Tessa's Recipe Rundown
Taste: So full of flavor! Butterscotch, caramel, browned butter, chocolate – it’s a party in your mouth.
Texture: Ultra chewy with crispy edges and a gooey center. Like every chocolate chip cookie should be in my book!
Ease: A little more involved than your typical cookie recipe, but well worth the effort.
Pros: Possibly the most flavorful cookies ever.
Cons: The 24-hour chill period requires patience – but these babies are worth it, promise.
Would I make this again? Absolutely.
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Butterscotch Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies are the most flavor-packed, chewy, gooey, salty-sweet sweet treats you’ll ever try!
I’ve taken every step to 10x the flavor of Chocolate Chip Cookies – so much that I think these are on a whole new level.
Jam-packed full of brown butter, gooey chocolate chips, and a decadent secret ingredient, these cookies are the perfect crowd-pleasing dessert for any occasion.
I hope you give this recipe a try, and be sure to let me know what you think in the comments below!
Sprinkle of Science
How to Make Butterscotch Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
The Secret Ingredient
The secret ingredient to these Butterscotch Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies is Trader Joe’s Chocolate Covered Sea Salt Butterscotch Caramels. They are absolute perfection! I was first turned onto them by Gaby of What’s Gaby Cooking and have been in love ever since.
The complex salty-sweet flavor they add to an already flavorful cookie dough is beyond wonderful.
If you can’t get these specific candies, you can also use Rolo candies. If using Rolos, I recommend adding a sprinkling of flaked sea salt to the top of each cookie just after baking, so you can still enjoy that salty-sweet perfection.
The Brown Butter
Browning the butter adds so much rich, toasted, nutty flavor to these cookies. If you’ve never browned butter before, don’t worry – just follow the recipe instructions and don’t walk away from the pan. The butter can go from perfectly brown to burnt quickly.
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 has a higher percentage of protein, which helps create a chewier texture in cookies. It’s definitely worth picking up a bag at the store if you don’t have any on hand. However, if you don’t have any, you can use only all-purpose flour – just note that your cookies won’t be as chewy.
How to Avoid Dry Cookies:
- Measure your flour correctly: Use a digital kitchen scale to ensure precision. When using measuring cups, it’s so easy to unintentionally compact ingredients (especially flour) and add too much. Too much flour creates tough, dry, or cakey cookies that don’t spread. If you don’t have a scale, use the spoon-and-level method.
- Do not reduce the sugar: Sugar does so much more than providing sweetness. It plays a big part in a cookie’s texture, among other things. Learn more about what sugar does in baking here.
- Avoid overbaking: Pull these cookies from the oven when they’re just set at the edges for perfectly soft cookies. Using a high-quality baking pan helps too – learn more about the best (and worst!) baking pans here.
Why is There an Extra Egg Yolk?
The additional egg yolk in this recipe adds chewiness and richness to the cookies, so I don’t recommend skipping this.
Do I Need to Chill the Dough?
The chill period is absolutely worth the wait, I promise. Chill the dough for a minimum of 24 hours or up to 72 hours. Think of this chilling period like marinating meats – all the flavors intensify! The flour also absorbs moisture from the dough during this time, so the texture of the cookies becomes thicker and chewier. Learn more about Why You Should Chill Your Cookie Dough here.
After the dough is chilled, just let it sit at room temperature until it’s warm enough to scoop. Alternatively, you can portion the dough into balls prior to the chill period – just be sure to keep them inside an airtight container, to prevent them from drying out in the fridge.
Can’t wait that long? Just bake off a few cookies right away, to satisfy the craving, and chill the rest of the dough for 24-72 hours. Plus, it’s a fun experiment to see the difference the chill period makes in your cookies!
How to Shape Butterscotch Chocolate Chip Cookies
I typically find that large cookies achieve a much better texture than smaller cookies. I use my large 3-tablespoon cookie scoop to do this.
You can use a medium 1 1/2-tablespoon scoop instead if you prefer – just shave off about 3 minutes from the baking time.
Why Use a Cookie Scoop?
Using a stainless steel spring-loaded cookie scoop when portioning out cookie dough ensures uniform, evenly-shaped and evenly-baked cookies. My cookie scoop is one of my most frequently used kitchen gadgets – it saves you *so much time* in shaping cookie dough. Learn more about Cookie Scoops and how to use them here!
