These brown butter chocolate chip cookies are the perfect cookie. The brown butter gives these cookies a rich toffee flavor and a hint of salt. They have crisp, golden edges, a nice crust on the outside, but are still soft and gooey in the center with melty semisweet chocolate.
Why this Recipe Works
I spent years trying to find the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. I tested dozens before deciding to just come up with my own. The brown butter and high baking temperature I think it what gives these brown butter chocolate chip cookies an edge.
The brown butter offers a subtle nutty flavor that blends perfectly with the molasses in the brown sugar to give the cookie that amazing rich slightly smoky and nutty toffee flavor.
Baking your cookies at a higher temperature will cook the outside of the cookie faster before the inside cooks too much. This trick is going to give you those crispy edges and exterior and keep the inside nice and soft.
Ingredient Notes
- Butter. The amount of butter listed in the ingredients is the amount needed before you brown it. Once browned you will probably lose about 25% of your butter as liquid evaporates during the browning process.
- Brown Sugar. We use a higher proportion of brown sugar to white sugar in this recipe. The molasses in the brown sugar compliments the brown butter well and amps up that amazing toffee-butterscotch flavor. If you want an amazing chocolate chip cookie recipe without brown sugar, we have a delicious and super easy one!
- Flour. A classic, no-frills, all-purpose flour is all we use here. The most important thing when it comes to flour is making sure you don’t use too much—spoon and level, weigh, and check out our guide on How to Measure Flour Correctly.
- Semisweet Chocolate Chips. I prefer semisweet chocolate chips over milk in this recipe. The slight bitterness from the semisweet chocolate chips adds the perfect contrast to this rich brown butter chocolate chip cookies.
How to Make this Recipe
- How to Brown Butter. Start by browning your butter. Place the butter in a heavy bottomed pan, make sure it is large as the butter tends to foam up quite a bit. Keep stirring it over medium-high heat until the butter has reached an amber color and there are brown bits at the bottom. Consult out How to Brown Butter tutorial for FAQs on browning butter, pictures, and a video!
- Chill the butter. Place the butter in a large bowl and chill or freeze until it has returned to a solid state. You want it to be room temperature, solid, but soft enough to be creamed. Chilling the butter is essential to these brown butter chocolate chip cookies, so do not try to skip this step. Picture A shows what the butter will look like after it is chilled and Picture B shows it after it has been moved to the mixing bowl. Notice the toasted milk solids (the dark bits) have sunk to the bottom of the dish. Don’t forget to get all those dark bits into your mixing bowl, they add lots of toasted butter flavor!
- Cream the butter and sugar. Cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar for 1 minute.
- Add the eggs. Then add the eggs and vanilla and beat for another 2-3 minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy. Please note: the image pictured is a double batch, which is why you see 4 eggs in the image instead of 2.
- Add the dry ingredients. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix the dry ingredients in so they are just barely incorporated. Overworking the dough will result in tough cookies.
- Add the chocolate chips. Stir in the chocolate chips until they are evenly dispersed throughout the dough.
- Bake. Take 4 tablespoons of dough and shape into round balls. Place on a greased or lined baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes at 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Leave plenty of room for the cookies to spread (I typically place 6 cookie dough balls on a baking sheet). Let the cookies cool for 2-3 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
When butter is browned the milk solids are toasted giving it a nutty and toffee flavor that complements the rest of the ingredients. If 1 ¼ cups of butter seems like a lot to you in this recipe it is because butter loses about 25% of its liquid when it is browned. So you end up with closer to 1 cup of butter by the time you add it into the mixing bowl.
If your cookies are too flat, this is usually a result of not chilling the butter after it has been browned. We need the butter chilled back to room temperature so that air can be whipped into it when it is creamed together with the sugars and eggs. Otherwise you will end up with puddles for cookies.
Typically, if your cookies are hard after they have cooled it means that you didn’t make the cookies large enough. Remember, we’re using about 4 tablespoons of dough per cookie. If you make them smaller they will end up slightly overbaked and won’t have that same soft center that you get with the larger cookies.
Expert Tips
- Make sure your flour is measured correctly. Too much flour is a cardinal sin in baking. You need to take care when measuring it, I prefer to weigh my flour, but otherwise take a second to review our guide on How to Measure Flour Properly. Too much flour in your brown butter chocolate chip cookies can make them dry, tough, crumbly, or too thick, none of which are good.
- Get all the brown bits in your brown butter. After you brown your butter you’ll see all sorts of little brown bits at the bottom of the pan. Those are toasted milk solids and they add a delicious toasted and salty flavor to the brown butter chocolate chip cookies. So scrape every last bit of them into your bowl for maximum flavor.
