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This rich, buttery brown butter chocolate chip cookie has a chewy center and crisp edges and highlights the nutty richness of browned butter. The caramel-like flavor perfectly complements pockets of melted, gooey chocolate. These browned butter chocolate chip cookies are the ultimate upgrade to the classic chocolate chip cookie.
Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
I am obsessed with brown butter chocolate chip cookies. A simple step of melting and browning the butter on a stove will transform your chocolate chip cookies. It is a game-changing trick to create toffee-flavored, rich buttery cookies by just elevating one ingredient. It is truly remarkable! These are the best chocolate chip cookies!
I have been making brown butter chocolate chip cookies for at least 15 years and they have become one of my signature cookies. I shared my MJ’s Top Secret Chocolate Chip Cookies, all made in one saucepan, which is one of my go-to cookie recipes.
Since I am always playing in the kitchen with different ingredients and methods, I wanted to work on melting and browning the butter until it is a perfectly warm amber color and letting it chill in the refrigerator before creaming the butter and sugars in a mixer. Since some of the liquids can evaporate when browning the butter, I needed to compensate for that. I decided to add one egg yolk, which adds both liquid and fat.
Ingredients:
- Butter (melted until an amber color with browned bits on the bottom of pan)
- Dark Brown Sugar (may use golden brown sugar)
- Sugar
- Eggs + Egg Yolk
- Vanilla Extract
- Flour
- Baking Soda
- Salt
- Chocolate Chips or Chocolate Chunks
What type of chocolate should I use?
Use high-quality chocolate chips or chunks for the best flavor. Semi-sweet or milk chocolate complements the richness of the browned butter. I like to use a mix of semi-sweet and milk chocolate chips. My favorite brands are Guittard and Ghirardelli.
How to Brown Butter:
This is an important step. The butter will go through different phases. It will begin to melt and bubble. Take a wooden spoon or spatula and stir often and around the sides of the pan. Let the butter melt and watch for it to begin changing colors from a creamy yellow to a deep amber yellow.
The butter will begin to foam and this is why it is important to stir often so you can see what is going on below the foam. Small brown bits will begin to form and that will be a signal that the butter is officially browned. Butter can burn quickly so watch carefully. It is better to pull off of the heat a little early instead of browning too long and risk burning it.
Since you want the butter to chill quickly, pour it into a large bowl and place in the refrigerator. Use a spatula to get every bit of butter out of the pan. Every bit of butter matters! Let it chill in the refrigerator for at least 40 minutes.
Creaming the Brown Butter and Sugars:
This is an integral step as it creates a smooth and creamy dough and gets rid of the graininess from the sugars. It needs to be creamed for at least 4-5 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl often. The eggs and egg yolk can be added one at a time, mixing for 30 seconds after each addition.
Why is chilling the cookie dough important?
If time is on your side, an easy way to make chocolate chip cookies even BETTER is to chill the cookie dough. The chilling process is important because it helps the ingredients marry together and you end up with a richer chocolate chip cookie. Chilling the dough allows the fats to solidify, which means your cookies will spread less and have a thicker, chewier texture. It also enhances the flavor and texture of the cookies.
The dough doesn’t spread as much in the oven so you end up with a chewier cookie with crisp edges. Trust me on this one, chilling the dough is worth the sacrifice!
How to make Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies:
- Place butter in large pot or deep skillet. Melt butter over medium-low heat. The butter will go through different phases. It will begin to melt and bubble. Take a wooden spoon or spatula and stir often and around the sides of the pan. Let the butter melt and watch for it to begin changing colors from a creamy yellow to a deep amber yellow.The butter will begin to foam and this is why it is important to stir often so you can see what is going on below the foam. Small brown bits will begin to form and that will be a signal that the butter is officially browned. Butter can burn quickly so watch carefully. It is better to pull off of the heat a little early instead of browning too long and risk burning it.Since you want the butter to chill quickly, pour it into a large bowl and place in the refrigerator. Use a spatula to get every bit of butter out of the pan. Let it chill in the refrigerator for about 40-60 minutes.
- Pour chilled butter into mixing bowl. Add brown sugar and sugar and cream for 4-5 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl often.
- Add eggs and egg yolk, one at a time, beating for 30 seconds after each addition. Stir in vanilla.
- Add flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir just until combined, avoid overmixing. Stir in chocolate chips.
- If time allows, wrap cookie dough tightly and let chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour. If time allows, chill for 24-48 hours.
- Preheat oven to 385 degrees. Place parchment paper liners or Silpat liners on baking sheets. Roll balls of cookie dough and place on cookie sheet. Bake for 9-10 minutes or until edges starts to become a light golden color.
