Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Possibly the most flavorful chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever tasted. The combination of the nutty brown butter, the rich sweetness of the dark brown sugar, and the caramel-y toffee is INSANELY good.
Texture: These cookies are big, thick, chewy, ooey, and gooey. Seriously perfect.
Ease: More involved than your standard chocolate chip cookie recipe. There’s the browning of the butter and letting the dough chill for at least 24 hours.
Pros: Fantastic chocolate chip cookies that your family and friends will adore.
Cons: A little extra work involved, but I promise it’s completely worthwhile.
Would I make this again? Oh yes. I always keep a steady supply of these cookies in my freezer!
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These Browned Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies are about to be the BEST cookies you’ve ever tried.
This Browned Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe has gone completely viral. It’s been featured on Good Morning America, and TikTok videos of people making this recipe have gotten millions of views.
I originally published this recipe in 2014 but just had to update it with recipe improvements and new photos. These cookies deserved it!
What Makes Cookies Chewy, Crisp, or Cakey?
My free guide reveals the ingredients and tweaks that matter.
In fact, my recipe photographer Ashley, who shot all 50 recipes in my cookie cookbook, said this may just be my BEST COOKIE RECIPE yet. People have been known to fight over these cookies. Yes, they’re that good.
This Browned Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe is kind of a mouthful to say. But when you actually have a mouthful of one of these cookies, I think you’re going to love me.
These are one of the most flavorful chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever tasted, and the texture is absolutely perfect. You NEED to try this recipe. If your friends and family are anything like mine, they plead and beg you to make it again and again.
Yes, this recipe is a little extra work. But the best things in life usually are.
You may even want to make a double batch so you have plenty of dough to freeze when the craving hits. Trust me… it WILL hit!
Sprinkle of Science
How to Make Browned Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies
How to Brown Butter:
- Use a stainless steel sauté pan for best results.
- Nonstick prevents the butter from browning completely and prevents you from being able to visually see how browned it’s getting. Same with the dark color of cast iron.
- Something with a wider surface area, like a sauté pan over a saucepan, encourages browning more quickly.
- Don’t step away from butter that’s browning after it’s melted. It can go from browned to burnt quickly.
- At the same time, don’t be afraid of letting that color develop. It should become a rich and fragrant amber.
- Scrape all the brown bits into the mixing bowl – that’s where the flavor lives!
- I highly recommend using unsalted butter – learn why here.
- Learn all my tips and tricks for browning butter in my How to Brown Butter article here.
Do I Really Need to Use Bread Flour?
You don’t absolutely have to use bread flour, but it adds a ton of chewy texture to these Browned Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies that’s worth the extra trip to the store. If you don’t have bread flour, then use a total of 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour in the recipe. Make sure to weigh your flour accurately. If you add too much flour, your cookies may end up dry, dense, or crumbly cookies that barely spread.
Granulated Sugar + Dark Brown Sugar
- To make these Browned Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies extra delicious, we’re using a combination of granulated white sugar and dark brown sugar.
- This combination brings sweetness, a fantastic texture, and a butterscotch flavor that’s so rich and delicious.
- The extra molasses in the dark brown sugar draws in more moisture, making the cookies thicker, softer, and chewier.
- You can use light brown sugar instead, but you may lose some of the additional flavor.
- Whatever you do, don’t lower the sugar in this recipe. Sugar does SO much more than simply sweetening your baked goods. Learn more about sugar’s role in baking here.
Eggs + an Extra Yolk
Eggs are essential to forming a beautifully pliable dough and cookies that stay soft for days – and we’re adding an extra yolk for extra richness and added chewiness. Eggs should be at room temperature when beginning your dough, but separate the one yolk from its white while cold for best results (yolks are more fragile and tend to break more easily when warmer).
Why is There Espresso Powder in This Cookie Recipe?
I really like the way the bitter espresso plays off the sweetness of the toffee and the nuttiness of the browned butter. It’s totally optional, so if you don’t have it or don’t want to use it, feel free to simply omit it.
