Brown Butter and Salted Chocolate Cookies

Put the butter into a small saucepan and set over a medium-high heat. Allow the butter to melt and bubble, swirling the pan every so often. As the bubbling starts to subside and a fine, cappuccino-like foam appears on the surface of the butter, remove it from the heat. You should smell a strong hazelnut aroma.

Put the butter into the bowl of a mixer fitted with paddle attachment and add the sugars and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until the sugar is well mixed into the butter – scrape down the sides of the bowl every so often. 

Add the egg and beat to fully incorporate. 

Sift together the flour, salt, bicarb, baking powder and nutmeg, then add to the mixer along with all but a handful of the chopped chocolate. Beat to a uniform dough. Chill for 30 minutes. 

Preheat the oven to 190C/170C fan and line the base of 2-3 baking sheets with baking paper. Weigh the dough, then divide its weight by 16 to give you the precise weight of each portion of dough. Weigh the dough accordingly into 16 portions. Roll each into a ball, then dip the top into the remaining chopped chocolate. 

Put portions of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, ensuring you leave plenty of space between each ball of dough for spreading – you will need to bake these in batches. Bake for 11-15 minutes, until puffed up and golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the trays.