Servings
Font
Back
Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
4.6 from 135 votes

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies use browned butter to add a toasted, nutty depth to the classic cookie base of granulated and brown sugars, eggs, vanilla, and all-purpose flour. The dough incorporates melted butter that's cooled before mixing, which affects texture and helps distribute chocolate chunks evenly by rolling into a log before chilling. The final cookies blend a chewy interior with crisp edges highlighted by a sprinkling of flaky sea salt, combining buttery richness with sweet chocolate and a touch of savory finish.

Prep Time
20 mins
Cook Time
12 mins
Additional Time
2 hrs
Total Time
2 hrs 32 mins
Servings: 24 cookies
Course: Baked Goods

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter unsalted
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 ½ cups light brown sugar packed
  • 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
  • 2 egg room temperature, large
  • 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract pure
  • 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 11 ounces chocolate chunks or chips
  • sea salt flaky

Instructions

    Cup of Yum
  1. Cook butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring often, until it foams up and then browns. This should take about 6–8 minutes. Don’t take your eyes off it because no one wants burnt butter bits in their cookies. Remove the pan from the heat and allow it to cool for 15 minutes.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with an electric mixer or wooden spoon (yes, you can mix this dough by hand) combine the sugars, salt and cooled brown butter. Mix until smooth.
  3. Add in the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.
  4. Stir together the flour and baking soda and gradually add it to the butter mixture. Mix until it just comes together, but don’t overmix. Fold in the chocolate of your choice. The chocolate chips may not seem to adhere to batter very well due to the melted butter, so I like to place the dough into a gallon zip-top bag and kind of roll the dough into a log to push the chips into the dough while it chills.
  5. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. I typically shoot for overnight, but you can go as long as 24 hours.
  6. When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper. 
  7. Let the dough sit out at room temperature while the oven preheats. It will be quite hard until it sits out for a bit. Use a medium cookie scoop to portion the dough onto the prepared baking sheets. You should end up with right around 24 cookies.
  8. Bake cookies in preheated oven for 12-13 minutes, or until the edges barely start to brown. The centers will appear undercooked, this is what you’re looking for. At this point, you can press some additional chips or chunks into the tops of the cookies and give them each a light sprinkling of flaky sea salt - both of these steps are completely optional, but totally delicious. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet placed on a wire cooling rack. 

Notes

  • You can use milk, semi-sweet, or dark chocolate chunks according to your preference.
  • Brown the butter slowly and watch closely to prevent burning and bitter flavors.
  • Chill the dough after shaping into a log to help the chocolate chunks adhere better and improve texture.