FAQ’s:
Store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. If you want to keep them longer, freeze the baked cookies or freeze the dough. You can freeze the cookie dough for up to 3 months. Scoop the dough into balls, freeze them on a baking sheet, then transfer to a freezer-safe bag. You can also freeze baked cookies and reheat them in a low oven for a few minutes. To enjoy frozen cookies, let them thaw at room temperature or warm them in the oven.
The cookies are done when the edges are set and golden brown, but the centers are still soft and slightly underbaked. They will continue to firm up as they cool on the baking sheet. If you prefer crispier cookies, bake them until the entire surface is golden.
Substitutions:
Can I use regular butter instead of browned butter?
Yes, but browned butter adds a deep, nutty flavor that elevates the cookies. If you use regular butter, the cookies will still be delicious but have less toffee flavor.
Can I use light, golden brown sugar instead of dark brown sugar?
Absolutely! The dark brown sugar creates a chewier cookie but both brown sugars work well in this recipe.
Here are some of my favorite baking tools:
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If you love chocolate chip cookies, check out these other popular recipes:
- MJ’s Top Secret Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Charmina’s Chocolate Chip Cookies
More Popular Cookie Recipes:
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Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup Butter (melted until an amber color with browned bits on the bottom of pan)
- 1 cup Dark Brown Sugar (may use golden brown sugar)
- 1/2 cup Sugar
- 2 large Eggs
- 1 large Egg Yolk
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- 2 1/4 cup Flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 2 cups Chocolate Chips (may use more and a combination of chopped up chocolate bars and chips)
Instructions
To Brown Butter:
- Place butter in large pot or deep skillet. Melt butter over medium-low heat. The butter will go through different phases. It will begin to melt and bubble. Take a wooden spoon or spatula and stir often and around the sides of the pan. Let the butter melt and watch for it to begin changing colors from a creamy yellow to a deep amber yellow.The butter will begin to foam and this is why it is important to stir often so you can see what is going on below the foam. Small brown bits will begin to form and that will be a signal that the butter is officially browned. Butter can burn quickly so watch carefully. It is better to pull off of the heat a little early instead of browning too long and risk burning it.Since you want the butter to chill quickly, pour it into a large bowl and place in the refrigerator. Use a spatula to get every bit of butter out of the pan. Let it chill in the refrigerator for about 40-60 minutes.
- Pour chilled butter into mixing bowl. Add brown sugar and sugar and cream for 4-5 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl often.
- Add eggs and egg yolk, one at a time, beating for 30 seconds after each addition. Stir in vanilla.
- Add flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir just until combined, avoid overmixing. Stir in chocolate chips.
- If time allows, wrap cookie dough tightly and let chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour. If time allows, chill for 24-48 hours.
- Preheat oven to 385 degrees. Place parchment paper liners or Silpat liners on baking sheets. Roll balls of cookie dough and place on cookie sheet. Bake for 9-10 minutes or until edges starts to become a light golden color.
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Happy Baking, my friends! Don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter below. Thank you for following along!
Family loved it! Added some extra kosher salt sprinkled on top and used salted butter, it was HEAVENLY!
I made these as written except I added about 1/2 cup of finely chopped pecans. I let the dough rest in the refrigerator for 24 hours and formed them into 2 Oz balls that I pressed down slightly. I baked them at 385 for 9 minutes but they were still a little raw so I baked them at 350 for 3 more minutes. The cookies looked really pretty with a nice color and held their round shape. They were just entirely too sweet for me and also a little too greasy so I won’t be making these again. The next recipe I will try is the mock crumbl cookie one.
I made the recipe and it was very runny. I put it in the fridge overnight, then assembled the cookies and put them in the oven. They melted completely, and were runny 🙁 I don’t know what I could have done wrong. How can I fix it? I would be sorry to waste so many ingredients.
I used brown sugar as you recommended
What type of butter, salted or unsalted?
These cookies are delish! I formed my dough into a log and wrapped it good before chilling, it was easy to slice that way. I just tore off the amount I wanted for each cookie, then I weighed them so they’d all be the same size for an even bake. I baked up some yesterday and then today. I’m gonna try your browned butter snickerdoodle cookies next. I love your recipes! They’re easy to follow and very concise. Thank you!
I’m not sure if I did it wrong or not but did anyone else’s cookies start smoking when baking but wasn’t burning?
are these cookies soft or chewy cookies?
Hi! This recipe looks absolutely amazing! Should I use salted or unsalted butter to brown?
Hi! I love this cookie recipe but the dough is just very hard to work with after chilling because it becomes stiff and can’t scoop it into balls right away. My question is, can I scoop it right after mixing AND THEN chill the dough balls? Or will that affect the resting process of the cookie dough?
My family loved the cookies! One thing though, after I chilled my brown butter for about 15mins.. it hardened and it changed into a lighter color when I had to wait for it to melt to cream it with the sugars. Do I really need to chill it in the fridge or just let it stay in room temp after browning it?