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.
Made this today for a dinner with friends. It is hands down one of the best cookies ever. I’m a good baker and have made many chocolate chip cookies in my life but Tessa’s recipe delivered ultimate cookie deliciousness. I plan to bake off another batch for my book group tomorrow night. Although the recipe indicates letting the dough refrigerate overnight, I made the dough in the morning and baked them in the late afternoon. They were perfect.
Hi there! I’m SO happy you love this recipe – it’s honestly one of my very favourites, too 🙂 Letting the dough sit in the fridge for a day (to “marinate”, as we call it!) brings out even more depth of flavour, so I definitely recommend trying that the next time you can wait a day to bake! I understand it’s not always an option, but it really does add so much! Enjoy your next batch! Happy baking 🙂
Hi! I’ve followed the steps on this recipe and my dough is too gooey/creamy!! This isn’t the first time I’ve made cookies so I have a feeling that if I put it in the oven right now, it would flatten immediately. Would leaving it in the fridge for 48 hours make it more solid? Any ideas whether I did anything wrong? I think I could fix it with more flour, but am wary of adding any more than the recipe states.
Hi Irina! These cookies are definitely soft, since we melt and brown the butter first. Refrigerating the dough for 24-72 hours not only helps the cookies firm up before hitting the oven, but it also helps bring out the full depth of flavour! Please let me know if you need help troubleshooting, if your cookies don’t turn out perfectly!
I made 1 cookie to taste test and it flattened completely. It firmed up in the fridge, but became soft again after leaving it an hour as stated by the recipe. To be fair, for the homemade toffee I used European butter and it wasn’t completely hard, but I would have still expected it to keep its shape. I’m not even sure it’s salvageable with flour, I think I’m better off baking it in a tin and serving it as ‘cookie dough’
Hi Irina! We recommend leaving them to soften again for an hour just to make the dough scoopable, for portioning it out and baking. If you have already portioned the cookies, you can absolutely bake straight from the fridge (or even from frozen, and just add a minute or two in the oven). I think the European butter could be the culprit here, and might be making your cookies melt much faster than they otherwise would, once they meet the heat. As you say, you could always press your remaining cookies into a 9×13 or 8×8 pan and just bake them into cookie bars! That will hopefully salvage your remaining dough! Either way, I would bake straight from the fridge this time and see what happens – fingers crossed you can still have some yummy treats 🙂
Did this recipe and the cookies fell apart and the toffee (followed the homemade recipe) melted and made the cookies look holey- and irregular. Also, they were crispy and irregular edges. Only one or two look like nice rounded cookies.
Hi Joseph! Oh no, I’m sorry your cookies didn’t turn out as they should! Were the cookies well chilled when they hit the oven? We recommend chilling the dough for 24-72 hours prior to baking. That can definitely help prevent spreading, as well as lending so much more depth of flavour to the baked results! These cookies will bake in somewhat irregular shapes because of all the yummy toffee bits and chocolate chips! Tessa has a great hack for solving this issue! 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 a few months ago 🙂 I hope this helps, and if not, please feel free to reach out again and we can try to troubleshoot with you further! Happy baking 🙂
If your recipe requires resting something for at least 24 hours, that’s not a total cook time of 35 minutes. JFC
Thanks so much for your feedback! We are currently in the process of updating our recipe templates, and the inactive time will be included in the total time with the new format. Can’t wait for you to try these cookies, the chilling period adds so much flavor!
So good! Texture and flavor are perfect.
Great cookies! For anyone with poor impulse control, let me tell you- waiting is absolutely necessary! We decided to experiment and try to bake 4 cookies after the dough had sat 7 hours in the fridge. Baked the rest at 24 hours. The ones at 24 hours were miles ahead better!!! So don’t skip this part! Thank you for this yummy recipe!
These are truly the best cookies I’ve ever eaten! I always have them frozen in the freezer for a quick dessert. Super easy to make and a huge hit from my family and friends.
Silly me… I didn’t read the recipe instructions and didn’t know I’d need to let the dough sit in the refrigerator for 24 hours, I unfortunately don’t have that much time before I hop a plane and bring these delights to my fiance. Is 8 hours in the fridge enough time (plus the hour to come to room temp)? And do I need to make any adjustments? Or is there really a magic to the 24 hour sit period? If so … how does the shortened fridge time affect the cookies? Thank you!!
Hi there! I hope you still baked up your cookies for your fiancé to enjoy! They’ll still taste delicious after a shorter refrigeration, but the overnight chilling results in a more enhanced texture and flavor 🙂 There is definitely a magic to letting your cookies “marinate”, Tessa actually wrote an article about it, which I’ll link HERE. I hope that helps!
I’ve made these cookies twice and it’s honestly hard to articulate how good they are. Everyone who has tried one goes out of their way to rave about them and tell me: “You should open a bakery.” Which is crazy, because I am very new to baking — but that’s how good Tessa’s recipes are, they make you look like a pro. But this cookie, it’s a true standout. When I take a bite of one, I’m honestly amazed that I made something that tastes so good!
So happy to hear they’re such a hit! Thank you so much for taking the time to write such a kind comment and rave review 🙂
So I am planning to make these cookies for a cookie contest at school and I have two days for it. So can I just bake the cookies after they been kept in the refrigerator for 24 hr or do I need to freeze it after ri scoop them out too. Any is there tips you would reconsider for me.
Hi Katty! There’s no need to freeze your cookie dough scoops unless you’d like to keep them in the freezer to bake them up at a later time. You can find out more details on how to bake directly from frozen in the link included in the pink tip box above the recipe 🙂 Letting your dough mass “marinate” in the fridge, then letting the dough sit at room temperature until it’s just soft enough to scoop, then baking will work perfectly. Let us know what you think of this recipe when you give it a try!
I’ve never managed to find a decent cookie recipe but this is amazing. I’m in Europe so I wasn’t sure how they would turn out (for example I hear fat content in butter is different here compared to America). I used shop bought hard caramels and halved the amount of chocolate and toffee and they were great, I definitely wouldn’t want them any sweeter. I left mine 48hrs in the fridge then baked half. The other half is now frozen – do I need to defrost overnight before baking?
So happy you loved this recipe! You can actually bake from frozen! Check out our full guide on how to do so linked in the pink box above the recipe 🙂 The best part about have frozen cookie dough in your freezer is definitely the ease of quickly throwing them in the oven for those weeknight cravings or last-minute guests! Enjoy 🙂
Hi! These cookies look delicious! I have never used or even heard of expresso powder. What brand do you use and where do I find it?
Hi Kathy! We love King Arthur’s Espresso Powder, which can be found either on their website or Amazon. Espresso powder can also be found in most grocery stores as well, though depending on the store, it will be found either in the Coffee section, International foods, or the Baking section. I hope that helps! Can’t wait to hear what you think of these cookies!