Dina Ávila/Eater
Three kinds of chips, brown butter, and a six-ounce scoop: How Paola Velez makes her signature thick’ems cookies
This is the first recipe in Paola Velez’s cookbook, Bodega Bakes, and it’s easy to see why: soft, chewy, and as thick as their name promises, these cookies are proof of the maxim that sometimes, more than enough is just enough. Three kinds of chips — milk chocolate, semisweet chocolate, and butterscotch — conspire with the nutty undertone of browned butter to create a cookie that, as Velez writes, “combines all the good parts of a crispy cookie and the gooey parts of a softly baked cookie.” They are also ideal dinner party cookies, as each one has the majestic heft of a slice of cake, making them an occasion unto themselves.
OG Chocolate Chip Thick’ems Recipe
From Bodega Bakes by Paola Velez
Makes 8 thiiiiiicckkk cookies
Ingredients:
For the browned butter:
2 cups (4 sticks/450 grams) unsalted butter
For the cookies:
1 cup (225 grams) browned butter at room temperature
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (235 grams) lightly packed light brown sugar
¾ cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2¼ teaspoons vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
3¼ cups (450 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
6 ounces (170 grams) dark chocolate, chopped, or 1 cup (170 grams) semisweet chocolate chips
3 ounces (85 grams) milk chocolate, chopped, or ½ cup (85 grams) milk chocolate chips
¼ cup (40 grams) butterscotch chips
Instructions:
For the browned butter:
Step 1: In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. When it begins to foam, start whisking frequently and watch carefully so it doesn’t burn. Cook until the butter is brown and smells nice and toasty and the milk solids have browned and settled to the bottom of the pan, about 10 minutes. Immediately remove from the heat and transfer the browned butter to a nonreactive bowl so it doesn’t keep browning from the residual heat of the pan. Let cool to room temperature before using. Store in a nonreactive airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
For the cookies:
Step 1: Line one large or two small baking sheets with parchment paper.
Step 2: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the browned butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar on medium-low speed until aerated and paler in color, 4 to 5 minutes. With the mixer on medium-low speed, add the eggs one at a time, mixing until evenly incorporated and scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl after each addition. Add the vanilla and mix to incorporate.
Step 3: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda to combine. Add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl with the wet ingredients and pulse the mixer on and off, almost like you’re trying to jump-start a car, so the flour gets gradually incorporated without flying all over your kitchen. When the dry ingredients are mostly combined, turn off the mixer and add the dark and milk chocolates and the butterscotch chips. Mix on medium-low speed until all the flour is incorporated and the chocolate and butterscotch are evenly distributed.
Step 4: Using a 6-ounce cookie scoop or ¾ cup measuring cup, scoop balls of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between the cookies and at least 1 inch between the cookies and the edges of the pan. Use your fingers to lightly flatten the tops — this will help the cookies spread as they bake instead of staying domed. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Step 5: The next day, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the cookies for 15 to 18 minutes, until crispy and golden brown on the outside but still gooey on the inside. Remove from the oven and let rest on the baking sheet for 4 to 5 minutes. These are best served warm, but no one has ever turned their nose up at one that was room temp, either.
Dina Ávila is a photographer living in Portland, Oregon.
Recipe tested by Ivy Manning
Excerpted from Bodega Bakes by Paola Velez (Union Square & Co.). Copyright © 2024.
