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!).
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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
Jack B says
These cookies were AMAZING!! I'm no baker, just a bachelor with a sweet tooth that loves chocolate chip cookies and this is my new favorite recipe! A couple suggestions, don't skip the best practice tips and the supporting youtube videos on browning butter & measuring flour are worth watching to get the consistency just right. Also BEWARE with the butter, browning, cooling & bringing to room temperature was an overnight process for me. So factor that in if you were hoping these would be a tasty treat to eat your feelings after a long day of work. Great recipe, follow the tips & you'll be happy with the tasty results!
Lesa Miller says
The brown butter really adds a beautiful caramel flavor to these cookies and is worth the extra steps. I now make several double batches of brown butter and keep them in the freezer. When I'm getting ready to bake the cookies I thaw (soften) the butter in the microwave.
MERRY says
Good cookies! 1st time browning butter. Easy to follow recipe, turned out perfect! I will definitely make again, but will use less chips so the dough will shine!
Ansu says
Well, chilling, the cookie dough overnight help make the cookies even better?
In Fine Taste says
I haven't found that it improves the flavor or texture. You will find that the dough dries out slightly and will spread less in the oven.
- Alyssa
Rox says
THE ABSOLUTE BEST..!!!!! The taste is awesome, the consistency is divinely soft in the middle, crispy on the edges, this is the BEST RECIPE for chocolate chip cookies EVER ..!!!!🤎❤️🤎
Sarah says
Hi, after baking the cookies I covered them loosely with a towel as suggested in the recipe, yet after a couple days the cookies are pretty much hard. Why is this?
In Fine Taste says
HI Sarah, please forgive the late response. This could be due to difference in climate or how crispy they were to start. If they're too hard after a few days, I'd recommend keeping them in an airtight container or even freezing the cookies once cooled (just thaw out the cookie or cookies when you want them).
- Alyssa
Anna says
This is hands down the best cookie recipe I’ve ever used! I’ve learned that weighing ingredients with a scale gives way better results than using cups, so that’s what I did this time. These cookies turned out so good. I love cookies that are thinner, chewy, and a little crispy, and these were exactly that. I made a few small tweaks where I used a bit less white sugar and more brown sugar, and only chilled the melted butter for about 10–15 minutes before mixing. I planned to chill the dough for 30-60 minutes anyway and I wanted my cookies thin, so it worked out. Absolutely amazing cookies. My family loved them, and they disappeared so fast!
Allie C says
I love this recipe!! my mom always asks me to make them whenever she is craving cookies. When baking i often use milk chocolate chips and semi chocolate chips! i love the different ratios of chocolate. Definitely one of the best chocolate chip cookies i’ve had!! 🥰
Rachel says
The flavor is amazing, are they supposed to spread and flatten? I measured and let the butter solidify and even timed my mixing
Robin says
Can walnuts or pecans be added to the recipe? Would I need to make any adjustments otherwise? Thank you!
In Fine Taste says
You can absolutely add pecans or walnuts to the recipe. Just add them in at the same time as the chocolate chips. They may turn out slightly thicker with more mix-ins. If you'd like to avoid this you can reduce the number of chocolate chips by the same amount of nuts added.
- Alyssa
Lindsey says
You have 2 eggs listed on the ingredient list, but 3 eggs in the pictures up top. Which one is it?
In Fine Taste says
Hi Lindsey, the recipe calls for 2 eggs. The process pictures note that this was a double batch of cookies, which is why there are 4 eggs in the bowl there. Hope that helps!
- Alyssa
Hayley says
Everyone I make these for says that they're the best cookies they've ever had.
Vanessa says
I can’t tell you how long I’ve been looking for a recipe like this!
Dr.B says
These cookies turned out amazing. I did make a few small adjustments like adding milk chocolate along with semi sweet chips, chilling the dough 4 hours prior to baking and sprinkling some sea salt flakes prior to baking. Honestly the best chocolate chip cookies! Thank you for the recipe.
Lola says
Holy moly. I’ve never made amazing cookies. These were 10/10 and it was thanks to your really great directions.
Maria says
Fantastic recipe, the whole family loved it. I used slightly warm butter and then refrigerated the dough before baking. Cookies did not get too thin
cassie thomas says
made these tonight boyfriend says they are so yummy. taking them to work party!!!! they are gonna be a hit!
Angie says
The best cookies I have ever made!
Jade says
280g to melt of butter or 280g of browned butter? because the butter evaporated. I pit 300g on and ended up with 260g
In Fine Taste says
Hi Jade, the 280 grams of butter is before browning.
- Alyssa
Mari says
I am so glad I found this recipe.
I had to add a couple tbs of water to the dough and tried 3 different ways of baking these cookies.
One cookie each way to test.
One had choc chips, one had craisens and one was just plain.
The taste is fantastic! Love the taste of the brown butter.
Each one was great. Thank you for sharing this recipe
Tiffany Rooprai says
I started with the browned bits of three sticks of butter that was leftover from making clarified butter, I hated seeing that go to waste! The rest of the recipe is perfect.