How to Make Pretty Cookies
- Make your cookies big. Bigger cookies look prettier. I use ¼ cup of dough for the perfect crispy and gooey ratio. This is my favorite cookie scoop to use.
- Top the off. Before you put your cookie dough balls in the oven top them with a few extra chocolate chips. This makes sure you've got some chocolate chips picture perfect on top of every cookie.
- Bang the Pan. Right when your cookies come out of the oven bang the pan on the counter. the pushes the cookies out and gives them those beautiful wrinkles.
- Make them circular. If your cookies are a little misshapen it's okay, you can fix them. While the cookies are still hot take your spatula and gently push in the edges anywhere the cookies aren't perfectly round. You can also use a large round cookie cutter or even a large mason jar to shape your brown butter chocolate chip cookies. Just move the cookie cutter in a circular motion around the cookie to make it a perfect circle.
How to Store this Recipe
How to Freeze Cookie Dough
I love to have a stock of these in my freezer for when I'm craving a cookie or in case I need to bring a little treat to someone fast! So here's what you'll want to do:
- Scoop the cookie dough into ¼ cup balls and line them up on a lined cookie sheet and place the entire cookie sheet in the freezer for 30-60 minutes. This is going to make sure they maintain their shape and don't get squished and misshapen in the freezer
- Then you can place them in a freezer safe gallon back or stack them on top of each other in a tupperware container, I like to place a piece of parchment paper, wax paper, or even plastic wrap in between the layers of cookie dough so that they don't get stuck to each other. You can freeze these for up to 3 months.
- Before baking, pull out however many cookie dough balls you want and let them sit out at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Then bake according to normal instructions, you may need to add a minute to the baking time
How to Store at Room Temperature
- To maintain the crispy edges and soft centers, my preferred method of storing these is to leave them on a plate or tray and loosely cover them with a towel overnight.
- If you decide to store them in a sealed container (like a Ziploc bag or Tupperware) The cookies will likely lose their crisp exterior and take on a chewy texture overall (still delicious though!).
You May Also Like These Other Cookie Recipes:
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Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup butter (280 grams) see notes
- ¾ cup granulated sugar (150 grams)
- 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar (200 grams)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 ¾ cups of flour (357 grams) measured correctly
- ½ teaspoon of salt
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2-2 ½ cups semisweet chocolate chips (360-480 grams)
Instructions
- Brown 1 ¼ cups of butter in a medium-large saucepan, stirring constantly over medium-high heat, until you reach a deep honey color. Remove from heat and pour into your mixing bowl. Cool butter in fridge or freezer until room temperature consistency, you want your butter to be solid. If you use it when its still liquid your cookies will be flat.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease baking sheets with cooking spray or line with silicone mats or parchment paper.
- Once butter has set up, cream together butter and both sugars for 1 minute. Add in eggs and vanilla for and additional 2-3 minutes until the mixture is pale and fluffy. (Make sure you get all those toasty brown bits at the bottom of your brown butter!)
- Add in flour, baking soda, and salt. Only mix the dry ingredients in until just barely combined—over mixing will make the cookies tough. Stir in chocolate chips.
- Take ¼ cup of dough (about 68 grams) and shape into round balls bake for 8-10 minutes at 375 degrees Fahrenheit until the top and edges are just golden. Cool cookies on baking sheet for 2-3 minutes before moving to a cooling rack.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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originally published August 19, 2018
Makaye
I use this cookie recipe every time. A few years ago I tried multiple and this was the one. The taste, the look, everything.
Kristal M
Idk what happened but mine came out SOO HARD. Is it 2 cups and 3/4 cup flour OR 2 separate 3/4s cup?
In Fine Taste
Hi Kristal, the recipe should be 2 and 3/4 cups of flour, not 2 separate 3/4 cups of flour. Hopefully, that helps and you'll give them another shot!
- Alyssa
Katie
Ok wow these are extraordinary. Read and follow the instructions entirely - and this will probably be the best cookies you’ve ever ever made!
Raya
This is by far the best cookie recipe I’ve ever tried! Just make sure to not let your brown butter boil over… yikes.
Jayla
Can you add other things in like m&ms or chocolate morsels
In Fine Taste
Absolutely! You can add different kinds of chocolate chips, candy, nuts, toffee, make them your own.
- Alyssa
Lara
This is a great recipe! I usually only make half the recipe and get around 10 smaller cookies - the perfect small batch. I also chill the dough before baking which makes them even more delicious!
