Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

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

 

When it comes to cookies, chocolate chip reigns supreme. Like my brown sugar chocolate chip cookies. 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 brown butter cookies. Oh these glorious cookies. 

Browned butter takes any dessert to the next level. Like these browned butter brownies. And this brown butter banana bread that has browned butter not only in the batter but also in the streusel and glaze. And of course nothing pairs better with pumpkin than browned butter like these browned butter pumpkin cookies.

And now these classic brown butter chocolate chip cookies. These cookies are a simple cookie recipe with just the extra step of browning the butter. A little extra effort that’s totally worth it.

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. 

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

Cookie Ingredients

• Butter – 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!
• Brown sugar – If you run out, try my homemade brown sugar.
• Granulated Sugar
• Flour – Make sure to weigh your flour accurately. Weigh your flour for best accuracy. Or if using measuring cups, spoon the flour into the cup and level it off.
• Baking Soda
• Salt
• Vanilla
• Eggs – Make sure your eggs are at room temperature so they don’t seize up the butter. Place in a bowl of warm water for 10 minutes.
• Milk – Any milk will work. This helps replace some of the moisture in the cookies lost during the browning of the butter.

How to make these browned butter chocolate chip cookies

In a saucepan melt the butter. I like to start with cubed butter so it melts and browns evenly. Melt it over medium low heat. The butter will begin to foam and bubble.

Keep stirring it to keep an eye on the color. It will start to foam and bubble less and that’s when the butter will start to brown. Once it turns an ambler color, remove it from the heat.

Transfer it to a large bowl to stop it from cooking and let it cool while you make the cookie dough.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

To the browned butter, whisk in the brown sugar, granulated sugar and stir to combine.

Add in the eggs, vanilla and milk and stir to combine. Make sure the eggs and milk are at room temperature so they don’t seize up the browned butter.

Add in the dry ingredients. Stir using a wooden spoon until the dough comes together and the ingredients are evenly incorporated. 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.

Stir in the chocolate chips. Just few stirs to incorporate them. Again you want to make sure to not overmix the cookie dough at this point.

Then you want to cover the cookie dough and chill for at least one hour.

When ready to bake, start by preheating the oven to 350^oF and lining a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Then scoop the cookie dough. I used a medium scoop (size #40) scooping about 2 Tablespoons each. Place the dough balls spaced a few inches apart and bake for 10-12 minutes.

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.

When they come out you want to let them sit on the cookie rack for about 5 minutes to set up. I like to when they come out take a large round cookie cutter or a coffee mug (something slightly bigger than the cookie) and place over the cookie and rotate it to bring the edges of the cookie in and make them perfectly round. I then top with a few additional chocolate chips and a sprinkle of flaky sea salt.

Then transfer them to a wire rack to continue cooling. If you leave them on the hot cookie sheet they could overbake from the residual heat.

They will be soft coming out of the oven but continue to set up as they cool. Then of course it’s time to enjoy.

Storage Instructions

Store these cookies in an airtight container once cooled at room temperature for 4 days. If they last that long.

You can also freeze these cookies! You can never have too many cookies on hand in the freezer. 😉
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

Recipe FAQs

More Recipes To Try

For more cookie recipes try my lemon cookies topped with a lemon icing. The cookies require no chilling of the dough!

I also love my coconut macaroons for a naturally gluten free cookie or my apple cider cookies in the Fall. And in the Spring you can’t go wrong with my strawberry cheesecake cookies.