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.
Struggling with Flat or Dry Cookies?
My free guide shows you how to fix texture problems and bake cookies you’ll love.
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!
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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.
Amazing cookie recipe! My kids love it. I just have one question! When I refrigerate the cookie dough overnight and before baking them the next day I leave it out at room temperature. It takes a whole day to thaw the dough. It really becomes hard in the fridge. Any thoughts or suggestions as to what I am doing wrong?
So when you say the mixture of butter and sugar needs to “cool completely” does that mean waiting on it to get to room temperature?
Yep! If it’s helpful, feel free to place it in the fridge for 5-10 minutes to speed up the cooling process!
I found this on Reddit when I was searching for people’s favourite choc chip cookie recipes. When I tell you I’ve tried 3 dozen recipes and this one is heads and shoulders above the rest… The bread flour is crucial. The brown butter is crucial. The 24+ hour chilling period is crucial. The final sprinkle of flaky sea salt is crucial. All the extra effort is worth it for the end result. People have asked to order big batches of these cookies from me when I bring them to parties, potlucks, etc. I play around with the chocolate additions, like adding white chocolate chips and walnuts, and sometimes I add a pinch of nutmeg. I also make mine huge and keep them in the freezer so I can pop 1-2 into the oven as an after-dinner dessert with vanilla ice cream. This recipe is proof that you don’t need fancy tools, just patience. Thank you so much for sharing this!
Wow, what a wonderful comment, Jannel. I love all your mix-in ideas and the pinch of nutmeg! Plus, I don’t think there’s anything better than a fresh, warm cookie after dinner, yum! Thanks so much for sharing your experience, we’re so thrilled to hear how much you love this recipe! 🙂
Am I the only one that got caught because the recipe steps neglect the sugar…..huge miss. Ruined my dough because I didn’t realize until everything was incorporated already.
Hi Kacee! Please see Step #1 – after you’ve browned the butter, removed it from the heat, and poured it into a mixing bowl, the sugars are added to the butter before the mixture is set aside to cool completely. Hope you give this recipe another try!
That happened to me too! But that’s why I always go over the ingredient list like 10 times while mixing to make sure I put everything in instead of relying on instructions where I always misread or forget something. I swear I had to read the first two steps five times to figure out where it said sugar. I put everything in in the wrong order this time but the cookies still turned out great for me.
Great recipe! Just wondering what would happen if I didn’t refrigerate for 24hrs and instead froze it or something like that?
Hi Yasmin! Skipping the chill process and freezing instead won’t reap the same benefits. Learn more about the importance of chilling dough in our article here! 🙂
Made these for grandchildren to share with friends. Not wanting to wait much longer, I put two in the oven before baking the entire batch. They are simply delicious…just as the recipe was described….tender, crispy, and so yummy.
Followed the easy and well written instructions to the letter and cannot wait to share them.
Thanks for sharing this recipe with all of us!
This is an absolutely delicious recipe. I did a little tweaking, using Guittard chocolate chips and bars, both bitter-sweet and semi sweet. I make my own brown sugar so real molasses adds another flavor layer. Finally, as if there wasn’t enough nutty, sweet, crunchiness I threw in some roasted pecan pieces for a touch of savory earthiness. Recipe was easy to read and follow as well as most of the ingredients are items that those who bake, have on hand. Everyone oooo’d and aaaaaah’d at the pics on my social media page, and those that ate a cookie or two, raved at the texture and flavor. Just enough crunch, chew, sweet and savory. At first I thought to be a recipe gatekeeper but then…most will never make their own brown sugar so they won’t taste just like mine… so I shared your recipe page. Thanks a million!
These cookies are freaking amazing. I used Guittard semi-sweet chocolate chips and chopped Guittard bittersweet bars, along with chopped pecans. The brown sugar was homemade using organic cane sugar and molasses. I add the salt in the butter and sugar. I got nothing but crazy compliments! These are my go to chocolate chip cookies…forever
I have made this recipe as written many times but recently I attempted to make it gluten and dairy free for a friend who recently found out she has some intolerances. I was able to substitute the butter for Miyoko’s Dairy Free European Style unsalted butter (the cashews in it allow for it to be browned) and I used King Arthur 1:1 gluten free flour and I used guittard’s semi-sweet chocolate chips since they are dairy free. While it definitely does not live up to the hype of the normal recipe, I wanted to note that my friend said it was the best thing she’s had since having to switch her diet. I just wanted to share that the measurements in grams do work with these substitutions if someone has an intolerance. 🙂
This is indeed a good recipe. However, having made the meaningful eats brown butter GF choc chip cookies, I think they work better for GF. Not all of my family is GF, but they all agree that that recipe is better than any “real” flour recipes. I really think the almond flour does it. Plus, it just takes a half hour rest rather than 24 – 72 hours in the refrigerator to get an awesome result
This was a great recipe. The cookies turned out so tender and flavorful. I took time when browning the butter so really make sure the color was a deep amber and smelled nutty. I beat the eggs before adding them and was careful to measure the flours precisely. Meaning I used a smaller scoop to pour into the measuring cups to fill and used a knife to scape it level. My only deviation to the recipe was I used only Dark chocolate chips and chunks. Next time Ill add semi sweet and milk chocolate to very the chocolate flavor.
My cookies didn’t flatten at all, and the taste was not very good, to be honest. I am not sure what I did wrong, but they did not come out at all like what I’ve read and heard about these cookies. I reread the recipe, and I followed it exactly to a T, but unfortunately, it didn’t turn out as I expected.
I live in Dubai so I’m wondering if it has to do with the ingredients here.
I am not sharing this to be negative, but just to see if others have had a similar experience and to understand why.
My cookies did not shrink at all. they were puffy and tasted like eggs. Not trying to be rude, but will not choose again. I don’t know if I did something or what but they were not good.
Oh no, I’m sorry to hear that these cookies didn’t turn out as expected! That would be so disappointing, especially after following the recipe so closely. Since you’re in Dubai, the difference in ingredients (like the protein content of the flour you used, for example) could definitely have impacted the outcome. Did you make any substitutions? When cookies don’t spread, it’s often due to too much flour (which is why we love using a digital scale—even a little extra flour can result in a cakier cookie that doesn’t spread!). Climate and humidity can also impact how ingredients behave. I’m curious: have you noticed similar challenges with other U.S.-based cookie recipes? I’d love to help troubleshoot further so you can get that perfect chewy, flavorful cookie. Let me know how it goes if you give them another try!
Bad Witten recipe. Be more specific about adding the SUGARS. Missed the “s” and had to add my brown sugar (I made) last. Because I added last it did not combine, so added about 2 tablespoons milk and combined well. Cookies came ou GREAT.
You would think you would be understanding of a missing letter with all your typos. Also just as a rule of thumb you should read a recipe all the way through before you attempt it.