These brown butter oatmeal cookies are packed with rich brown butter, chewy oats, and toffee bits. The flavor on these is deep and nutty, with a soft and chewy texture, that is only enhanced by crispy caramelized bits of toffee throughout the cookie for an unbeatable treat.
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Why This Recipe Works
These cookies have quickly become a favorite in our house. The brown butter is extra special because we add a *secret* (not-so-secret) ingredient-dry milk powder. This toasts up with the brown butter make that incredible nutty flavor extra strong.
We use dark brown sugar, just the tiniest bit of cinnamon, old-fashioned oats, and crunchy toffee bits make the coziest, bakery-style cookie with the perfect balance of nutty, chewy, and sweet. Try adding some dark chocolate chunks to the dough if that's your style!
If you love the sound of these cookies be sure to try out some of our other favorite cookie recipes: brown butter chocolate chip cookies, chewy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, brown butter peanut butter cookies.
Ingredient Notes
- Butter. You can use either salted or unsalted butter for this recipe. The butter is browned to add a rich, nutty, and toffee-like flavor.
- Dry Milk Powder. The dry milk powder is added at the end of the browning butter process. The dry milk is toasted making the brown butter incredibly decadent.
- Dark Brown Sugar. The extra molasses from the dark brown sugar deepens the flavor here.
- Sugar. Use granulated, white sugar.
- Egg. We use one large, whole egg and one yolk.
- Vanilla. Vanilla adds that classic bakery flavor.
- Cornstarch. A little cornstarch helps keep these brown butter oatmeal cookies soft.
- Baking Soda. Baking soda help them rise and spread.
- Salt. Salt enhances the flavors and balances the sweetness.
- Cinnamon. We use the tiniest amount of cinnamon to add warmth without dominating the flavors.
- Flour. Use white, all-purpose flour.
- Oats. Use old-fashioned, rolled oats. Rolled oats have will give you the best texture, but in a pinch you can use quick oats. Do not use steel cut oats.
- Toffee Bits. Toffee bits add a little crunch while also adding to the nutty, caramel-y flavor from the brown butter and dark brown sugar.
- Sea Salt. This is optional but I love the extra hint of salt on top.
How to Make this Recipe
- Brown the Butter. Add the butter to a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until the butter foams and begins to turn golden brown. Turn the temperature down to low, stir in the milk powder and cook for another 30-60 seconds, until the mixture smells nutty and the milk solids are toasted. Remove from the heat immediately to prevent burning. You should have about ⅔ cup (140 g) of browned butter. If you need further instructions or tips on browning butter see our complete post on How to Brown Butter.
- Cool the Butter. Pour the browned butter into a bowl, making sure to scrape in all the flavorful brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Let it cool slightly, then place it in the refrigerator or freezer until it returns to room temperature-solid but soft enough to easily indent with a finger.
- Cream Butter and Sugars. Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the cooled browned butter, dark brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Mix on low speed for about 1 minute, until smooth and well combined. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Mix on high speed for 2-3 minutes, until the mixture becomes pale, thick, and fluffy.
- Mix in Dry Ingredients. Add the cornstarch, flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Mix on low speed, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed, until no streaks of flour remain.
- Fold in Oats and Toffee. Add the oats and toffee pieces, mixing just until evenly distributed throughout the dough.
- Portion the Dough. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Scoop ¼ cup portions of dough onto the prepared sheet, leaving plenty of space between each cookie for spreading. (Optional) Sprinkle the tops with a little flaky sea salt.
- Bake. Bake for 8-9 minutes. The centers may look slightly underbaked, but they will continue to set as the cookies cool. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Yes, brown butter actually makes a difference! When butter is browned, the water evaporates, milk solids separate from the butter and are toasted resulting in a nutty, toffee-like flavor, that adds depth to the dish.
The most common mistakes when browning butter are using heat that's too high, choosing a pot that's too small, and stepping away from the stove.
It can be tempting to turn up the heat to speed up the process, but this usually causes the butter to burn instead of brown. Stick with medium heat so the milk solids have time to toast slowly and develop that rich, nutty flavor.
Also, use a larger pot than you think you need. As the butter cooks, it will foam up quite a bit. If the pot is too small, the foam can rise quickly and overflow.
Finally, don't walk away from the stove. Browning butter happens fast at the end, so keep your eyes on the pot and stir frequently to prevent it from burning.
When butter is browned, it is the milk solids that get toasted that give it that rich, nutty flavor. By adding the milk powder, we are increasing the amount of toasted milk solids, thereby increasing the brown butter flavor significantly.
However, if you don't have dry milk powder or forget to buy it, you can omit it from the recipe and it will still turn out. The brown butter flavor just won't be as prominent.