Can I Halve This Recipe? Can I Double This Recipe?
Yes! Simply divide all ingredients in half to yield about 12-13 large cookies, or double all ingredients to yield about 50 large cookies. No other modifications needed.
How to Make Butterscotch Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies Ahead of Time
You have three options for making these cookies ahead of time:
- The cookie dough can be stored inside an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Once shaped, the balls of cookie dough can be placed on a parchment-lined baking tray in the freezer until solid. Transfer to an airtight container and store in the freezer for up to 2 months. Let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before baking as directed. Learn more about freezing cookie dough here.
- Store the baked cookies inside an airtight container for up to 3 days. Store with a tortilla to keep them soft longer!
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Ingredients
- 2 sticks (227 grams) unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 cups (187 grams) all-purpose flour,
measured correctly - 1 cup (127 grams) bread flour, measured correctly
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 cups (300 grams) packed dark brown sugar
- 2 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 cups (198 grams)
chocolate covered butterscotch caramels (or Rolo candies)* - 1 cup (170 grams) semisweet chocolate chips
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. Stir in the granulated sugar and dark brown sugar. Allow to cool for about 20 minutes to room temperature.
- In a medium bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, bread flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- With an electric mixer, beat the cooled butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until well combined, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the eggs, yolk, and vanilla, beating until combined. On low speed, gradually beat in the flour mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips and butterscotch caramels. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 24 hours but no more than 72 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line baking sheets with nonstick baking mats or parchment paper.
- Let dough sit at room temperature just until it is soft enough to scoop. Using a large spring-loaded cookie scoop, divide the dough into 3-tablespoon sized balls and place on prepared baking sheets.**
- Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool for 2 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely. Serve or store in an airtight container for 3 days.
Notes
This post was originally published in 2016 and has been updated with additional baking tips and metric measurements.
Hi Tessa,
Can I leave these longer than 72 hours? Also, what difference would it make chilling it for 24 hours vs. 72 hours?
I’m going to try to make these over the weekend. Thanks!
I wouldn’t the dough will start to dry out after 72 hours. The longer the chilling period, the thicker and more flavorful the cookies will be!
These were really good!!!
I just put these in the fridge to chill…can’t wait until tomorrow night!
Yay!
I just popped them in my fridge! I’m making a couple now to see if I can tell the difference 😉
Yay!! Let me know what you think 🙂
Tessa,
You are the best. I have NEVER made one of your recipes and not had it be the hit of meal. I just finished this dough (stopped at Trader Joes hours after I read this!). I can’t wait until tomorrow!!!
Ah that makes me SO happy to hear, Jodi!! Thank you so much for your sweet comment. It just made my afternoon 🙂
HI Tessa. Can I cook this in a steamer? I don’t have oven. 🙂 thank you
No, Gemma, an oven is definitely necessary here!
Do you chop the chocolate covered caramels or leave them whole?
I leave them whole, then as you’re scooping out the dough they tend to break up a little bit for a nice balance of whole pieces and parts. However, if you’d prefer to chop then feel free 🙂
Cannot wait to make these this weekend…just have one question. If I cannot find the “secret” ingredient at TJ’s, would you recommend using Rolo Mini’s or the full size Rolos as a substitute?
Yay! Hope you find it at your TJ’s. The last time I went there was only one bag left!! I would use full-size, but that’s my personal preference. Use whichever you want. Some of the candies get broken up as you scoop the dough, which I actually like 🙂
What are chocolate covered caramels and where can I get them?
Did you read the post under Secret Ingredient?
They certainly seem like a hit of flavor to your mouth! And, so perfect if anyone has leftover Rolos after Halloween 😀
Exactly! Thanks, Patty!
Question about the caramels – you refer to them as ‘toffee’ in the recipe; does that mean I can use Heath Bar bits for this ingredient?
Thanks!
Hi, Jill! That was more of a typo on my part. I’ve clarified. You can definitely use heath bar bits but the texture will be more crunchy 🙂
Oh Tessa, you speak my cookie love language. I’m such a sucker for the salty and sweet combo especially when it’s all rolled up into a cookie 🙂 Going to have to hunt down these caramels now….
They’re sooo good, Heather! Let me know what you think if you find them 🙂