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
Jasmine Anderson says
The best cookies I’ve ever had. These are dangerous
Courtney says
Best cookies I ever made!!!
Bobby says
Uh? I cooked it for 10 minutes at 375 a they were RAW. Like all the way mushy raw not chewy. Why am I the only one with this issue? I followed the instructions to a T. I’m putting them back in for another 10, let’s see what happens.
Kristin says
Do you have a thermometer in your oven to know if it’s ACTUALLY at 375 and not just that it says it’s at 375? Sounds like your oven temp may be off. My oven temp is uneven between sides so I just flip the pan 180 halfway through baking
David says
Trust the process. They are soft when they come out but firm up as the cool. And when I say soft, they are SOFT! Spatula them onto a cooling rack and wait a couple of minutes. It turns out perfect.
Gabs says
These are the absolute best chocolate chip cookies i’ve ever made!!
Allison says
This recipe is amazing. Best cookies every time.
Marianne says
Excellent! I think I've found my Michelin Star cookie!
Cassidy says
This recipe was absolutely perfect, I wouldn't change a thing. My family and I enjoyed these so much. The flavor was perfect, the bottoms and edges were crisp and the inside was warm and soft. The brown butter adds a really nice nutty flavor that balances the sweetness of the cookie well. Just the perfect cookie all around. I baked half and froze half. The frozen cookies bake up just as nice straight from the freezer, I just add a few more minutes of cooking time and watch them closely.
Makinlee says
I love this recipe but they need more time in my oven. Every oven is different, so just bake until golden brown!
Loren Mmmmm says
Hands down, the BEST chocolate chip recipe ever. The cookies come out perfect every time. One thing I will mention though is I never use as much flour as this recipe calls for. But regardless, they are delicious!
Lisa says
I LOVE this recipe! It’s the only cookie I make now.
Lisa says
My go to cookie recipe! Everyone LOVES this cookie!!
Sydney says
I love this recipe! I like letting the dough rest in the fridge for 2-3 days prior to baking to deepen the brown butter flavor. Has anyone tried swapping the flour for gluten free flour? I had someone ask if I could make this GF and I wasn't sure.
Abby says
I swapped with bob's red mill blue GF 1:1 flour and it worked great! I let the dough hydrate for ~30 minutes after mixing in the chocolate. The dough was really soft, so I also chilled the cookie dough balls for 20 min prior to baking.
Corine says
I used King Arthur gluten free measure for measure flour (it’s a 1:1 replacement) in this recipe, and the cookies turned out great! I didn’t make any other changes to the recipe.
Jane says
Outstanding! I found 360g plenty for the chocolate. Used a combo of cut up dark chocolate and chocolate chips. Left dough in fridge overnight. Once taken out of the fridge had to let them sit so I could scoop them. Sprinkled with flakey Maldon salt after. A real winner! Thank you!
Whitney says
My dough came out a little crumbly! Still tasted good but wondering what I did wrong to have it be more on the crumble side?
In Fine Taste says
Hi Whitney! If your dough came out a little drier it’s typically one of two things—too much flour or the butter was browned a little more than usual. As the butter browns, liquid evaporates, so if you browned yours a little longer than I did, you may have ended up with slightly less butter, resulting in a slightly drier dough. I typically expect about 20-25% of the liquid in the butter to evaporate during the browning process.
- Alyssa
Courtney says
Soft but crunchy after cooking wmd taste phenomenal
Susan L. says
Does it make a difference whether you use light or dark brown sugar?
Thanks,
Susan
In Fine Taste says
Hi Susan, I usually use and prefer light brown sugar. However, I have used dark brown sugar with good results, I do find that they spread a bit more and have a slightly chewier texture than normal.
- Alyssa
Shannon says
Probably the best cookies I've ever made. As Jack B. said these were a multi-night process for me: browning the butter, cooling, taking out and warming to room temp. I also did an overnight (just shy of 24-hours) of the dough, because everything I've read says it's the best method (SPOILER: IT IS!). So with the overnight for the butter and the overnight for the dough rest, these were an absolute SMASH. I also bought chocolate bars from Aldi (Choceur dark) and chopped rather than chocolate chips, which made them super fance. If I wanted to push into EXTRA FANCE, I would have added just a pixie dusting of sea salt flakes to the top before baking. Next time!
BC says
Best recipe! So easy to follow and turned out amazing!
I was wondering if there is healthier version of this recipe? 🙂 the sugar was a lot! 🤪
Mar says
hello
your recipe called for 2 eggs but in the picture I see three
In Fine Taste says
As noted in step 4, the image pictured is a double batch, which is why you see 4 eggs in the image instead of 2.
Please let me know if I can help you in any other way.
- Alyssa
Tatum Pike says
I have tried many brown butter chocolate chip cookie recipes throughout the years, but these are FANTASTIC! I did bake a few immediately after making the dough, and then the rest after 24 hours of chilling but did not find a noticeable difference in the taste. I did 11 minutes based on my oven's quirks, but they came out great! Used flakey sea salt on top, and so good.
Liz E says
These are the best cookies! I’ve made my first batch and baked about 6, the rest are going in the freezer for later! Do you have any recommendations for baking from frozen?
Sue says
Oh my….. cookie perfection!!!!!.. worth the effort to brown the butter. I could have browned it a bit more, but was being cautious as it can go from browned to burned in a second. Followed the recipe exactly and used Ghirardelli morsels.