These Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies are a delightful upgrade to my classic chocolate chip cookie recipe. They're loaded with chocolate chips, have the best nutty flavor, crisp edges and perfectly chewy centers. A decadent sweet treat everyone will devour!
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Why We Love These Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- These cookies are so flavorful thanks to the brown butter. It adds that little extra nutty flavor that truly enhances the cookies.
- This is an easy drop cookie recipe and it requires no chilling!
- Cookies end up with crisp edges and perfect chewy centers.
- Cookie dough balls and baked cookies freeze great.
- The best sweet treat packed in your family's lunches.
- These are great cookies for bake sales and pot lucks.
- Friends and family approved! Share away!
Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe Ingredients
- Salted Brown Butter
- Light Brown Sugar
- White Sugar
- Large Eggs
- Pure Vanilla Extract
- Baking Soda
- Salt
- Unbleached All Purpose Flour
- Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
- Flakey Sea Salt for finishing
Substitution Suggestions
- Salted Brown Butter: You can use unsalted butter and just add an extra ½ teaspoon of salt to the cookie dough.
- Brown Sugar: You can substitute with dark brown sugar. It adds great flavor and the cookies will be even chewier.
- Pure Vanilla Extract: Pure extracts are the best to use. Imitation extracts can leave an unwanted after taste in your cookies and other baked goods.
- All Purpose Flour: White whole wheat flour and whole wheat flour can be used as well. Or you can use a blend of all purpose and whole wheat. The whole wheat flour will add even more nutty flavor to the cookies.
- Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips: Use your favorite chocolate. Dark chocolate chips, chopped bittersweet chocolate bar, or semi sweet chocolate chunks are all good options.
These are the best chocolate chip cookies because of the brown butter. It adds something extra special to the cookies that makes them irresistible!
How to Make Brown Butter
- In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-low heat stirring often until completely melted.
- Keep stirring the butter until it is foaming and bubbling.
- Continue to stir until the foaming and bubbling starts to subside and the butter has turned a deep golden brown. Then remove from heat. This takes anywhere from 5-9 minutes and you'll be able to smell it once it starts to brown. Watch closely because the butter can go from brown to burnt in a matter of seconds.
- Now use the brown butter in all your favorite recipes!
How to Make Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Once you have the brown butter made add it to the bowl of the stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or a large mixing bowl, and let it cool 5-10 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 375°F and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Once cooled, add the brown sugar and granulated sugar to the brown butter and beat until fully blended together. About 2-3 minutes.
- Next, add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each egg. Then beat until the mixture turns pale in color. Another minute or so.
- Now mix in the vanilla extract.
- Add the dry ingredients: baking soda, salt and all purpose flour. Mix just until combined.
- Lastly, fold in the chocolate chips.
- Using a medium scoop or 2 tablespoons, place cookie dough 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets.
- Bake cookies on center rack in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes or until the edges are just starting to turn golden brown.
- Let cookies cool 3 minutes on the pan and then remove to wire rack to cool completely.
- Finish with some flakey sea salt before serving and enjoying.
Pro Tip: Once the cookies come out of the oven use a biscuit cutter, circle cookie cutter or a glass and gently go around the cookie to create perfect round cookies.
What is Brown Butter?
Brown Butter is butter that has been melted and cooked over medium heat until it has turned a deep golden color. When cooked the butter will create toasted milk solids, which are the brown bits on the bottom of the pan as well as give off a nutty aroma. Those milk solids and aromas are what adds all the flavor to the goodies you add brown butter to.
If chocolate cookies are your utmost favorite then I have got some more fabulous cookie recipes to try! These twists on the classic are just divine!
Storing Cookies
Storing: Completely cool cookies and store in an airtight container. Keep them in a cool dry place and they'll last at least a week. If you notice the leftover cookies starting to get a little dry, add a piece of bread or a flour tortilla to the container with the cookies. It will add moisture back into the cookies.
Freezing: These cookies freeze well! Place the baked cookies in a freezer safe airtight container in single layers, between pieces of wax paper. Label, date and freeze. Cookies will last 3-4 months in the freezer.
Thawing: To thaw the frozen cookies, simply let them sit at room temperature for a few hours.
How to Freeze Cookie Dough
Freezing Cookie Dough: To freeze the brown butter chocolate chip cookie dough: place balls of dough on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Then flash freeze the dough for a couple hours. Once frozen, place the frozen dough balls in an air tight freezer-safe container or zip top bag. I like to freeze them between layers of wax paper. Label, date and keep frozen until ready to use.
