Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Easy chocolate chip cookies made with salted browned butter. These brown butter sea salt chocolate chip cookies are so easy to make too. You don’t even need a mixer for these cookies or need to chill these brown butter cookies!

When it comes to cookies, chocolate chip reigns supreme. You agree right? So what could make a chocolate chip cookie even better. Use browned butter. Oh my word. Browned butter. And make it so I don’t have to chill the dough so we can all have cookies as soon as possible. Enter these cookies. Oh these glorious cookies. 

This recipe actually comes from one of the many cookbooks I won. I have close to 100 cookbooks. Yes 100. There a few books that I use all the time and could not live without. 

But what about the rest? Sometimes I feel like I buy them only to keep them shelved. And it’s such a shame! Because I know they are chock full of great recipes from great bakers and chefs. So lately, I’ve been wanting to dust them all off and pick a few recipes to highlight them for you. Like this cookie recipe!

This cookie recipe comes from the  Cookies and Cups  cookbook, a cookbook from Shelly, from the Cookies and Cups food blog. I baked her Nutella Brownies recently and fell in love with them. They were so fudgy and delicious and so simple to make as well! I knew I had to pick a few more simple scratch made recipes to share with you. 

So of course after perusing them all I had to pick the cover recipe. Salty Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. I mean if they are the cover photo then you know the recipe has got to be out of this world. And when I saw you didn’t need to chill these even better. I adapted the recipe slightly and basically made them in the same pan I made the browned butter in to simplify matters.

What is brown butter?

No it’s not butter that’s gone bad! It’s butter that’s basically been toasted on the stovetop. When you brown the butter for these cookies, the water cooks off and the milk solids in the butter caramelize giving you that beautiful browned color. And browning the butter brings out this nutty aroma and caramel, toffee-like flavor that can’t be beat in these chocolate chip cookies.  

And if you’re new to browning the butter – don’t worry it’s easy to do. You will melt down the butter on the stovetop and once it’s melted you let the butter continue to cook. 

I love using browned butter in all my baking! Try browned butter in my brown butter brownies, these browned butter pumpkin cookies, and these M&M cookie bars.

For a full tutorial on browning the butter, click here. 

Why You Will Love This Recipe

• The FLAVOR – Whoa, adding browned salted butter to these cookies adds so much flavor and adds this extra toffee note that is SO good. Don’t skip it!
• No Mixer Needed – Because this is using melted butter in a sense, you don’t need to cream the butter and sugar first. So you can just mix this up with a spatula. Yes!!
• No Chilling Required! – Yes I’m a huge fan of chilling my cookie dough first, but let’s face it that means it takes longer to have cookies ready! And this recipe you don’t have to chill them so they can go from being mixed straight to oven.

Cookie Ingredients

Ingredient Notes

• Salted butter – Yes, the cookbook called for salted. If you don’t have salted butter on hand and only unsalted, you would an extra 1/2 teaspoon of salt. You can read more here about Unsalted Butter Vs. Salted Butter In Baking. And then butter will be getting browned on the stove, to really up the flavor!

How to make these browned butter chocolate chip cookies

1. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat, then bring it to a boil. Once it starts boiling, swirl the pan constantly until the butter passes foamy phase and becomes a deep amber color. Remove from the heat and transfer the butter to a mixing bowl to cool slightly.
2. Add the brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, and vanilla to the cooled butter and stir to combine.
3. Add in your flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir using a wooden spoon until the dough comes together and the ingredients are evenly incorporated.
4. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Recipe Tips

• Measure flour carefully. You don’t want to over-measure. Use a kitchen scale for exact measurements, or use a spoon to scoop the flour into the measuring cup and level it off with a butter knife. Don’t pack the flour down. 
• Don’t skip browning the butter! It adds so much flavor and is worth the extra steps. You can check out here on How To Brown Butter.
• Don’t overmix. As with all baking recipes, overmixing causes tough, dense dough. Mix until just combined. Even leaving a streak of flour is OK, and will ensure you didn’t overmix.
• Don’t overbake. For that signature soft, chewy center with slightly crispy edges, you can’t bake the cookies too long. The centers should still look slightly soft when you take them out of the oven. They will continue cooking slightly on the cookie sheet.

Commonly Asked Cookie Questions

More Recipes To Try

• Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
• White Chocolate Chip Cookies
• The BEST M&M Cookie Bars
• Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Lemon Cookie Recipe

Salted Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate chip cookies made with salted browned butter for an out of this world cookie!

5 from 11 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Cookies

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes minutes

Servings: 24 cookies

Calories: 172kcal

Author: Heather Perine

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 cup (2 sticks, 226 g) salted butter
• ▢ 2 1/2 cups (300 g) all-purpose flour
• ▢ 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ▢ 1 cup ( 213 g) packed light brown sugar
• ▢ 1/2 cup (99 g) granulated sugar
• ▢ 2 large eggs whisked
• ▢ 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ▢ 2 cups 340 g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
• ▢ flaked sea salt (for sprinkling), optional

Instructions

• In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat, then bring it to a boil. Once it starts boiling, swirl the pan constantly until the butter passes foamy phase and becomes a deep amber color. Remove from the heat, and allow the butter to cool slightly.
• While the butter is cooling, preheat the oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Transfer the butter to a mixing bowl.
• To the butter, Add the brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, and vanilla to the cooled butter in the saucepan and stir to combine. Add in your flour, baking soda, and salt . Stir using a wooden spoon until the dough comes together and the ingredients are evenly incorporated.
• Stir in the chocolate chips.
• Using a medium (2-tablespoon) cookie scoop, drop the dough 2 inches apart on the baking sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until the edges are lightly golden.
• Allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. If desired sprinkle a small amount of flaked sea salt on top of the cookies as they are cooling. Store airtight at room temperature for up to 3 days

Notes

• Tools: Baking sheets | Mixing bowl | Skillet | Whisk | Chocolate chips | Parchment paper
• Storage: Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Freeze cookies for longer storage. 
• Substituting unsalted butter: Use the same amount, but add an additional 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
• Freezing the cookies:
  • To freeze unbaked: Make and scoop the dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Freeze the cookies on the sheet until solid, then store in an air-tight zipper bag or container. Bake straight from frozen, just add 1-3 minutes of extra baking time.
  • To freeze baked: Cool baked cookies thoroughly, then freeze until solid. Store in an air-tight zipper bag or container. Thaw at room temperature or microwave for a few seconds to re-warm.
  • For a complete tutorial, be sure to read my post How To Freeze Cookie Dough

Nutrition

Calories: 172kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 34mg | Sodium: 218mg | Potassium: 33mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 256IU | Calcium: 14mg | Iron: 1mg

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