Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Ridiculously flavorful! SO much depth of flavor without being overly sweet.
Texture: Incredibly chewy and gooey in the middle and a little crunchy at the edges. Perfection.
Ease: Browning the butter is an extra step, but I find the process fun and it adds SO much flavor. Other than that, this recipe is simple!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe: Thick, chewy cookies with unparalleled depth of flavor.
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Loaded with rich and nutty brown butter, butterscotch flavors, and dark chocolate, these Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies are absolute perfection.
I have hundreds of cookie recipes on my site, but there’s something extra special about cookies made with brown butter. It provides an unparalleled depth of flavor that’s such a joy to eat.
Chocolate chunk cookies can easily become too ooey-gooey, so while testing and tweaking this recipe, I made sure these cookies were the perfect balance of gooey, chewy, and crunchy.
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Best of all? These cookies are super simple to make – you don’t even need an electric mixer!
Reader Love
this is the easiest, most delicious cookie i’ve ever made! my sister and i have been on the quest to find the perfect cookie, and this blows our former #1 (the jacque torres’s 72 hour cookie) out of the water. amazing!
–
Sprinkle of Science
How to Make Perfect Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Browning the Butter
Brown butter is made by melting butter and then continuing to cook it until the milk solids in the butter become toasted, creating a deeply nutty, caramelized, butterscotch flavor that perfectly enhances chocolate chip cookies.
Brown butter is super simple to make – just be sure not to walk away from it as it can burn quickly. Be sure to scrape all the brown bits into the mixing bowl as that’s where the flavor lives!
Learn all my tips and tricks for browning butter in my How to Brown Butter article here.
Do I Have to Use Bread Flour?
Bread flour contains a higher percentage of protein than all-purpose flour, adding a ton of chewy texture to these Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies, so I strongly recommend using it if possible.
If you don’t have bread flour, just use all-purpose flour in place of the bread flour in the recipe, but note that you will lose some chewiness.
⭐ Tessa’s Tip: Make sure to weigh your flour accurately. If you add too much flour, your cookies may end up dry, dense, or crumbly and barely spread. Too much flour also makes the cookies go stale more quickly.
The Sugar
This recipe uses the perfect amount of sugar to ensure moist, chewy cookies with the perfect amount of spread, without being too sweet. A high ratio of dark brown sugar makes these cookies moist and chewy, with a rich depth of flavor.
If needed, you can use light brown sugar instead of dark brown sugar (1:1 ratio), but your cookies will lose a little bit of moisture and flavor.
Whatever you do, don’t reduce the sugar in these cookies. Sugar does so much more beyond sweetening – learn more about sugar’s role in baking here. Note that cookies taste sweeter when served warm.
What Chocolate is Best for Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies?
- This recipe calls for both regular semi-sweet chocolate chips and chocolate baking wafers.
- I used the Guittard brand of semisweet chocolate wafers. You can find these at larger supermarkets, specialty kitchen stores, or online.
- You could alternatively use the Valrhona brand of wafers (they call theirs “chocolate feves”). They don’t hold their shape like chocolate chips do. Instead, they turn into little chocolate puddles that are a delight to bite into.
- I’ve also enjoyed using Guittard Super Cookie Chips for this recipe.
- If you can’t find baking wafers/feves or super chips, feel free to use 2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips instead.
- You can also use blocks of baking chocolate, chopped coarsely, if preferred.
- Feel free to use milk chocolate or dark chocolate instead if preferred – just note that this will alter the final cookie’s sweetness levels. Learn more about Chocolate in Baking here.
- Some readers have felt this recipe uses too much chocolate. There’s no such thing in my book, but feel free to scale back the amount slightly. Note that scaling back too much may result in thinner cookies.
Topping Cookies with Flaky Sea Salt
This is optional, but you can add a sprinkling of flaky finishing sea salt to the cookies right after pulling them out of the oven. I love the salty-sweet combination, and I think it really adds something special to these Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Tips for Perfect Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies:
- Measure correctly: Always use a digital kitchen scale to weigh your ingredients, especially flour. Incorrectly measured flour can lead to cookies that are tough, crumbly, dry, too thick, or just blah.
- Correct temperature: I also swear by using an oven thermometer to ensure baking accuracy. Most ovens run a little hot or cold, so checking the temperature with an oven thermometer ensures the best cookies possible.
- The baking pan: Use a quality light-colored baking pan for baking cookies. Line with parchment paper for best results. The pan you bake on has a huge impact on your cookies. Learn more about the best and worst baking pans here.