Baking Frozen Cookie Dough: To bake the frozen cookie dough, place cookie dough balls on parchment lined cookie sheets 2 inches apart. Bake frozen dough at 375°F and increase the bake time to 12-14 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Baking time will vary on how cold your cookies are when placed in the oven. Cool cookies on pan for 3 minutes and then remove to wire rack to cool completely.
Heather's Favorite Tools for this Recipe
- I don't think I could live without my KitchenAid Stand Mixer. It's the best tool ever for making cookies, frostings and so many other things.
- Long ago, I used to be a Pampered Chef consultant and I still prefer their baking tools and pans to any others. Their cookie sheets are the only ones I use for cookies. Find yourself a consultant, host a party and treat yourself to a set. These aluminum sheet pans from Nordic Ware are a great option too.
- A medium sized cookie scoop that holds about 2 tablespoons is great for these cookies. Again I use the pampered chef one but this medium scoop from OXO on Amazon is a great one.
- Pre-cut parchment paper is a life saver and so easy. No cutting my fingers!
- Or this silicone baking mat is great for baking too!
- You can package these cookies up for family and friends in these Self Sealing Cellophane Bags. They are the best!
Tips for the Best Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Gather all the ingredients before you start preparing cookie dough. It is so much easier to bake when all the ingredients are ready. There is also less room for error, like forgetting an essential ingredient. I'm not saying I've done this, however, I am speaking from experience!
- Read the recipe from start to finish before you start. Again, I am speaking from experience.
- Use room temperature ingredients. It helps the dough come together better, and also helps with even baking.
- Always fluff your flour and then spoon and level it to measure. Doing this will prevent too much flour being added and ultimately making the cookies too dry and crumbly. To fluff your flour, just scoop it and dump it a few times and then measure it out, or give it a fluff using a whisk.
- Use a cookie scoop to get the same size cookies, that way they will all bake evenly. I like to use the Pampered Chef medium scoop which is equal to about 2 tablespoons.
- If using cookie sheets more than once during baking, make sure the cookie sheet is completely cooled before adding scoops of cookie dough on it.
- For best results don't over bake the cookies. Over baking will cause the cookies to be hard.
- To create perfect round cookies use a biscuit cutter, circle cookie cutter or a glass and gently go around the cookies immediately once removed from oven.
FAQs
Brown butter enhances the flavor in cookies. It adds a nutty, caramel like flavor that really takes cookies over the top.
Browned butter adds another depth of flavor to your baked goods. It adds that little something extra. However, it is also good in sauces that can be used over meat, fish and vegetables. It's also a great addition in pasta dishes.
Most likely the browned butter was still too warm when you made your cookies. The brown butter needs to come back to room temperature before the cookies are baked. Another reason could be that your leavening agent is not correctly working because it may be old and expired or your oven could be too hot causing the cookies to spread too fast before the center can set.
Hard cookies can be a result of adding too much flour to the dough or overbaking the cookies.
More Easy Drop Cookie Recipes:
- Maple Cookies
- Hot Cocoa Cookies
- Cookies and Cream Cookies
- Churro Cookies
- Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
- Double Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Old Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies
- Confetti Sugar Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Coffee Cookies
- Cowboy Cookies
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Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup salted butter, browned
- 1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2¼ cups all purpose flour
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- flakey sea salt for finishing
Instructions
- In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-low heat stirring often until completely melted. Keep stirring the butter until it is foaming and bubbling.
- Continue to stir until the foaming and bubbling starts to subside and the butter has turned a deep golden brown. Then remove from heat. This takes anywhere from 5-9 minutes and you'll be able to smell it once it starts to brown. Watch closely because the butter can go from brown to burnt in a matter of seconds.
- Add the brown butter to the bowl of the stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and let it cool 5-10 minutes.
- While the butter is cooling, preheat oven to 375°F and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Add the brown sugar and granulated sugar to the brown butter and beat until fully blended together. About 2-3 minutes.
- Next, add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each egg. Then beat until the mixture turns pale in color. Another minute or so.
- Mix in the vanilla extract.
- Add the dry ingredients: baking soda, salt and all purpose flour. Mix on low just until combined.
- Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Using a medium scoop or 2 tablespoons, place cookie dough 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets.
- Bake cookies on center rack in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes or until the edges are just starting to turn golden brown.
- Let cookies cool 3 minutes on the pan and then remove to wire rack to cool completely.
- Optional: finish with some flakey sea salt before serving.
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