I’m no cookie snob: I’ll buy a package of store-bought cookies and eat a whole sleeve of them in one sitting with no complaints. But I think we can all agree that even the best store-bought cookies don’t hold a candle to the homemade ones. And once you try these brown butter chocolate chip cookies, it’s game over for regular cookie dough.
Most typical chocolate chip cookie recipes call for softened butter rather than browned butter. And once the dough is baked, you may not even notice the creamy, mild flavor of the softened butter. But as soon as you bite into a cookie made with browned butter, you’ll taste the nutty warmth right away.
Browning butter takes extra time, but the toasted flavor makes everyone ask, “What did you put in these cookies?” This is now the only way I’ll make chocolate chip cookies, and once you try it, you’ll probably claim the same!
Ingredients for Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Butter: Bakers like using unsalted butter so they can better control the amount of salt in the recipe. If all you have is salted butter, you can skip the 1 teaspoon salt called for in the recipe.
- Brown sugar: Because of the denseness that molasses lends to brown sugar, this cookie dough will turn out more moist. We don’t recommend swapping in white sugar for the brown in this recipe because brown sugar lends a more caramelly flavor than the saccharine sweetness of white.
- Flour: There’s no need to use any special flour in browned butter chocolate chip cookies. All-purpose flour will give your cookies just the right tenderness.
- Eggs: Room-temperature eggs really make a difference in baked goods like cookies. The room-temp eggs will emulsify more easily with the sugar and result in a more even texture in the final product.
- Chocolate chips: The star of the show might be the browned butter, but the chocolate chips take a close second. We use semisweet, but you can always try dark chocolate chips for richer flavor.
- Vanilla extract: Sugar and butter only do so much—the vanilla extract will make your cookies taste like true bakery treats.
- Baking soda and baking powder: A balance of these two ingredients will make the dough rise evenly and result in a soft cookie.
Directions
Step 1: Brown the butter
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Place the butter in a small, heavy saucepan. Cook the butter over medium heat.
Editor’s Tip: If possible, use a stainless steel saucepan or one that doesn’t have a dark bottom. It’s helpful to watch the butter brown so you know you’re not burning it.
Cook the butter until it’s golden brown, about five to seven minutes. Once browned, pour the butter into a bowl to allow it to cool slightly.
Editor’s Tip: The butter will bubble and foam slightly, and you’ll start to smell a toasted aroma. When you see small brown flecks at the bottom of the pan, stir the butter with a spatula. Those flecks are the milk solids that give the butter its flavor. While you do want to see those flecks, you don’t want to see them burn, so stir the butter constantly once the flecks appear.
Step 2: Combine the eggs and sugar
Beat the brown sugar and eggs in a large bowl until blended. Then, slowly beat in the browned butter. When combined, add the vanilla extract.
Step 3: Mix the dry ingredients
Combine the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder; gradually add to the brown sugar mixture and mix well.
Stir in the chocolate chips (do not overmix).
Editor’s Tip: At this point, you can place the dough—tightly wrapped—in the fridge to chill for 20 minutes or overnight to allow the flavors to marry. Also, chilled cookie dough won’t spread as much while baking. But if there’s no time to chill the dough, carry on baking the cookies as usual.
Step 4: Bake until golden
Drop the dough by quarter cupfuls 2 inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake at 350° until golden brown, 13 to 15 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool.
Editor’s Tip: If the cookies still look a bit soft in the center, that’s OK! They’ll continue to cook slightly after they are taken out of the oven, so it’s always better to slightly undercook than end up with rock-hard cookies.
Recipe Variations
- Top with sea salt: Small granules of sea salt won’t cut it here. When it comes to this brown butter chocolate chip cookie recipe, we want to use the best of the best. Large, flaky chunks of sea salt, like Maldon, make an excellent topper on these cookies.
- Dip the cookies in chocolate: Use leftover chocolate chips and shortening or butter to create a chocolate coating, as with these chocolate-dipped orange cookies or chocolate-tipped butter cookies.
- Swap in caramel baking chips: For a different take on browned butter cookies, add caramel chips instead of chocolate chips. You can also use a mix of both for a super sweet surprise.
How to Store Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Allow your cookies to completely cool on a wire rack before packing them away. Place them in an airtight container, and enjoy your cookies throughout the week. After about seven days, they’ll start to get stale.
How to Freeze Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
You can freeze the dough or freeze the baked cookies: It’s up to you! If you want to freeze the dough, portion it out as you would just before baking and freeze the dough balls on a covered baking sheet. Once frozen, transfer the dough balls to an airtight freezer-safe container or a resealable plastic bag. Bake these from frozen within six months.
To freeze baked cookies, arrange them on a covered baking sheet and freeze them for 30 minutes. Once hard, transfer the cookies to a labeled bag and keep them frozen for up to a year.
Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Tips
Why did these brown butter cookies get hard?
Too much flour or overbaking can lead to hard cookies. Make sure to measure your flour correctly. If the dough feels a bit dry, wrap it tightly in storage wrap and allow it to chill for 24 to 48 hours. This will allow the melted butter and eggs to hydrate the flour, making the resulting cookies nice and chewy.
As mentioned above, if these browned butter chocolate chip cookies still look pretty soft in the center, that’s exactly what you’re looking for. Once you take them out of the oven, the center will continue to firm up a bit as it cooks internally outside the oven. Letting cookies cool is like letting a steak rest after cooking.
Why are these brown butter cookies greasy?
The first time I ever made this brown butter chocolate chip cookies recipe, I didn’t let the butter cool enough and, instead of individual cookies, I ended up with a melted, greasy mess of dough. The dough spread so much, it ended up as one big cookie cake. To be fair, I scooped vanilla ice cream over the top and it was a big hit at home, but I would have rather had individual cookies!
To avoid greasy, flattened cookies, transfer the browned butter to a bowl to cool slightly as you work with the other ingredients. It shouldn’t be too hot to touch when you mix it with the other ingredients.
