Hojicha Brown Butter Cookies (Print Version)

Rich brown butter and roasted hojicha create perfectly balanced cookies with crisp edges and chewy centers.

# What You'll Need:

→ Dry Ingredients

01 - 2 cups all-purpose flour
02 - 2 tablespoons hojicha powder
03 - 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
04 - 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

→ Wet Ingredients

05 - 3/4 cup unsalted butter
06 - 1 cup packed brown sugar
07 - 1/4 cup granulated sugar
08 - 1 large egg, room temperature
09 - 1 egg yolk, room temperature
10 - 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

# Step-by-Step Guide:

01 - Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
02 - In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Continue cooking and stirring frequently until butter foams and turns golden brown with nutty aroma, approximately 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool for 10 minutes.
03 - In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, hojicha powder, baking soda, and salt.
04 - In a large bowl, combine browned butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Whisk until smooth. Add egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract, mixing until fully incorporated.
05 - Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Stir until just combined without overmixing.
06 - Scoop tablespoon-sized mounds of dough onto prepared baking sheets, spacing them approximately 2 inches apart.
07 - Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until edges are golden and centers remain soft.
08 - Let cookies cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack for complete cooling.

# Top Tips:

01 -
  • The brown butter does something almost magical—it tastes like you've been baking for hours when you've really only spent five minutes on the stovetop.
  • Hojicha gives you that toasted, caramel sweetness without any grassy tea flavor, so even people skeptical of tea in desserts end up asking for the recipe.
02 -
  • The brown butter must cool completely before mixing with the eggs, or you'll end up with scrambled cookie dough—I learned this the hard way and had to start over.
  • Removing the cookies when they look slightly underbaked is essential; they set as they cool and will turn into exactly the texture you want instead of becoming hard and crumbly.
03 -
  • Room temperature eggs blend into the dough more smoothly and create a better emulsion with the butter—take them out of the fridge before you start browning your butter.
  • The extra egg yolk is the secret; it creates a custard-like richness that makes the center fudgy while the edges crisp, which is the exact texture balance that makes people keep reaching for cookies.
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