What Kind of Chocolate for Browned Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies?
I like to use semi-sweet Ghirardelli baking bars and chop them up coarsely for these Browned Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies. Feel free to use chocolate chips, but note that you won’t have the same delicious marbled result you get from chopping your own chocolate.
Where to Find Toffee Bits?
You can find Heath brand toffee chips at many grocery stores, typically located with chocolate chips in the baking aisle. If you can’t find them, I have a super easy recipe to DIY Homemade Toffee Bits which I used for these cookies here. It takes just 15 minutes and they taste SO much better than store-bought!
Do I Really Have to Chill the Cookie Dough?
I know, it’s annoying, but I promise you it’s SO worth it, especially for this recipe which uses melted browned butter. Both the taste and texture of the cookie improve during this time. Think of it as a marinating time where everything just gets better and better!! Freezing does not work the same as chilling, so there are no shortcuts here. Learn more about chilling cookie dough in this article here.
Can I Make Smaller Cookies?
Yes, though I much prefer the crisp edges, chewy texture, and soft center 3-tablespoon-sized Browned Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies. If you want to bake smaller cookies, scoop into 1 1/2 tablespoon-sized balls and bake for 10 to 12 minutes.
Portioning the Cookie Dough Before vs. After Chilling
- I recommend following the directions in the recipe for chilling the dough in one big mass, and then portioning the dough, because it prevents the dough from drying out while chilling.
- However, if you’re finding it too challenging to scoop the Browned Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookie dough at this point, feel free to scoop before chilling.
- There’s a bit more risk that your dough will dry out in the fridge this way, so just to be safe, store the cookie dough balls in an airtight container or good quality ziptop bag, to prevent them from drying out.
- Then simply bake the pre-portioned Browned Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies straight from the fridge after the 24-72 hour chill time!
Can I Freeze This Cookie Dough?
Yes! Freeze the portioned Browned Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookie dough balls after letting the dough marinate in the fridge for at least 24 hours. Place dough balls on a baking sheet and freeze until solid. Remove frozen balls of dough to an airtight container and store for up to 6 weeks. Click here for my full guide on how to freeze and bake frozen dough.
Tessa’s Favorite Tools for This Recipe:
- Large 3-tablespoon size cookie scoop for that bakery-style texture
- Or use a medium 1.5-tablespoon size cookie scoop and bake only for about 10-12 minutes instead
- Nordic Ware Natural Aluminum Baker’s Half Sheet won our side-by-side comparison of the best baking pans
- 12″x16″ non-stick parchment paper for the best bake and easiest cleanup!
- The Ultimate Cookie Handbook: Your Guide to Baking Perfect Cookies Every Time by Tessa Arias (me!)
More Recipes You’ll Love:
- Toffee Brownies
- Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Brown Butter Dulce de Leche Cookie Cups
- Peanut Butter Toffee Chocolate Chunk Bars
- Bourbon Rye Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies
- Visit my full Cookie Recipes index for more recipes, tips, and insights into the science of cookie baking!
Browned Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies
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Ingredients
- 2 sticks (227 grams) unsalted butter
- 1/2 (100 grams) cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup (200 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
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder, optional
- 2 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 10 ounces (283 grams) semisweet chocolate, chopped
- 1 cup
homemade toffee bits , or Heath brand - Flaky sea salt, for finishing
Instructions
- In a medium stainless steel sauté pan 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 becomes quieter, continue to swirl the pan or stir until the butter develops a nutty aroma and brown bits start to form at the bottom. Once the bits are amber in color, remove from heat and pour into a mixing bowl. Be sure to keep the brown bits at the bottom of the pan as well, they hold so much flavor!
- Add the granulated sugar and brown sugar to the hot butter, stirring to combine. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and espresso powder.
