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.
What Makes Cookies Chewy, Crisp, or Cakey?
My free guide reveals the ingredients and tweaks that matter.
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.
Hello there! I heard these cookies were really good and wanted to give them a try. However, it says that this recipe makes a batch of 25 cookies. That’s a bit much in my opinion. Do you think I could cut the recipe by a half or even a quarter? Will it still turn out right? Would I have to chill it for a full day still? If I shouldn’t cut the recipe, how many days can the cookies last? Thank you so much!
Hi Kina! You could halve this recipe, but then you’ll also have to try to cut an egg yolk in half (or quarters, if you wish to cut the recipe in 1/4!), which can be a bit of a pain. Our recommendation is to make the full recipe as written, and then follow the directions in this post to freeze the cookie dough (after the chill period). Then you can bake off a few at a time, whenever you like! Alternatively, if you do decide to cut down the recipe, we still recommend chilling for 24-72 hours for best results. I hope that helps! Let us know what you think of these cookies once you’ve given them a try 🙂
Thank you for getting back to me!! Made the cookies with the See’s large chips which were semi sweet. They were amazing and the hardest part was waiting 24 hours to enjoy! Baked 6 and froze the scooped dough to enjoy warm cookies whenever we are in the mood!
Every recipe I have tried has been delicious! My husband and daughter love the brownies made with the “expensive ingredients “. Well worth the money! Looking forward to fall baking so bring on those recipes!! Enjoy the rest of your summer!!
Yay! So thrilled to hear this, Barb! Thanks so much for letting us know 🙂
Best cookies I’ve ever made! I always use this recipe, and it has never failed!!!
These were absolutely fantastic, my friends loved it! I actually mixed all the ingredients into the brown butter while it was slightly warm to melt my chocolate. Oh my god it was so good
I made the dough, and it’s in the fridge hailing. I have rolled them into logs and will slice them chilled. Maybe that is the secret? I don’t have a rating yet, but all definitely let you know if rolling the into lag shape does anything to help the baking process
Hi Barbara! We haven’t tried rolling these cookies into logs and slicing to bake – that trick is usually best for cookies with more of a shortbread texture, but it may work great here too. Let us know how it goes with these! We hope you enjoy them 🙂
From a flavor and texture standpoint – 10/10. I love how crisp yet chewy / soft these cookies are. The brown sugar and browned butter make them rich and delicious. I did however only do 1 stick of butter versus 2 and found that to be perfect.
Thank you for sharing!
First time making these and they were delicious. Question- when bringing to room temp before baking, the dough resembled the texture and temp of the pre-fridge step….so, do you bake while slightly chill from the fridge?
thanks
I noticed the butter calls for 2 sticks( 227 grams) is this after the butter is brown? if you are using the sticks and not the grams after the butter is browned it does not equal 227 grams. I have been melting about 3 sticks to get to 227 with some left over. I have made this recipe several times and it comes out perfect all the time. I just wanted to know.
Thank you
Hi Debbie-Ann! This recipe asks for 2 sticks (227 grams) butter, and then we brown it in the first step of the recipe, and use the entirety of the brown butter we’ve just made. I’m glad your alterations have been working so well, but no need for the additional butter, as the recipe is written to take the evaporation from the browning process into consideration. Thanks for checking 🙂
The flavor of the cookies was nice, but they turned out flat and personally, too big. Still good, though!
Hi Alyrah! I’m sorry to hear that these cookies didn’t turn out as they should. Were the cookies chilled for a minimum of 24 hours, as advised in the recipe? I know that can be so hard to do – but it is integral to this recipe’s outcome, as explained in more detail in the pink tip box above the recipe. Also, how do you measure your ingredients? By volume (using cups), or by weight (using a digital kitchen scale)? When measuring by volume, it’s so easy to mis-measure ingredients (particularly flour) and throw off the entire chemistry of a recipe. Check out Tessa’s article here, where she talks about how to best measure ingredients to ensure accuracy every time. How old are your leavening agents? If your baking soda/powder are not fresh, they won’t do their jobs and your cookies may over-spread, among other things. Tessa talks about the science behind leavening agents, and how to test for leavener freshness, in this article here! Finally, if these cookies are too large, feel free to experiment with a smaller (1.5 Tablespoon) cookie scoop, for a smaller cookie size – just keep in mind that the baking time will need to be lowered, and the texture will change slightly, too. I hope something here helps, Alyrah! Happy baking 🙂
I have a scale, but it doesn’t weigh in grams. What’s a good scale?
Hi Shonna! This is Tessa’s favorite kitchen scale here, which has a pull-out display that’s super convenient, and this is another great scale that’s slightly more affordable scale. I hope that helps!
Would the recipe need to be changed any if I wanted to use dark chocolate instead of semi-sweet? I have made so many of Tessa’s cookie recipes! They are the best ever!
Hi Sandra! Yay, we’re so happy to hear that you enjoy Tessa’s cookie recipes! 🙂 The chocolate chips can be swapped out for any other type of chocolate chip or mix-in you like – just swap out the type of chocolate you prefer for the same amount as written in the recipe. Just keep in mind that darker chocolate will lower the sweetness level of the cookie, but it will still be super delicious! Let us know what you think once you’ve given these cookies a try! 🙂
I love this recipe but anytime I make it the cookies don’t flatten really much at all. I end up with big dome cookies and wondering what I could be messing up in making them. Could I be over mixing the dough would that cause them not to flatten?
Hi Liz! How do you measure your ingredients? By volume (using cups), or by weight (using a digital kitchen scale)? When measuring by volume, it’s so easy to mis-measure ingredients (particularly flour) and throw off the entire chemistry of a recipe – and the most likely culprit when cookies are too domed and don’t spread as they should. Check out Tessa’s article here, where she talks about how to best measure ingredients to ensure accuracy every time. I hope this helps! Feel free to reach back out with any further questions, we’re always happy to help 🙂
Hello again,
I feel like a complete dummy, I forgot the chocolate!
Will it be fine if I add the chocolate after chilling?
I’ve tasted the dough, and taste amazing these cookies gonna taste sooo good(hope even though I messed up a bit)
Hi there! Oh no – I’m so sorry to hear that! We’ve never tried mixing in the chocolate and I’m a little worried that your dough will get overmixed if you add it now, but there’s only one way to find out! Just be careful to mix only as absolutely necessary, and you can always add the majority of the chocolate to the tops of the cookies, to avoid too mcuh additional mixing. Fingers crossed they’ll still be totally delicious. Let us know how it goes!
Mmm, cookies were still so good
I’ll me making these again this week!
Hello!
I was wondering if I could perhaps use all-purpose flower to replace to bread flower?
Hi there! Tessa explains this in the pink tip box above the recipe. Yes, you can, but the cookies won’t be as chewy or thick. Be sure to check out all her tips and tricks there before trying these delicious cookies 🙂 Happy baking!