Brown Butter Pistachio Chocolate Chip Cookies

Place the butter in a light-coloured saucepan over medium heat and cook, swirling often, until the milk solids turn deep golden brown and smell nutty. Immediately scrape the butter, including the toasted bits, into a mixing bowl to stop the cooking. Let it cool until warm but no longer hot, otherwise it can melt the sugar too aggressively.

Add the brown sugar and caster sugar to the browned butter and beat until glossy and well combined. Mix in the egg, extra yolk, and vanilla until the mixture looks slightly thickened and smooth. This extra yolk helps create a richer centre and improves chew without making the cookie cakey.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, and fine salt so the raising agents are evenly distributed. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and fold just until no dry streaks remain. Overmixing will toughen the dough, so stop as soon as everything comes together.

Roughly chop the dark chocolate into a mix of shards and chunks, and chop the pistachios so you get both small pieces and a few larger nuggets. Fold most of the chocolate and pistachios into the dough, reserving a little of each to press into the tops later for a bakery-style finish.

Portion the dough into 12 generous balls and place them on a lined tray. Press the reserved chocolate and pistachios onto the surface of each ball, then chill the tray for at least 30 minutes. Chilling firms the dough, controls spread, and gives the flour time to hydrate for thicker, more flavourful cookies.

Heat the oven to 190C. Bake the cookies in batches with plenty of space between them for 11 to 14 minutes, rotating the tray halfway through, until the edges are golden and set but the centres still look slightly underdone. They will continue cooking from residual heat once out of the oven.

As soon as the cookies come out, use a round cutter or glass to gently nudge them into neat circles if needed. Sprinkle with a tiny pinch of flaky salt and leave them on the tray for 10 minutes before moving. This rest allows the centres to set while staying soft and gooey.