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.
Hi team,
I absolutely LOVE all of your cookies!
I always make my cookies smaller than intended in the recipes (for toddlers… and adults 🙂 Does that change the baking times or temperature?
Thank you!
Hi Michal! Yay, I’m so glad to hear that you enjoy all of Tessa’s wonderful cookie recipes! Yes, you will definitely want to adjust the baking time, but as we have not tried these in a smaller size, I cannot tell you how long to bake for, sorry! I would just recommend following Tessa’s sensory indicators (bake until golden brown). You shouldn’t need to adjust the baking temp! I hope you enjoy these – they’re a team favorite 😉
Can’t wait to make this! What is your preferred brand of chocolate chips?
Hi Britt! Tessa loves Ghirardelli chocolate chips! Let us know what you think of these cookies, once you have had a chance to try them! 🙂
I just finished baking these and they are Divine. I followed the instructions exactly and they turned out PERFECTLY! I used Heath bars and they were delicious. Next time I’ll make my own toffee. The 24hrs was a long wait but it was worth it. Definitely needs the sea salt at the end to get the whole cookie experience. 10/10 highly recommend
Yay!! SO glad to hear you enjoyed these so much!!
I made it and the dough didn’t spread as nicely as you did it! Maybe I need more butter?
Hi Zenna! Sorry to hear your cookies didn’t spread much! I have a few thoughts as to what might have happened! How do you measure your ingredients? By volume (using cups), or by weight (using a digital kitchen scale)? It’s so easy to add extra flour/sugar/etc to a recipe and throw off the entire chemistry of a recipe if measuring by volume — and I suspect in this instance, it could be that there was accidentally too much flour in your dough. Tessa talks about how to best measure ingredients, to ensure accuracy every time, in this article here! Another possible culprit could be your leavening agent. If your baking/soda powder are not fresh, they won’t do their jobs and your baked goods can not rise properly, fall after baking, and much more. Tessa talks about the science behind leavening agents, and how to test for leavener freshness, in this article here! I hope something here helped! Feel free to reach back out to us with any further questions – we are always happy to help!! 🙂
I made these and they flattened out and didn’t come out very chewy. What could I be doing wrong?
Hi Krisin! I’m sorry to hear your cookies flattened out! I have a few ideas as to why this could be happening! Were the cookies chilled well before baking? We recommend chilling for 24-72 hours prior to baking. That can definitely help them set up while baking, as well as lending so much more depth of flavor and chewiness to the baked results! If you need to bring the dough back to room temperature in order to portion out the dough into balls, after scooping, I would recommend placing the dough balls back in the fridge (or even freezer) until they are solid again, just to be sure they will spread as little as possible.
Also, are you weighing your ingredients? Weighing vs. measuring by volume can also have a huge impact on your baked goods, as it’s so easy to add too little or too much flour to any recipe! Tessa also talks about how to measure properly in this article here. Additionally, is your leavening agent fresh? If baking powder/soda sit around for a bit, they can lose their rising powder, which can result in flat cookies! Tessa talks about how to test for leavener freshness in this article here!
One last thing to leave you with is a little tip I learned from Tessa! If your cookies spread, or are even just not as perfectly round as you would prefer, try 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 🙂
I weighed the ingredients (didn’t follow the physical measurements). I used all purpose flour for the whole thing since I didn’t have bread flour. I cooked it at 335 Degrees for 15 minutes. It’s perfect and chewy enough without a good crust on it. I eyeballed the toffee and put chopped Dark chocolate in it. It’s not extremely sweet. This is by far the best cookie recipe yet with all my adjustments. 🙂 Absolutely fantastic!
if i don’t have bread flour will standard all purpose work?
Hi Paige! Tessa talks about this in the pink tip box above the recipe! It’s not absolutely vital, but you definitely won’t get the same chewy texture without it!
is it possible to make these gluten free and just substitute and all purpose flour for the bread flour as well?
Hi Abby! We don’t bake with gluten-free substitutions, but others have had good experiences with that, so you might just need to do a little experimenting to get it perfect. Good luck and happy baking 🙂
This recipe came out great! I made your homemade toffee bits as well. I didn’t have dark brown sugar so I used light brown and added a tablespoon of molasses to the mix. In my oven it was best to bake one tray at a time moving from the middle to higher rack 6min each.
If a cookie is a bit misshapen a trick I use is to put a drinking glass over them when they come out of the oven and swirl the cup around and you can make it round again.
Brought them to work and they all devoured them! Thanks for the great recipe. I will be definitely be making these again.
So happy to hear these cookies were enjoyed so much, James! Glad to hear that the toffee bits worked well, too!!
can I double the recipe
Hi Shannon! Yes, that should work fine, as long as you have a big enough bowl! 🙂
So delicious! It’s worth it to chill the dough for 24 hours, they came out so good. 10/10 would recommend!
So excited to hear that you love these cookies so much, Peyton!!
Excellent cookies. Homemade toffee is beyond yummy. These are a family favourite.
So happy to hear these are a family favorite, Risa!! 🙂
I so agree! Homemade toffee is worth the effort!
The easiest recipe I have ever made. Incredible taste. A must try for people with a sweet tooth. I made sure that I let my dough reset in the fridge while I was waiting in between batches in the oven to keep the dough nice and cold. Best results
Yay! So happy these cookies were so delicious, Julissa!