the warmth of your hands will allow the dough to come together quite well.  I rolled my balls of dough to be taller, rather than wide. See here for more details on a “tall” cookie dough ball.

The final result is one thick, flavorful cookie.  The nutty, caramel flavor notes from the brown butter, the salty and crunchy pretzel pieces, the sweet chocolate M&Ms, the moistness from the extra brown sugar… everything just works.  Brown butter is the ultimate secret ingredient and it’s something you already have in your kitchen.

The cookies get soft on day two and even softer on day 3, something you usually don’t find in cookie recipes.  I think that’s the best part about them.

Give me a soft cookie over a dry, crispy cookie any day!

The cornstarch ratio with the baking soda and flour produces an extra thick and soft cookie. Chewy around the edges, soft and melty on the inside. The dough itself is fantastic! You’ll love the way it tastes, even without the extra sweet & salty add-ins.  But those are mandatory, right?!

Do you like salty/sweet treats as much as I do?

I like to use brown butter in recipes where I’m looking to add a little complex background flavor.

My favorite blondie recipe uses brown butter:

Brown Butter Pretzel M&M Blondies

I used brown butter in a recent oatmeal cookie recipe, too.  For those cookies, I made sure to chill the brown butter and bring it to a solid state before creaming it in with the sugars – just like what I did in today’s recipe. Works like a charm!

Brown Butter Milky Way Oatmeal Cookies

Pretzels and M&Ms are no strangers to my cookie recipes:

White Chocolate Covered Pretzel Cookies (using the same dough as today’s cookie)

Rainbow M&M Cookies

Bite-Sized Peanut Butter Pretzel M&M Cookies

Butterscotch Pretzel Chocolate Chip Cookies

Soft-Baked Peanut Butter Monster Cookies

More from Sally's Baking Addiction:

Tagged as: brown sugar, browned butter, candy in cookies, Cookies, cornstarch, eggs, M&Ms, pretzels, white sugar