Miso Chocolate Chip Cookies

This Miso Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe takes the beloved classic to a new level with an irresistible savory twist. Browned butter introduces rich, nutty notes while the deep umami of white miso paste harmonizes to create a comfortingly familiar and deliciously unique flavor profile. Each bite is a delightful balance of sweet and savory, enhanced by chunks of bittersweet dark chocolate that add just the right amount of indulgence!

Why This Recipe Works

• Browning the butter gives these cookies a rich, nutty flavor while reducing the water content of the butter, which gives the cookies a tender crumb. 
• Replacing the salt in this chocolate chip cookie recipe with miso adds more umami, making the browned butter’s flavor pop.
• This cookie dough is sweet, nutty, and savory, so using moderately bittersweet chocolate chunks (65-70%) creates a nice contrast without making the cookies too sweet. 

Why add Miso

Adding miso to chocolate chip cookies may sound unconventional, but it’s a culinary trick that makes perfect sense when you consider the science of flavor. Although umami is usually associated with savory dishes, it enhances the taste of all foods — including sweets. Ingredients like butter and chocolate are loaded with umami-producing glutamate. Miso, a fermented soybean paste, is another glutamate-rich ingredient that amplifies the nutty notes of the browned butter, creating a more robust and satisfying cookie. It also adds a subtle salty-sweet complexity that balances the sweetness of the sugar and chocolate.

Ingredients

• Cultured Unsalted Butter – The cream used to produce cultured unsalted butter (a.k.a. European butter) has been fermented before being churned, giving it a more buttery flavor. If you can’t find it, regular unsalted butter will work fine.
• ORGANIC MISO WHITE – Provides the salt while adding umami flavor to these brown butter chocolate chip cookies, balancing the sweetness and highlighting the browned butter flavor. White miso paste is milder than other varieties, providing subtle depth without overpowering. Other types such as yellow miso or red miso will work.
• All-purpose flour – Forms the structural foundation of the miso cookies, ensuring they have the right crumb and texture. For a gluten-free option, a gluten-free all-purpose flour blend can be used.
• Dark brown sugar – Adds a deep molasses flavor while contributing to the chewy texture of these miso cookies. Light brown sugar can be used for a milder taste.
• Baking soda – Acts as a leavening agent, helping these miso brown butter cookies rise. The baking soda also helps the cookies to brown.
• Granulated sugar – The flavor of brown sugar alone can be overpowering, so using regular white sugar provides additional sweetness without overwhelming the other ingredients.
• Large egg – Binds the ingredients together, adds moisture, and helps leaven the cookies.
• Vanilla extract – Enhances the overall depth of flavor of these miso chocolate chip cookies with its aromatic sweetness.
• Dark chocolate chunks – Using relatively high cacao (65-70%), chocolate chunks creates large bittersweet pockets that contrast beautifully with the sweet and savory notes of the miso cookies. You can also use semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips.

How to Make Miso Chocolate Chip Cookies

Start by browning the butter in a light-colored pan over medium-high heat. Once the water in the butter evaporates, the milk solids undergo a process known as the Maillard browning. As the butter browns, the milk solids caramelize, giving the cookies a rich, nutty flavor. Once the butter is golden brown and fragrant, quickly transfer it to the bowl of a mixer and whisk in the white miso.

In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients: flour, dark brown sugar, and baking soda.

Once the miso-butter mixture has cooled slightly, add granulated sugar, an egg, and vanilla extract. Whisk these together until smooth and creamy, which helps to create a stable emulsion and incorporate air for a lighter texture.

Switch to the paddle attachment of your mixer and add the dry ingredients. Fold the ingredients together at a low speed to avoid overmixing. Once the dough is barely combined, stir in the dark chocolate chunks, distributing them evenly throughout the dough.

Cover and refrigerate the dough for at least three hours (or preferably overnight). This allows the dry ingredients to hydrate fully, allowing the flavors to meld together. It also solidifies the butter, controlling the spread of the cookies.

When you’re ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 320°F (160°C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Portion the cookie dough using an ice cream scoop for consistency. Be sure to leave enough space between the balls of dough to prevent the cookies from melting into each other.

Bake the cookies until the edges are golden brown but the centers remain soft (about 12-14 minutes). When they’re done, let the miso chocolate chip cookies cool briefly to allow them to set up before transferring them to a wire cooling rack.