- To the cooled butter mixture, whisk in the eggs, yolk, and vanilla until combined. Gradually stir in the flour mixture with a rubber spatula. Stir in the chocolate chunks and toffee bits. 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, about 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Divide the dough into 3-tablespoon sized balls using a large cookie scoop and drop onto prepared baking sheets. Dough may be slightly challenging to scoop.
- At this point, you can portion the dough, place it on a baking sheet, and freeze just until solid. Remove frozen balls of dough to an airtight container and store for up to 6 weeks.
- Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and sprinkle flaky sea salt on top of the cookies, if desired. Let cookies cool for 2 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
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 2014 and updated with recipe improvements, more tips, and new photos. Photos by Ashley McLaughlin.
Hey gals!
So I attempted to do this recipe, but made a goof somewhere! My cookies came up too puffed up and sponge-cakey.
I wonder what I did wrong? Perhaps I might have whipped the butter and sugar too long (by hand). I actually don’t remember if I did or not? The side effect of a cookie that puffs up is that it loses its flavor and sweetness.
I still have half of that cookie dough, I wonder if I could offset it somehow to not make it puff up in the oven? Thank you!
I’m just gonna rate it 5 star because of my user error and the cookie dough on its own is heavenly!
Pic: https://imgur.com/a/uhVSjTK
Yum! Your cookies look delicious! How long did you mix the brown butter and sugars by hand for? It should have been just until combined, but that shouldn’t have caused your cookies to puff up/alter the texture too much. Do you use a digital scale to measure your ingredients? Typically when cookies turn out too cakey, it’s due to too much flour being added. Unfortunately, once cookie dough has been mixed, there’s no way to correct the issue. But hopefully the cookies were still enjoyable! I definitely hope that you give this recipe another try. Please let me know if I can help troubleshoot further, I’m happy to help!
I think 20 seconds or 30 seconds? hmm I don’t remember actually! Maybe I should’ve done it for 5-10 seconds?
But for sure, I did measure it all with my digital scale. I have been doing that for a few months now and that’s how the bakery style chocolate chip cookies came out so well!
Now, I have some ideas. I could let my frozen cookie dough thaw to room temp, try to flatten them slightly and allow them to spread.
I think “Cakey” is the wrong word. These are airy-spongey. The inside is filled with tons of little craters due to it rising so high!
Thanks again!
Interesting! It’s so hard to say for sure what went wrong without being there as you make your cookies, but hopefully it was just a small accidental measurement error that will be corrected in your next batch. If you bake at high altitude, you may need to reduce your leavener as well. King Arthur Baking has a great article that will help if that’s the case. Let us know how your next batch goes!
Oh I get it!
So this oven is brand new and has TWO Bake buttons. I did not see the little “fan” next to the first button.
I think I pressed that one instead, which is the convection setting. I read the convection setting causes flour to rise without allowing it to to flatten and brown for recipes that require it.
I still got half the batch and will try to bake a few again and get back to you 🙂 Thanks!!
Glad you noticed! You may be interested in our Oven 101 article, where Tessa explains more about the differences between convection and conventional ovens, when the fan shouldn’t be used, and how to adjust for recipes that don’t specifically call for a convection setting. I hope that helps! I bet your cookies will turn out beautifully this time 🙂
I have some other things I thought of before I continue!
All of my eggs are XL, probably 20% bigger than L? Anyways, do u think that added to the puffiness?
Also, I pulled the dough out of the fridge and baked it straight away instead of allowing it go to room temp. Did that cause a negative issue?
I also think my tsp measuring device could be off and i could have compacted more baking powder than the recommended. I also noticed that this recipe has a lot more leavener in the first place compared to dozens of other recipes anyways. Perhaps I could try halving the baking powder in that case?
I also forgot to pull them off and place on the table to cool (i have no cooling rack but I could put it directly on the parchment to the granite counter? I believe this didn’t allow the center to keep chewy but keep cooking.
I am thinking all 4 combined probably caused the issue of airy puffy sponge cookies. Maybe not just one by itself. Thanks!