- Leavening agents: Make sure your baking soda and baking powder are fresh and active to ensure your cookies spread and rise perfectly. Learn more about these two leaveners and how to test for freshness in my Baking Soda vs Baking Powder article here.
- Don’t overbake: Bake these cookies just until the edges are set and golden brown. The middles may still look a little ‘wet’ – that’s okay! The pan’s residual heat will continue to cook them through to perfection.
- Chill the dough: Don’t skip the chill period!! More on that just below.
Chilling the Cookie Dough
I know it’s annoying to have to wait to enjoy cookies, but I promise you it’s SO worth it. Both the taste and texture of these cookies improve as the dough chills. The flour is able to absorb the liquid in the dough, for thicker cookies, and the flavors intensify.
If you don’t want to wait for your cookies, feel free to bake off a few after chilling for at least two hours, just to satisfy the craving, and bake the rest after 24 hours!
Freezing does not work the same as chilling, so there are no shortcuts here. A minimum of 24 hours (and up to 72 hours) in the fridge is required to develop the flavor and texture fully. Learn more about how and why to chill cookie dough in this article here.
What Size to Make Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies?
I’ve found these Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies are best made as big cookies, using a large 3-Tablespoon cookie scoop. This size provides the perfect texture: crisp at the edges, slightly gooey in the center, and chewy throughout.
If you want to make smaller cookies, use a medium 1.5-Tablespoon cookie scoop and reduce the baking time to about 10 minutes. Note that the texture will be affected with a smaller scoop of dough.
Portioning the Cookie Dough Before or After Chilling?
Both work; it depends on which option works best for you!
If my fridge space is more limited, I’ll refrigerate the entire mass of dough because it takes up less room and is more easily stacked with other containers in the fridge. Sometimes I’m in a rush when making the dough and don’t have time to portion before chilling.
However, refrigerating the entire mass means you need to allow plenty of time for the dough to come to room temperature before portioning. Do not scoop cold dough, you will break your scoop. For this reason, the easiest option is to scoop, then chill.
There’s a bit more risk that your dough will dry out in the fridge this way, so just be sure to store the cookie dough balls in an airtight container or good quality ziptop bag, to prevent them from drying out.
Can I Freeze Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough?
Yes – but make sure you chill the dough for 24-72 hours before freezing. Learn why chilling the cookie dough first is important here.
I like to portion out the dough and place it on a baking sheet, then freeze just until solid. Transfer the frozen dough balls to a freezer bag and freeze for up to 6 weeks. This way, you can bake off small batches of fresh cookies whenever you like! Check out my full post on how to freeze cookie dough and bake from frozen here.
More Cookie Recipes You’ll Love:
- Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies (one of my most popular recipes!)
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Marbled Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Brown Butter Dulce de Leche Cookie Cups
- Browned Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies
See ALL of my cookie recipes + cookie Baking Science tips here!
Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
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Ingredients
- 2 sticks (227 grams) unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 1/4 cups (250 grams) lightly packed dark brown sugar
- 1 1/2 cups (190 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (127 grams) bread flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups (255 grams) semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup (140 grams) semisweet chocolate baking wafers (from Guittard or Valrhona)*
Instructions
- In a small saucepan set over medium heat, melt the butter. Swirling the pan occasionally, continue to cook the butter. It should become foamy with audible cracking and popping noises. Once the crackling stops continue to swirl the pan until the butter develops a nutty aroma and brown bits start to form at the bottom. Once the bits are amber in color, about 2 to 3 minutes after the popping stops, remove from heat and pour into a mixing bowl. Add in the sugars, stir, then set aside to cool completely.
- In a medium bowl combine the flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- To the browned butter mixture, add the eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla and stir with a rubber spatula until combined. Slowly stir in the flour mixture until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips and wafers.
- Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 24 hours but no more than 72 hours. Let dough sit at room temperature just until it is soft enough to scoop.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Divide the dough into 3-tablespoon sized balls and drop onto prepared baking sheets, leaving about 3 inches between each piece of dough to spread.
- Bake for 11 to 13 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool for 2 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
Recipe Notes
The Ultimate Cookie Handbook
Learn the sweet SCIENCE of cookie baking in a fun, visual way to customize your own recipes frustration-free. Plus, my best 50+ homemade cookies!
This post was originally published in 2015 and recently updated with recipe improvements and new photos. Photos by Ashley McLaughlin.
I think it is incredibly misleading to say that prep time is 15 minutes and cook time is only 11 minutes (for a total of 26), and completely fail to include that you recommend cooling the dough for 24-72 hours.
Thanks so much for pointing that out! Somehow the chill time was removed from the total time in this recipe. I’ve added it back in!