Gwen
Can you freeze these after baking?
In Fine Taste
Hi Gwen, you can absolutely freeze them after baking. Just let them cook completely and store in an airtight container or a freezer gallon bag. You can freeze them for up to 3 months.
- Alyssa
Paulette
I had the same question about freezing after they bake. I’m baking a double batch and want to send them to a couple of my kids and grandkids who live 400 miles away. A friend is traveling to the same area and said he’d deliver them for me. So I figure if I bake them then freeze after they’ve cooled off, they’ll thaw on the drive and hopefully taste like fresh baked when they arrive! So thank you for answering the question!!
Hannah
I have made more than a couple dozen chocolate chip recipes over the years. Most of them were quite delicious. This recipe definitely ranks up in my top 5!! So easy & so delicious!! The only thing I changed is what I do during cooking process. I baked 6 minutes, pull out, bang the pan several times, then rotate pan before placing back in oven for 3 mins. Remove, bang cookie sheet couple more times. Then, leave on baking sheet to set up for about 5 mins before transferring to cooling rack. Helps to make crispy edges, crinkly tops & soft & gooey in the middle. Thank you for the perfect recipe!! Can’t wait to make again & again!
Angie
I thought I was the only one that did the Bang Of the Cookie Sheets or when I make Brownies. It’s a great tip for getting those crispy soft chewy edges and centers.
Katie
TO DIE FOR! I followed the instructions to a T and also tapped the cookie tray against the counter like Hannah in the comments suggested. I used dark chocolate chips. These cookies were gone in less than 10 minutes. Will be using this recipie forever
Paige
Could you make the dough, roll it into balls and freeze? Then cook later? Making a large quantity and wanted to see if you’ve ever done this?
In Fine Taste
Hi Paige, yes , you can absolutely do this. I do it all the time and almost always have a stash of cookie dough balls in my freezer! I usually let them thaw for about 30-40 minutes before baking, they sometimes need an additional 1-2 minutes bake time.
- Alyssa
Cookie lover;3
I love this recipe!!! 10/10 will make again😋👍
Claire
Absolutely perfect!
Niko
Didnt put enough flour so my cookie spreaded too thin. but the flavor was great. tried a few other recipes this week and they were terrible ill be sticking to this one from now on. thank you!
Elizabeth
I started these last night without reading the whole way through the directions so by the time my butter browned and chilled back to room temp, it was 10 pm… worth it. Soooooooo delicious. I shared the recipe with others and will definitely make again. Thank you!
Kate shea
I times this recipe by 10. I browned the butter and then weighed after and I lost about 20% of the original weigh. Is this accounted for in the recipe or should I have 280 (or 2800 grams in my case) after browning all the butter? Or is that just the BEFORE browning weight?? Please help. I have about 2400 g now that it’s browned.
In Fine Taste
Hi Kate, the 280 grams is the weight of the butter before it is browned. Losing 20% of the weight of the butter is normal, some of the water in the butter cooks out as it is browned, this has all been accounted for. Keep us posted on how it turns out with such a large batch! I've never done more than 3x his recipe!
- Alyssa
Jackson
I made these last night and they are the absolute best chocolate chip cookies I have ever made or tasted. My whole family loved them and it will now be the only recipe I use for chocolate chip cookies.
Cassandra
Absolutely amazing! I loveeee this recipe! I added flaky salt on top once finished & also made some with mini m&m. I will never make another chocolate chip cookie recipe again! Thank you!!
Mary
OK, so I have made these cookies many many times. I absolutely love them. And, I always measure the flour on my scale. Yesterday, for some reason I decided that 357 g did not seem like much. I googled how much 357 g was in cups. It came out as only a bit more than 1.5 cups. Is that correct? Yes, I have always used the 357 g, but now it seems weird. Any comments?
Mary
Okay, never mind. Just figured it out. Too early! 😁. SMH Great cookies!
Jen
The smell alone of the browned butter was so good, I KNEW the cookies would be great!
Nhung
One of the best home made chocolate chip recipes I’ve ever had. A girlfriend made this for a get together and we have made it a handful more times on our own! Thank you for sharing!
Patricia
I am my friends cooker dealer, They would pay big money for these but I bake them for free 😂😂 they are about to o i my oven so good
Joni
NAILED IT! Perfect chocolate chip recipe finally!
Katelon
Amazing!
Maggie
Where has this recipe been all my life? I love chocolate chip cookies, but was tired of the usual recipe I make, so I tried these. The brown butter makes them taste SO much better than typical cookies. Was definitely worth the extra time! Can’t wait for friends and family to try them.