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
Ga’Brielle Darden says
The first time I made it I think I cooked them a teeny bit too long because they needed more time for my oven on 375… However, the second time they came out great! I also push them down more because the first time I feel like they were a little too puffy. But the second time they were crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside and my family loved them! I made them for my hubbies birthday instead of a cake and he and my babies were pleased as was I ! haha I found my go to Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe 😁
Laura says
They burned on 375 witching a few minutes. 350. The recipe is not bad, but need a full teaspoon of salt.
dawn says
the best chocolate chip cookie ive ever had! mine spread out a bit more in the over (i think my butter was too warm still) but i just used a biscuit cutter to swirl them around back into shape!
i had a bunch of partial bags of add-ins so i just decided to dump them all in (cut up chocolate bar, toffee bits, chocolate chips) and i think it elevated it even more
C says
These cookies are absolutely delicious! They’re crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside.
Evangeline Vrieswyk says
Loved this recipe! Does it make a difference using dark brown sugar versus light?
In Fine Taste says
You can use either light or dark brown sugar. I typically use light brown sugar. If you use dark brown sugar you'll have a more molasses-forward recipe, you'll also notice that they spread more, and are a little chewier in texture.
- Alyssa
Amber says
I honestly never thought I would make cookies that taste this good. I really can't believe it. The texture is really important. I added a bit of corn starch in mine because I like a bit of chalky texture. After I mixed the butter and sugars I was doubtful about how they were going to turn out. It was kind of dry and I still needed to add the flour. But the cookies were really amazing. I feel like I can stop searching now.
Stephanie Mason says
My favorite recipe!! The Brown butter tips the scale!!! Absolutely an A+
Laney says
I've been using the same old chocolate chip cookie recipe for two decades, and decided it was time to try something new. I found this recipe through a Reddit post and made a batch last night for a friend. I had to make a second batch this morning because my husband and I could not stop eating these! So delicious and will be my go-to recipe from now on!
Ca Baker says
Are these really supposed to have 2 teaspoons of baking soda or is that an error? The recipe would be perfect, but next time I’ll only put 1 teaspoon of baking soda as they’re very alkaline tasting!
In Fine Taste says
Hi, yes, 2 teaspoons of baking soda is correct! I've noticed some people are more sensitive to the taste of baking soda than others. You can try cutting the baking soda in half, if you'd like to try making them again!
- Alyssa
elise link says
Yummy. great recipe. @infinetaste
Rosie Williams says
Hello! I made these cookies and they are absolutely amazing! However, they did come out a little grainy. Is this normal or did I do something wrong? Thanks!
In Fine Taste says
Hi Rosie! If the they are a little grainy, this is not typical. It could be a result of not creaming the butter and sugars together for long enough or it could just be a fluke. If you can try covering the dough and letting it chill in the fridge for an hour, this can help the sugars absorb into the dough better.
- Alyssa
Henley says
Mine turned out a bit puffier than I’d like, any recommendations?
In Fine Taste says
Hi Henley, this could be due to a few different factors. It could be that there was too much flour in the recipe--make sure you are spooning and leveling the flour or weighing it. Or sometimes this happens if you brown the butter a little too long. The longer butter is browned, the more water evaporates which results in less spread. You should lose roughly 20% of the butter during the browning process. I hope that helps!
- Alyssa
Rebecca says
Can I freeze the cookie dough? If so, how long will it save?
In Fine Taste says
Hi Rebecca, yes you can freeze the dough. I typically recommend using it within 3 months of freezing.
- Alyssa
Leo says
Can I refrigerate the dough overnight before baking?
In Fine Taste says
Yes, you can refrigerate the dough overnight. Just make sure it is tightly covered, also be aware that your cookies will not spread as much if refrigerated.
- Alsysa
Lauren says
These are SO good! And always a hit when I bring them to work. Have you ever made them as bars? I’m wondering how long I would bake them if I used this recipe for bars instead of individual cookies.
In Fine Taste says
HI Lauren, I've never actually tried making them into bars. If you try it, I'd love to know how they turned out for you!
- Alyssa
Bernadette says
I'd give 10 stars if I could! This is the most delicious chocolate chip cookie I've ever tasted 😋. They are thick, yet chewy. This cookie has an incredible buttery flavor unlike any I've tasted. Browning the butter takes longer, then letting it solidify again, but the wait brings a heavenly cookie 🍪
Ashley says
I came up with the idea to put ice water in a metal bowl and put melted butter in another bowl and put that bowl into the bowl with the ice water like a double brawler and store until butter is cooled which only takes a minute.
Maya says
This is amazing!!! Just wondering, for future reference, how much butter is left after browning the 280g? I’d love to know for future batches so I can match the same results.
In Fine Taste says
Hi Maya! I'm so glad you enjoyed this recipe. I find that usually the butter loses about roughly 20% of it's weight after browning. This can vary from batch to batch slightly, depending on how long you brown the butter for. I hope that helps.
- Alyssa
Rochelle says
These are wonderful. Chillling the butter was a game changer. I will use this as the base for my husband’s M&M cookies.
Sarah says
Question - can I make these with gluten free flour? Either a cup for cup replacement or oat flour?
In Fine Taste says
Hi Sarah! I've personally never made this recipe with gluten-free flour. However, I've had several people try them out with a cup for cup gluten-free flour and report back that they had good results! If you try it out, I'd love to hear your experience!
- Alyssa
Sydney says
Hi Sarah - were you able to try a gluten-free version? How did they turn out?
Alex says
These are my husbands absolute favorite chocolate chip cookies I’ve made!! I’ve made twice now and it has been a success each time
Ashley says
I am going to be making Many batches of these cookies for vacation… they were a Hit last year! Can I make all of the browned butter ahead of time and just warm it back up to room temp that way it won’t take quite as long the day of baking?
In Fine Taste says
Hi Ashley, you can absolutely make the brown butter ahead of time and store it in the fridge or freezer, then bring it back to room temperate to make the dough! I’m so glad these were a hit!
- Alyssa