Hi Danny, it’s very possible, a large egg out of shell weighs approximately 50 grams, whereas extra large is around 65 grams. We’ve not experienced any issues with the amount of baking powder in this recipe ourselves, but you’re welcome to experiment with it! Baking your cookies directly from the fridge would reduce spreading, and leaving your cookies on the pan to cool would result in slightly more baked centers as the residual heat from the pan will continue to bake your cookies. Since you don’t have a cooling rack, you could always take your cookies out just a little sooner than usual and leave them on your pans to cool.
Hi Emily!
Thanks for watching me along my cookie experiment journey XD I didn’t mean for this to be an experiment, but that’s what its become! Anyways, so I actually did 2 things
1. Pull out the cookie dough to room temp before cooking.
2. Pushed down the cookie down with a spoon just a little bit flatter, but still a mound.
Here’s what I got: https://imgur.com/a/Ao1vXuP
As u can see it indeed no longer looks like a muffin top and tastes much better as the dough is compacted , a bit chewier. Take note that this is a compromise to what you just explained:
the EGGS! Yes, indeed the XL egg makes a huge difference compared to the L egg. I tried to put in the XL egg with a box cookie mix as a test, and indeed it exhibited the same problem. It was also airy/open crumb and lost its taste and chewiness.
So I think I will need to get a tsp and scoop out a bit of the egg before I do the mix!
The other major thing was I did all my cookie mixes by hand! That’s probably why the inconsistency. I also just bought a powerful 9 speed hand mixer by Kitchenaid so I’ll do better next time.
Also, while I don’t have a cooling rack, I did do the Tollhouse tip by just pulling the parchment directly onto my granite counter. That works just fine 😀
Well, the oven came with a Air Fryer rack, but the wires are thin and sharp, so food will stick to it. I bought so much cooking supplies lately, so I’m gradually adding more each month and will get to it soon!
Thanks!
Loved reading about your experiments and glad you figured out what was going wrong!
Literally the best cookie I have ever made, hands down. The first time I made them I brought them to a party and everyone said it was the best cookie they had ever had – many people asked for the recipe. Same with the second time I made them – I had people saying, “I usually don’t like sugar or cookies, but I’ve had three of these.” Just incredible. Now my go-to recipe if I need to bring a dessert somewhere.
Amazing!! So happy to hear they’re such a hit! Thanks for the comment, Grace 🙂
I recently made the Brown Butter Brownies from HtH and loved the result so I decided to try this Browned Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe as well as the toffee recipe on this website. I included the optional coffee powder and finished it with Maldon salt. The only modifications to note were using AP flour instead of an AP/bread flour mix and using a mix of chopped semisweet and dark chocolate. I baked my cookies for 12 minutes because I prefer a slightly underbaked cookie. I think this is a great cookie recipe with nice flavor and texture. I found the recipe easy to make and would make these cookies again, although I wouldn’t say this will be my go-to cookie recipe. I am still looking for my perfect cookie and I would be interested in trying more recipes from HtH because so far I am enjoying Tessa’s recipes.
Everyone loved it! I get repeated requests to make it again 🙂
Do you bake cookies room temp or from frozen?
Hi Cheryle! You can actually do either, I always have cookie dough in my freezer ready to bake at a moment’s notice! It’s great for last-minute company or for late-night cravings haha 🙂 Tessa details this a bit more in the pink tip box above this recipe. Enjoy your cookies!
This is now my go to cookie recipe!! I use all of this minus the chocolate and the toffee bits as a base, and then i’ll use m&ms, just chocolate, and I recently made white chocolate butterscotch cookies with this recipe as a base! it’s wonderful every time, I always bake at least a double batch to give half to my friends and share, this is my signature cookie for them. i love it!!
White chocolate butterscotch cookies sound incredible!! So happy to hear how much you love this recipe, thanks for sharing! 🙂
Finally made these yesterday—absolutely delicious!!! And my colleagues LOVED them!!! I rolled the dough into balls before refrigerating them and they still tasted delicious. I loved too when the toffee caramelized at the bottom. I’ll definitely make this recipe again!
