Introducing my Browned Butter, Banana, Cardamom, Choc-Chip Cookies
No eggs? No worries!
No eggs? No worries!
Tired of using those overripe bananas in yet another banana bread? Read on!
As Kylie Minogue asks in her 2020 hit, ‘Do you believe in magic?’ After you’ve tried these cookies, you will!
Sometimes a recipe comes together that solves a whole raft of kitchen conundrums. This egg-free recipe, based on Nicola Lamb’s Brown Butter Banana Cookie recipe from her ground-breaking book Sift: The Elements of Great Baking, is one of these magical recipes.
You may be asking “Adam, do we really need another choc-chip cookie recipe?” A valid question, and one I asked myself while I was experimenting with this recipe. It seems every baker has a choc-chip cookie recipe they swear by. Even I have a version of the classic Australian Women’s Weekly choc-chip cookie recipe over on my website. But rest assured, this one is definitely worth your attention, with seemingly impossible amounts of flavour in each bite.
The magic starts with the ultimate flavour triumvirate of banana, cardamom, and chocolate. Like Madonna, Britney, and Christina coming together at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2003, these three ingredients create a profoundly unforgettable moment. Banana leads the charge in this trio, so like with banana bread, the riper the bananas, the better. I’m talking those breathtakingly black bananas that seem to be on the verge of disintegration even before your hand reaches to pick them up.
The cardamom plays off the sweetness of the ripe bananas beautifully. Here I’ve used seeds rather than ground cardamom, for two reasons. Firstly, the seeds hold their flavour longer than ground cardamom, which can dull very quickly. Secondly, rather than spreading its flavour evenly throughout each cookie, cardamom seeds greedily hold on to their flavour until you crunch them when you bite. The hidden seeds create blissful moments of citrusy-floral joy as you munch away, which I just love. And all of this marries perfectly with the chunks of chocolate.
Then there’s the ingredient de jour - browned butter. Like Lady Gaga, browned butter is everywhere right now. And rightly so! (Can you tell I’ve been listening to the world’s greatest pop divas lately?!) The investment of 15-20 minutes standing by the stove is all this recipe asks of you in exchange for a deeply nutty and complex flavour. I’ve included some detailed notes describing the stages of browning butter in the recipe below, so if you’ve never tried it before, consider this your sign to give it a go.
However, if you’re in a pinch and need to use un-browned butter, be sure to reduce the amount in the recipe to 200g and simply melt it in the microwave. The browning process evaporates the water content of the butter, reducing the overall volume by about 18-20%, which is why you need less butter if you’re skipping this step.
Finally, I’ve written about resting your cookie and biscuit dough before, and I will repeat it again and again until every baker rests their butter-based cookie and biscuit dough! Seizing the power of time will level-up the flavour and how well your cookies bake.
I know waiting can be the hardest thing, so my advice is to cook a tray-full of your cookies the day you make the dough to satisfy your cookie craving, and then cook the rest the next day, or up to 72 hours later. Your tastebuds will thank you. If you have any un-baked dough left after 72 hours, freeze it for a future cookie emergency.
Alright, that’s enough from me – put on some Kylie Minogue and get baking!
Recipe - Browned Butter, Banana, Cardamom, Choc-Chip Cookies
Ingredients
250g unsalted butter (or 200g of melted butter if you’re skipping the browning process)
150g caster sugar
150g brown sugar (light or dark)
150g very ripe bananas (2 smallish bananas, or 1 large banana)
300g plain flour
1 teaspoon bicarb soda
1 teaspoon cardamom seeds
80g rolled oats
A solid pinch of salt (about ½ teaspoon)
200g chocolate chips of your choice (dark, milk and/or white - I used all three)
Method
Start by browning your butter. Dice the butter into cubes and then place it in a medium, heavy-based saucepan on medium/low heat, stirring continuously until melted. Stir the butter occasionally as the butter browns – about 10 – 15 minutes. Here are the stages your butter will go through:
The milk solids will start to separate, and you’ll start seeing white dots bubble and simmer to the surface.
The butter will then start to boil and foam.
As the butter continues to brown, the foam will subside and continue to boil. The sound may be reminiscent of what you hear when you’re deep-frying. Remember to give the butter a gentle stir every now and then to loosen any milk solids that have settled on the bottom of the saucepan.
After a few more minutes, the butter will start to foam up again in a more dramatic way than it did before. Browned, caramelised milk solids will start to emerge on the surface of the foam. This is when you immediately take the butter off the heat and leave to cool for an hour or so, in a medium, heatproof bowl.
Once the butter has cooled, add the sugars to the butter and mix to combine. Add in the mashed bananas and mix again. Add in all the remaining ingredients and mix until completely combined.
Line two baking trays with baking paper. Use a cookie scoop to portion out balls of dough onto the prepared trays, placing as many balls of dough on each tray as you can.
A cookie scoop is a mini ice-cream scoop. If you don’t have one of these, create balls of dough just shy of golf ball size by using a tablespoon or dessert spoon and your hands.
Once all the dough has been scooped out, place the trays in the fridge for 30-60 minutes to firm up.
When you’re ready to bake the cookies, preheat your oven to 170 degrees C. Place 8 – 12 of the cookie dough balls (depending on the size of your tray) on a lined tray, leaving 3 – 4 cm between each ball. Bake for 17-20 minutes, or until golden brown.
Leave to cool on the tray for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Any unbaked dough can be stored on the tray in the fridge, covered in plastic wrap, for a maximum of three days.
Stay sweet
Adam x