Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups

I love a classic chocolate chip cookie. I mean, who doesn't? But sometimes you need a little twist on an old favorite to keep things interesting. For me, that's the role that these chocolate chip cookie cups play. They are a great way to enjoy that chocolate chip cookie flavor that you love, but they're fun and different enough so that they're not the "same old thing." Although, sometimes of course, I do want that same old thing!

These cookie cups could not be any easier to put together. The dough comes together in about 10 minutes, and it's all in one bowl, without a mixer. And the recipe calls for normal ingredients that I'd put money on are already in your pantry. Woohoo!

The recipe for these cookie cups is from Averie Cooks, a blog that has so many amazing recipes. So many!! I pretty much want to make every recipe that she makes. :)

A few points to share with you... The recipe is going to have you brown the butter. Browning butter is pretty simple, so don't be intimidated by that factor! Browned butter adds such great flavor to a recipe; it adds an extra nuttiness and richness that really enhances the flavors of baked goodies. Also, the recipe calls for bread flour. If you do not have bread flour, don't worry. You can also use all-purpose flour. I ended up using a combination of the two when I made this. Averie recommends bread flour because it has a stronger rise and increases the chewiness of your goodies. Good to know!!

Ingredients:

-1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

-1 large egg

-3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

-1/4 cup granulated sugar

-2 tsp. vanilla extract

-1 and 1/2 cups bread flour (or all-purpose, or a combination of the two)

-1/2 tsp. baking soda

-1/2 tsp. salt

-1 and 1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 12-cup non-stick muffin pan generously with cooking spray. In a skillet or saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat, stirring almost constantly the whole time. The butter will melt, foam, turn clear, golden, then brown, and then will smell nutty. As soon as the butter begins to brown, remove it from the heat to prevent it from burning. Continue to stir for about a minute while off the heat. Set aside for a few minutes to let the butter cool so that when you add the egg to it, the egg won't scramble.

In a large mixing bowl, pour the butter. Add the egg, both sugars, and vanilla, and whisk to combine until smooth. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt, and stir until well-incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips. Divide the dough evenly among the 12 muffin cups; each one will be about 2/3 to 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, or until the tops are lightly golden brown. Be careful not to overbake these, as they will firm up and be less chewy in texture if you do. After removing from the oven, let sit for 20 minutes in the pan. This seems like a lot, but it's very helpful when it comes time to take the cookie cups out. To remove the cups, you can try flipping the muffin pan over and they may come out easily. If not, use a rubber spatula to gently dislodge the cookie cups from the muffin pan. Cool completely and store in an airtight container for up to 5 days. You may also freeze these for up to 3 months. Makes 12 cups.

Another nice thing about this recipe is that you don't have to be fussy when you're dropping the dough into the muffin cups. The dough will spread and form to the shape of the pan. Easy!

Sorry for the poor quality of this picture, but I wanted to include it so you could see how the outer edges will look when the cookie cups are done. The outer edges will be firmer than the middle part, and they'll be a bit darker golden brown too.

I wasn't sure if the cups would come out of the muffin pan easily, but mine did! It was a breeze to get them out.

I really liked the texture of these cookie cups. They were extremely soft and chewy, and I'm guessing that had something to do with using bread flour! I don't think I'd ever think to do that, but what a great tip!

The amount of chocolate chips in this recipe was spot on as well. A good chocolate chip recipe has to have the right ratio of cookie dough to chips, right?!

I made the huge sacrifice of taste testing one of these so that I could take a picture of the inside of the cookie cup. You are welcome. :) It was tough, but someone had to do it!

Have a great start to your week, everyone!