Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies - Handle the Heat
Filed Under: Chocolate | Cookies

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

By Tessa Arias
  |  
October 7th, 2021
4.86 from 302 votes
4.86 from 302 votes

Chewy, gooey, and crunchy Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies are loaded with flavor and will surely become your new favorite cookie recipe! No mixer required. Download my FREE Cookie Customization Guide here.

Yield: 25 large cookies

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook: 35 minutes

If you like CHEWY and tons of flavor in your cookies - this is the recipe for you! No mixer required and no chilling!

Tessa's Recipe Rundown...

Taste: Ridiculously flavorful. I love when desserts have a beautiful depth of flavor instead of just being sweet.
Texture: Incredibly chewy and gooey in the middle, crunchy at the edges. Absolute perfection.
Ease: Browning the butter is an extra step but I find the process fun and adds so much flavor. Other than that this recipe is simple!
Appearance: Gorgeous, just like cookies from that new local bakery.
Pros: Amazing cookie recipe.
Cons: None!
Would I make this again? Absolutely yes.

Somehow, I never tire of cookies. No matter how many hundreds, maybe even thousands, of batches I’ve made in my life I still crave them regularly. That’s why I’m always experimenting and tweaking cookie recipes in the kitchen, especially chocolate chip cookies. Sometimes all I want is an ultra rich, gooey, and chewy chocolate chunk recipe.

Balls of cookie dough lined up

These Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies are absolute perfection because they are loaded with that rich and nutty brown butter, salty-sweet, butterscotch, and pure chocolate flavors. Chocolate chunk cookies can easily become too ooey and gooey (too much of a good thing exists!) so I made sure these were the perfect balance of gooey, chewy, and crunchy.

Two chocolate chip cookies on a plate with a cloth napkin

I’ve included tons of tips below so your cookies turn out perfectly! Best of all? These cookies require no electric mixer required.

Chocolate chip cookie on a plate

How to Make Perfect Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Browning the Butter

Follow the directions closely for browning the butter. It’s super simple, just be sure not to walk away from it. It quickly goes from browned to burnt.

Do You Have to Use Bread Flour?

The bread flour in this recipe helps make the cookies ultra chewy and thick. It’s my go-to trick for incredible cookies so I always have some on hand. If you don’t have any feel free to use only all-purpose flour, though your cookies might lose some chewiness.

Sugar

A high ratio of dark brown sugar makes these cookies moist, chewy, and rich in flavor. I love it. Again if you don’t have any on hand, you can use light brown sugar but your cookies will lose a little bit of awesomeness.

Chocolate

This recipe calls for both regular semisweet chocolate chips as well as chocolate baking wafers. I used the Guittard brand of semisweet chocolate wafers. You can also find these specifically at Whole Foods, Williams Sonoma, or Sur la Table. You could also 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. If you can’t find them feel free to use 2 cups of semisweet chocolate chips instead.

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.

The Best Baking Tips:

I always use a kitchen scale to weigh my ingredients, especially flour, and an oven thermometer to ensure baking accuracy. Incorrectly measured flour can lead to cookies that are tough, crumbly, dry, too thick, or just blah. Most ovens run a little hot or cold, so checking the temperature with an oven thermometer ensures the best cookies possible.

Chilling the Dough

It might be a little annoying to see that I call for chilling the dough for a minimum of 24 hours in this recipe. But believe me, it makes a big difference here. Both the taste and texture improve during this time. Think of it as a marinating time where everything just gets better and better!!

Size

I’ve found these are best made as big cookies, using a 3-Tablespoon large cookie scoop. This 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 1.5-Tablespoon cookie scoop and reduce the baking time to about 10 minutes.

Why Use a Cookie Scoop?

Using a stainless steel spring-loaded cookie scoop when portioning out cookie dough is one of the KEYS to beautiful, uniform, evenly-shaped and evenly-baked cookies. My cookie scoop is one of my most frequently used kitchen gadgets. A spring-loaded scoop saves you *so much time* in forming the balls of dough. When using a scoop, you ensure each ball is evenly sized so the cookies bake evenly, meaning you don’t have any small overbaked cookies or large underbaked cookies. Learn more about Cookie Scoops and how to use them here!

Make Ahead

You can make the dough ahead of time and refrigerate it for up to 3 days. I like to scoop balls of dough onto a small baking sheet and freeze them until solid. Then I transfer the frozen balls to a ziptop bag and store in the freezer. Let the balls come to room temperature before baking. This way I can bake off small batches of fresh cookies whenever I feel like it! Check out my full post on how to freeze cookie dough and bake from frozen here.

Chocolate chip cookie broken in half with gooey chocolate

More AMAZING Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes:

See ALL of my chocolate chip cookie recipes + tips & insights into the SCIENCE of cookie baking here!