Add Mix-ins
Experiment and make this recipe your own by adding ½ cup of one of these to the dough.
Mix-in ideas:
- chocolate chips
- butterscotch chips
- white chocolate chips
- caramel bits
- chopped walnuts
- chopped pecans
- chopped graham crackers
- m&ms
- raisins
Troubleshooting this Recipe
Cookies Spread too Much
If your brown butter oatmeal cookies spread too much it could be a couple of different issues-too much butter or your butter was too warm. To resolve this problem, try chilling the dough covered for an hour, then bake a test cookie to see if it has improved. You can also try adding 1-2 tablespoons of flour to the dough if chilling the dough does not solve this issue.
Too much butter can be a result of not browning the butter for quite long enough. Moisture evaporates from the butter as it browns, you should have about ⅔ cup of butter after browning it. Remember to chill the butter back to solid, room temperature after baking it. Chilling the butter before creaming it with the sugars improves the texture, but also prevents the cookies from spreading too much.
Cookies Didn't Spread Enough
If the cookies did not spread enough it could be due to too little butter or too much flour. As we described above, as butter is browned the water content of the butter evaporates. If the butter was browned for longer than normal then you might end up with too little butter, resulting in the cookies not spreading in the oven.
The second possible issue is too much flour. Flour compacts as it sits so it is important to stir the flour up and carefully spoon and level the flour. I prefer to weigh my flour for accuracy.
Cookies are Too Hard or Too Tough
If your brown butter oatmeal cookies are too hard or come out tough it is likely you either over mixed the dough causing gluten to develop, resulting in tough cookies, or you over bake the cookies.
If you like soft and chewy cookies, make sure the cookies are slightly underbaked when they come out of the oven, they will continue to set up as they cool.
How to Store this Recipe
Store these brown butter oatmeal cookies at room temperature in an airtight container. Eat within the first three days for maximum freshness.
To freeze these cookies cool completely before placing in an airtight container. Use within three months of freezing. When you're ready to eat them, let thaw on the counter until they are room temperature.
How to Freeze the Cookie Dough
If you'd like to freeze the dough to bake in the future. Portion the cookie dough into balls and freeze on a tray for one hour. Place in an airtight container or a freezer gallon bag (try remove as much air from the bag as possible!) and freeze for up to 3 months.
When you're ready to bake the cookies, thaw the cookie dough balls for 30-60 minutes at room temperature, then bake according to normal instructions-you may need to bake for an additional 1-2 minutes.
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Brown Butter Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 12 tablespoons butter (270 grams)
- 1 ½ tablespoons dry milk powder see notes
- ¾ cup dark brown sugar packed (150 grams)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar (50 grams)
- 1 large egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 ½ teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (188 grams)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¾ cup old fashioned oats (80 grams)
- ½ cup toffee bits (80 grams)
- Flaky sea salt optional
Instructions
- Place butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stirring constantly, and brown the butter. When the butter starts to foam and begins turn brown, turn the heat down to low, add milk powder, and stir for another 30-60 seconds. Then remove from heat to prevent burning. You should have about ⅔ cup butter (140 grams) after it is browned.
- Let butter cool slightly before pouring butter into a bowl-make sure you get all the toasty brown bits at the bottom of the pan. Chill the butter in the fridge or freezer until it returns to room temperature-solid, but soft enough for a finger to indent into.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place butter in a large mixing bowl or stand mixer with dark brown sugar and granulated sugar. Use a hand mixer or if using a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment, to mix on low for one minute until the butter and sugars are smooth.
- Add in egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and mix on high for 2-3 minutes until the mixture pales in color and the texture is light and fluffy.
- Add the dry ingredients to the creamed butter-cornstarch, flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Mix on low, scrape down the sides and the bottom of the bowl, until there are no streaks in the dough.
- Add the oats and toffee to the dough and stir in until evenly dispersed throughout the dough.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat. Scoop ¼ cup of dough and place on baking sheet, leaving plenty of room for the dough to spread. Sprinkle a little flaky sea salt over top of the dough.
- Bake for 8-9 minutes, the cookies may look slightly underdone in the center-don't worry, they will set up as they cool. Let cookies cool for 5 minutes on baking sheet before transferring them to a cooling rack.
Notes
- Oats. Use old-fashioned, rolled oats. Rolled oats have will give you the best texture, but in a pinch you can use quick oats. Do not use steel cut oats.
- Milk Powder. Milk powder enhances the nutty, brown butter flavor. However, if you don't have dry milk powder or forget to buy it, you can omit it from the recipe and it will still turn out. The brown butter flavor just won't be as prominent.
Maria says
I wasn’t sure if I’d like the toffee in there, but I was the perfect addition! The flavor and texture was so good. Next time I’m going to try adding some chocolate chips!