I think that’s the best part too, yum!! Happy you loved them!
making these again…after someone I shared them with last time said….”this may be the BEST cookie I have ever eaten!”
Wondering if you have any recommendations for altering the recipe in higher elevations? I’m in North Scottsdale in the mountains, at 3200 feet making them this time and want them as perfect as they were when I was at sea level.
Hi Monica! So happy to hear how much they loved this recipe! Neither Tessa or I bake at high altitude, so I can’t say for sure! If you find that you normally need to make adjustments for a recipe to turn out, then I would stick to whatever you normally do. You can also check out King Arthur Baking’s article here for more help. Let us know how it goes!
What bar chocolate are you using as chocolate chunks in your recipes? I think Lindt, but i would like to know which chocolate % you use since I don’t see a “semi sweet”.
Hi Tracey! For a semisweet chocolate baking bar, Tessa prefers Ghirardelli or Guittard. These baking chocolate bars are definitely cheaper in store compared to online and are found in the baking aisle 🙂 Each are about 60-64% cocoa content, though U.S. government regulations don’t require a distinction between semisweet and bittersweet. It really depends on your preference, as the higher percentage you buy, the more bitter and darker your chocolate will be. I hope that helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.
Hi, looking forward to making these! Planning on making a double (maybe even triple batch)
1) if I have 3 racks in my oven can I utilize all 3 to bake more cookies at one time or do some racks cook bake cookies better than others/will too many cookies in oven at once cause negative results?
2) since I will be making so many cookies, some of the cookies will end up being left out at room temp for longer than an hour until I’m ready to shape and or bake them. Is that ok?
Thanks!!
Hi Mikki! Do you have a convection or conventional oven (not sure? Check out this article HERE). If you have a conventional oven, I’d recommend baking one tray at a time on the middle rack, at least for your first time baking the cookies so you can see how they should turn out. After that, feel free to experiment using the other racks in your oven, but know you’ll need to rotate your pans and switch racks during the baking time – otherwise your cookies will bake unevenly. With a convection oven, you would not need to rotate your baking trays.
With doubling/tripling a batch, I’d actually suggest refrigerating each batch in a separate container overnight or up to 72 hours. That way, you can take one batch out of the fridge at a time, let it come to room temp until it’s just soft enough to scoop, and bake. Or if you’d prefer, once having chilled your dough overnight, you could also scoop more than one batch of dough onto baking trays and just place them back in the fridge until you’re ready for them. Keeping your dough at room temperature for too long will result in spreading, so I highly recommend keeping your dough refrigerated until ready to bake. I hope that helps!
Hi!!! pregnant and currently craving these, but i only have salted butter. will this mess up the recipe completely?
Congratulations!! We personally don’t use salted butter in recipes as explained in this article about Salted vs. Unsalted Butter; however, the general rule of using salted butter in place of unsalted is to reduce ¼ teaspoon of the salt in the recipe per 115g of butter. So for this recipe, reduce the salt to 1/2 teaspoon 🙂 Enjoy your cookies!
Awesome cookies! I noticed that your recipe doesn’t re-hydrate the browned butter (with an ice cube, water, milk, etc.). Some recipes do, and other don’t. What’s your opinion on this?
Hi Liz! Browning butter evaporates the water content in the butter (typically ~20% of the butter depending on the brand). For example, a 113g stick of butter will lose about 1 1/2 tablespoons of water, so depending on the recipe, you can either add that back in manually or experiment with removing that extra moisture. Sometimes this can be helpful, like removing the risk of excess gluten development or reducing cookie spread, but sometimes this can screw something up in the recipe. For all HTH recipes containing brown butter, you do not need to add additional butter. A recipe will typically note if additional butter needs to be added, but if it’s not stated, there’s no need! I hope that helps!