4.86 from 302 votes

How to make
Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yield: 25 large cookies
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Chilling 1 day
Total Time: 1 day 50 minutes
Chewy, gooey, and crunchy Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies are loaded with flavor and will surely become your new favorite cookie recipe! No mixer required. Download my FREE Cookie Customization Guide here.

Ingredients

  • 2 sticks (227 grams) unsalted butter
  • 1/2 (100 grams) cup 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
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 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)

Directions

  1. 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.
  2. In a medium bowl combine the flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
  6. 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.
  7. Bake for 11 to 13 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool for 2 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

Recipe Video

Course : Dessert
Cuisine : American

September Baking Challenge

This recipe was the September 2020 selection for our monthly baking challenge. Every month you can join a challenge by baking the recipe and snapping a photo for a chance to win prizes! Learn more about my monthly baking challenges here. Check out everyone’s cookies:

This post was originally published in 2015 and recently updated with recipe improvements and new photos. Photos by Ashley McLaughlin.

Tessa Arias
Author: Tessa Arias

I share trusted baking recipes your friends will LOVE alongside insights into the science of sweets. I'm a professionally trained chef, cookbook author, and cookie queen. I love to write about all things sweet, carb-y, and homemade. I live in Phoenix, Arizona (hence the blog name!)

Tessa Arias

About Tessa...

I share trusted baking recipes your friends will LOVE alongside insights into the science of sweets. I'm a professionally trained chef, cookbook author, and cookie queen. I love to write about all things sweet, carb-y, and homemade. I live in Phoenix, Arizona (hence the blog name!)

Find Tessa on  

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Recipe Rating




  1. #
    Denise Lee — September 14, 2020 at 9:38 am

    This was a great CCC recipe! Loved the flavor and texture!

  2. #
    Rebecca Hawkins — September 14, 2020 at 8:26 am

    I love Tessa’s idea if adding brown butter to baked goods! This recipe and her brown butter blueberry muffins will be in my family’s regular rotation.

  3. #
    Caytea Irons — September 13, 2020 at 10:07 pm

    The recipe was fun to make because of some of the more unique steps and ingredients (using brown butter, baking melts in addition to chocolate chips, etc.) and the result was what was promised: gooey, chewy with a crispy edge. They are so delicious! The only downside i found was that they were so decadent that the large size of the cookie was almost too much. Don’t get me wrong – I definitely finished mine and part of another – but my husband and kids thought they were too rich to finish a whole cookie in one sitting. I’ll make these again using the smaller size variation Tessa mentions.

  4. #
    Cindy Marimon — September 13, 2020 at 9:57 pm

    Chocolate chip cookies with regular butter will never be the same again with this recipe!

  5. #
    Leya — September 13, 2020 at 9:19 pm

    THE best brown butter chocolate chip cookie recipe I’ve tried. Flavorful and doesnt spread unlike other recipes before this.

  6. #
    Hillary Snyder — September 13, 2020 at 8:23 pm

    I like that these cookies are thinner, but I also really like the chewiness of the Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies. Either way, I’m liking this one! The technique of browning the butter is probably the hardest part. I think I under-did the last batch after burning some butter the first time I tried the recipe. Tessa has great tips on this that are really helpful though!

  7. #
    Julie Levy — September 13, 2020 at 7:01 pm

    Love the brown butter addition! Soft and chocolaty! Perfect with a glass of milk.

  8. #
    Marissa — September 13, 2020 at 7:00 pm

    These are next level delicious! I’ve been addicted to your Bakery Style Choco chip cookies, like make them every week addicted . I know that I can’t go wrong with one of your recipes- these cookies are just delicious, wouldn’t change a thing about these cookies. Although it was hard to wait the 24hrs for the dough to marinade!

  9. #
    Jen Grundman — September 13, 2020 at 6:47 pm

    These cookies are amazing!! Love that they are heavy on the chocolate chips. The only con was having to chill them for 24 hours, because sometimes you need cookies right now!!

  10. #
    Donna Tamburi — September 13, 2020 at 5:43 pm

    The flavor that the brown butter gives to these cookies is just delicious.

  11. #
    Christine Yeh — September 13, 2020 at 4:54 pm

    Wow! I love this cookie recipe! I usually skimp on butter and sugar to make me feel better about eating all my desserts but this time, I just followed the recipe as is and they turned out bomb! Never have I made cookies this chewy and soft, I really felt like a true baker.

  12. #
    Jorjean Murphy — September 13, 2020 at 2:25 pm

    I needed a little patience waiting 24 hours to bake these, but it was worth it. I used chocolate chunks along with the chips. The chunks stay nice and melty. The brown butter gives a nice carmel/butterscotch undertone that adds a richness to these cookies. A winner for sure!

  13. #
    Kiersten — September 13, 2020 at 1:44 pm

    These cookies are absolutely beautiful (and of course delicious)! I couldn’t be happier!