Hello, i am trying this recipe over the weekend. Once the brown butter is done do we add in the sugars right into the hot butter, stir, and then let it completely cool. Or should be let it cool completely before adding in the sugars? Thanks
Hi there! You’ll want to add the sugars into the hot browned butter, stir, and then set the mixture aside until it’s cooled to room temp. I do want to note there is a chilling period listed in step #4 to help the flour better absorb the liquid in the dough, which will create thicker cookies that are more flavorful! Feel free to bake some up right away though, then chill the rest to compare as a fun experiment 🙂 Let us know how it goes!
Hello, I was wondering if you knew how much a large scoop of the cookie dough weighs? They look really good!
She …she …she was a fairy ! 🧚♂️ let me say , I myself have never been crazy about chocolate chip cookies . I mean, sure I’d eat one if there was nothing else sweet around, but I’ve never really craved a chocolate chip cookie. UNTIL NOW! I’m telling you this is the best chocolate chip cookie recipe ever !! And I love that it’s so simple !! I’ve made it twice now and of course I always make my own little tweaks here and there but even so the cookies have came out so delicious !! I’m gonna continue using this recipe and have fun playing around with it ! Thank you so much for sharing ! I finally found a chocolate chip cookie to rave about !
Hi I’m excited to try this! What are your thoughts about swapping the dark brown sugar for dark muscovado sugar in this recipe?
We haven’t tried that, but let us know how it goes if you do!
Mine are so delish but they keep coming out a little flatter than yours- what do you think that could be? Could it be that my eggs were too cold?
Hi Lydia! Glad to hear that you’re enjoying these cookies! It’s unlikely that egg temperature would cause excess spread. Are you using large eggs (about 56 grams in shell)? Eggs that are too large can add too much liquid and throw off the chemistry of a recipe, causing excess spread. There are a few extra tips that could help you here – check out Tessa’s tips for this in the Sprinkle of Science box above the recipe here. Finally, if your cookies taste great but are just slightly thinner than you’d prefer, Tessa has a great tip for that! Using a round cookie or biscuit cutter that’s slightly larger than the size of your cookies, and swirl the cookie cutter in circles around the cookie edges a few times. Make sure you do this straight out of the oven (before they have a chance to set up). This makes the cookies perfectly round! Here’s a link to the reel on our Instagram, where we shared this fun cookie hack awhile back 🙂 I hope something here helps! Happy baking 🙂
I make these all the time, usually as a double batch. They are delicious raw, frozen, and of course baked. I’ve probably commented before, but I’m making them again now so I wanted to make sure to leave my five star review. These are so easy, except for the waiting time! But it’s worth it. One of my favorite recipes. I love that I don’t have to use softened butter!
I’ve made countless chocolate chip cookie recipes, and this is by far the best. And these were just my initial sample cookies (I always bake a few after I make the dough and refrigerate the rest) – the rest are chilling in the fridge to be baked tomorrow! 10000/10, followed your recipe to a T and so glad I did. I cannot overstate how ridiculously good these are. Crispy edges, soft chewy inside, caramelly brown butter flavor…..this is what dreams are made of.
Wow, thank you so much! This totally made our day 🙂 We’re so happy you loved the cookies!
Absolute slayage!
I’ve been baking my way through online recipes searching for the perfect chocolate chip cookie, and I think my search officially ends here! I LOVE the balance of a crunchy exterior + chewy cookie + little bit of gooeyness in the middle and it’s also the first brown butter choc chip cookie I’ve made that holds its shape and doesn’t spread too much!! These are absolutely f-ing delicious and I need to find one of those timer-activated locked boxes for the dough or else I will bake/eat all of it in one sitting. THANK YOU!!! (however I will probably resent this blog slightly when my jeans don’t fit anymore which is absolutely going to happen very soon now that I have this recipe)
I have no idea what I did wrong. Help! They spread out so much that they are just mush.
The only thing I deviated from is I didn’t have bread flour so used all purpose.
Oh no, I’m sorry to hear that, Melissa! Using all-purpose flour instead of bread flour only affects the chewiness, so that wouldn’t cause excessive spreading. The most common culprit is the butter being too warm. Since this recipe uses browned butter, it’s super important to let it cool completely to room temperature after mixing in the sugars (end of step 1). If it’s too warm when the other ingredients are added, the cookies will spread in the oven. In this case, chilling the dough overnight can help, but it won’t completely fix the issue. Did you happen to skip any of the cooling steps—both at the end of step 1 and the minimum 24-hour dough chill in step 4?