  14. #
    Katie Oakes — September 13, 2020 at 1:31 pm

    Y’all. These cookies. They are everything. I have been searching for a special chocolate chip cookie recipe and I have finally found it! First off, browning butter should be way more normalized. The smell in my home is unreal!! These do require 24 hours to chill and patience is a virtue. Don’t skip the chilling part!! Baked half and have half in my freezer to bake fresh when I get cravings. Great job, Tessa!

  15. #
    Jenna Kolb — September 13, 2020 at 10:05 am

    AMAZING! I got to show my daughters how to brown butter and it was for a cookie! Usually I do it for dinner dishes like pasta and gnocchi. Fun change of pace!

  16. #
    Heba — September 13, 2020 at 9:58 am

    An amazing recipe.. I really enjoyed doing it and the taste is amazing thaaaanks alot for sharing this with us

  17. #
    Abigail Vasher — September 13, 2020 at 8:30 am

    Loved these cookies! Browning the butter added a whole new flavor. They are definitely my new favorite chocolate chip cookie!

  18. #
    Dom — September 13, 2020 at 7:28 am

    Sooo good ! And perfect for any season.
    Thank you !

  19. #
    Domitille — September 13, 2020 at 7:24 am

    These have such a delicious flavour from the browned butter, and amazing texture ! One of my favourites (they’re all from here !)

  20. #
    Domitille — September 13, 2020 at 7:24 am

    These have such a delicious flavour from the browned butter, and amazing texture ! One of my favourites (they’re all from here !)

  21. #
    April — September 13, 2020 at 4:26 am

    I loved this recipe -I will be making more of these cookies during the holiday season!

  22. #
    Myreen Leanca — September 13, 2020 at 2:26 am

    Tessa is the ultimate cookie goddess. I am so happy for her new cookbook! This brown butter chocolate chip cookie is the best cover choice, because it is her best recipe yet that I’ve made! Absolutely delicious!

  23. #
    Rona A Compton — September 12, 2020 at 9:12 pm

    My family really enjoyed these cookies. The brown butter really enhanced the flavor and the bread flour gives them a bit more chewy texture.

  24. #
    Sarah Kranz — September 12, 2020 at 5:36 pm

    This is definitely one of the best chocolate chip cookies I have made! They are perfectly chewy in the center and crispy on the edges and so thick.

  25. #
    Rosa Maria Santisteban Ocejo — September 12, 2020 at 5:06 pm

    I looooooveeed this cookies!! I added a pinch of salta at last, which enhanced the flavor!! I would totally recommend this!!

  26. #
    Rose — September 12, 2020 at 5:04 pm

    I looooooooved this recipe!! My entire family kept asking for more!! I added the pinch of salt at last, which enhanced the flavor 😛 I’ll totally repeat these!!

  27. #
    Becky Oetting — September 12, 2020 at 3:40 pm

    So delicious!!!

  28. #
    Itzel Muro Puente — September 12, 2020 at 3:19 pm

    Amazing. I loved the recipe, specifically the smell of the brown butter, it is exquisite. Will definitely make it again in the future!

  29. #
    Tanya — September 12, 2020 at 3:16 pm

    I’ve been told that these are the only cookies I’m to make now. Everyone’s new favourite. So chewy, chocolatey and delicious.

  30. #
    Cindy Diehl — September 12, 2020 at 1:53 pm

    Love, love, love chocolate chip cookies and this one is a winner! The addition of the chocolate wafers is worth it. I used Ghiradelli melting wafers and they worked great.

  31. #
    Crystal — September 11, 2020 at 5:36 pm

    So yummy! Perfect texture and ALL the chocolate!

  32. #
    Vicki Crozzoli — September 11, 2020 at 5:22 pm

    This is the second time I have made this recipe. The first time, I didnt quite get the browning butter part. This time I did it and it really worked. I could totally see the bits and could taste the difference. They are amazing cookies.

  33. #
    Vicki Crozzoli — September 11, 2020 at 5:20 pm

    This is the second time I have made this recipe. The first time, I didnt understand the concept of browning the butter. I totally got it this time and I think it made quite a difference. The cookies are awesome, nice and fat and gooey on the inside.

  34. #
    Susie — September 11, 2020 at 4:39 pm

    I know everyone loves these, but they are not my favorite. They are chewy but to me they almost seemed under done. I will be trying some of the others in the book though!

  35. #
    Karla Ramírez — September 11, 2020 at 11:42 am

    Really loved these cookies!

  36. #
    Karla Ramirez — September 11, 2020 at 11:31 am

    It’s the first time I bake Tessa’s recipes and I absolutely loved these cookies!! I really love the science behind baking and I really enjoy your posts! Thank you so much for sharing!

  37. #
    Sue H. — September 11, 2020 at 9:55 am

    I have made these at least 4 times and they are constantly requested at work. Delicious!

  38. #
    Carla — September 11, 2020 at 8:58 am

    Another delicious recipe!
    The brown butter gives the CCC a more nutty flavour. Will definitely be making them again. Thanks Tessa!

  39. #
    Bronte Cross — September 11, 2020 at 4:46 am

    Thank you for including metric measurements! Always struggled making the cookies exact as I converted from sticks/cups to grams! huge brownie (or should I say cookie) points to you! Delicious as expected, will definitely make again, and be passing on this recipe!

  40. #
    Hilda — September 10, 2020 at 8:23 pm

    Clear and easy to follow instructions, easy to make, but huge pay off!
    I ate 3 of them before they were even cooled!

  41. #
    Katherine O’Malley — September 10, 2020 at 6:51 pm

    So delicious! And relatively easy considering how gourmet and “upscale” these cookies are.

  42. #
    Sandra D. — September 10, 2020 at 6:19 pm

    I must say this is one delicious cookie. Sadly I don’t have the best taste buds any more so I couldn’t taste the brown butter but it was one of the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever made.

  43. #
    Robynne Garrido — September 10, 2020 at 2:16 pm

    Finally experimented with Tessa’s recommendation to weigh all ingredients instead of measuring. IMG, it has taken my baking to the next level. Thank you Tessa for teaching how important the science is to bake the very Best. Oh, and I just got my cookbook. Love it!

  44. #
    Sarah Atif — September 10, 2020 at 12:42 am

    Really easy to follow and came out absolutely delicious!

  45. #
    Christine Bradley — September 9, 2020 at 5:52 pm

    These were super yummy! Great flavor with the brown butter! I just like my cookies a little thicker

  46. #
    Michelle — September 9, 2020 at 11:15 am

    Love these! The brown butter takes these to the next level.

  47. #
    Maggie McKneely — September 9, 2020 at 10:09 am

    Delicious! I love the slightly nutty flavor the browned butter adds!

  48. #
    bryna ross — September 8, 2020 at 10:31 pm

    have made multiple times and love it!!

  49. #
    Gianna — September 8, 2020 at 8:42 pm

    These were delicious! The browned butter makes all the difference in flavor! But too be honest the best surprise was the bread flour. At first I was skeptical; I had never used it in my cookies!! It gives a great chewy texture in the middle even after they cooled and into the next day–incredible!

  50. #
    Lu — September 8, 2020 at 7:58 pm

    THese brown butter cookies are amazing! No mixer required! THey are rich & chewy and extra gooey. So so good.

  51. #
    Melissa D — September 8, 2020 at 7:25 pm

    10/10 recipe. I love anything that has brown butter and these did not disappoint. They have a slight toffee flavour which I can’t get enough of. I couldn’t find the chocolate wafers in a store near me so I’ll be making these again once they become available. Everyone in my family was just raving about how good they were. I never thought that chilling the dough in the fridge for 48 hrs would make a difference but I’ll never go back!!

  52. #
    Jessica Simon — September 8, 2020 at 7:11 pm

    Yummy and easy to make – no mixer required! Most of the time went into browning butter and then waiting for it to cook. I also made a few cookies right away but put most of the dough to chill overnight.

  53. #
    Aaron — September 8, 2020 at 4:42 pm

    Amazing. Just amazing.

  54. #
    Aaron Hockstein — September 8, 2020 at 4:40 pm

    Oh my gawd these are amazing!!!!!!!! They are sweet and salty and a little nutty from the brown butter. Best cookies ever!

  55. #
    Connie — September 8, 2020 at 3:07 pm

    So yummy! I love Brown Butter anything but it’s amazing in this recipe! So rich and delicious! I didn’t have wafers but added toffee bits and made them huge and they turned out fantastic! I didn’t chill them for 24 hours but next time I will, they spread a little.

  56. #
    Diane — September 8, 2020 at 1:18 pm

    Brown butter and bread flour are game changers for this chocolate chip cookie! So so good!

  57. #
    Lanie — September 8, 2020 at 12:42 pm

    I’ve tried a lot of chocolate chip cookie recipes over the years and this is by far mine and my families FAVORITE. they always beg me to make these cookies for them. Love love love this recipe

  58. #
    Brandon — September 8, 2020 at 10:08 am

    Have made these over and over again and they get better and better!

  59. #
    Stephanie — September 8, 2020 at 9:39 am

    I made more than 100 of these cookies yesterday and all of them turned out so good! The brown butter really adds a nice flavor and the texture of the cookie is perfect.

  60. #
    Nalini Siewsingh — September 8, 2020 at 6:01 am

    Loved the unique flavor of the brown butter. And refrigerating for at least 24 hours definitely is a game changer.

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