Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Not your average chocolate chip cookies, these show-stoppers are flavored with brown butter and a sprinkling of sea salt.
These are my most favorite cookies OF ALL TIME. I mean, who can resist a really good chocolate chip cookie?
And these are really, really good. I’ve been baking these cookies since the early days on my blog 10 years ago and the recipe is the first one I ever learned by heart. These brown butter chocolate chip cookies have everything you could want in a cookie— crisp outer edges, gooey middles, puddles of chocolate, and great butterscotch-y flavor.
The cookies are both ordinary and extraordinary all at the same time. It’s just a standard chocolate chip cookie recipe, but made with brown butter. It makes all the difference. I also love to make them larger than most of the cookies I bake (this is the scoop I use), ensuring you get the perfect ratio of crisp and soft.
A sprinkle of coarse or flaky sea salt is the final finishing touch, and the sweet and salty combo makes these cookies 100% irresistible.
I have to be careful when I bake these cookies. I’m only allowed to make them when I have others to share with, otherwise, I eat them all. No joke. Bake a batch today (like, ASAP) and get ready for them to disappear quick!
baking tip:How to brown butter
- Add cubed butter to saucepan over medium low heat (cubing the butter first allows it to melt more evenly).
- Butter will melt and start to foam. Stir frequently with a rubber spatula, scraping the bottom of the pan.
- Continue to cook butter until you see brown specs in the butter and it has a nutty aroma.
- Remove from heat immediately and pour it into a heatproof container. If left in the pan it will continue to cook and burn.
- Use the melted browned butter right away or put in the fridge for later use.
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Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter (236 grams)
- ½ cup granulated sugar (100 grams)
- 1 cup packed light or dark brown sugar (215 grams)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cup all purpose flour (300 grams)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (1 lb, 450 grams)
- Coarse salt , for sprinkling (optional)
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt the butter. Once melted, continue to cook until it turns golden brown. Swirl the pan occasionally if needed so that it browns evenly. Watch it fairly closely, as it can go from brown to burned quickly. When the color has turned golden, small flecks speckle the butter, and it has a nutty aroma, remove from heat and poor into a shallow dish. Chill in the fridge until it becomes solid. You want it to be soft, but not melted. If it cool too hard, let it come back to room temperature before using.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
- Beat the brown butter, sugar, and brown sugar on medium high speed with an electric mixer until light and creamy, about 4 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each. Add the vanilla extract.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Add the chocolate chips and mix until incorporated.
- Spoon by the tablespoon onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving 2 inches in between each cookie. Sprinkle with coarse salt, if desired. Bake until golden brown, 10-12 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes on the pan before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.
This recipe was originally published January 2013.
I’ve been looking for a recipe that gets those perfect crisp edges and gooey middles, so the description of these is making my mouth water. I love that you’ve been baking these for 10 years and know the recipe by heart—that’s always the sign of a truly reliable cookie. The addition of brown butter and sea salt sounds like the perfect upgrade to a classic.
I just made these last weekend and they’re absolutely incredible! The brown butter really does give them that amazing butterscotch flavor you mentioned, and the sea salt on top takes them to a whole new level. I’ve never been able to get that perfect balance of crisp edges with gooey centers before, but your recipe finally nailed it for me. Definitely bookmarking this one since it’s clearly stood the test of time on your blog!
Hands down, my favorite cookie recipe ever!!
Wasn’t so much a fan of chocolate chip till now!!
Definitely try!!
Hello, I made these and warm they were absolutely amazing but after the cooled they got really hard. I’m wondering what I may have done wrong? I want to keep making them!
Thanks for the great recipe. I love chocolate with salt. I have never browned butter, but will be trying it soon.
I made these cookies today, followed instructions to the letter, put the brown butter in the freezer on ice while I took out the other ingredients, and refrigerated the dough because I had to go shopping with Mom for groceries.
Came back, and baked them at 375 for 12 mins, and rolled the dough between my hands into a lumpy circle, just in case, before baking.
Oh my Lord, these are the mother of all cookies. Soft, chewy, MELTED chocolate, and they just smile at you when you eat them, and then your tummy smiles at you afterwards. *my brother’s exact words*
Thank you SO much for this recipe, I will definitely be keeping this one! Awesome! =)
how did you get the crackle tops?? I bake these all the time, but I think the 1tbsp makes for very small cookies–are the ones in the pictures the same size? what’s the size of the cookies after baking?
yesterday i made them and they were PERFECT!! the whole family loves them, these are better than any other chocolate chip cookies that i’ve tried so far!! 🙂
my cookies came out flat 🙁
why?
Unfortunately, there are so many reasons and without being with you in your kitchen watching you make the cookies, I have no way of knowing for sure. If I had to guess though, I’d say it had to do with the temperature of the butter. Maybe it was too soft? Make sure the brown butter solidifies completely before moving on with the recipe. I’m so sorry they didn’t turn out!
I LOVE caramelly salty things and chocolate chip cookies. I am so happy I found this recipe. The cookie dough is the best thing ever. Serious self control needed to actually get some cookie dough into the oven! Thanks completely delicious lady.
I have tried making brown butter chocolate chip cookies, but I live at high altitude, in Colorado and they never seem to turn out quite right. Do I need to make any adjustments to the recipe, or will this work at high altitude? I love brown butter everything!
I baked these cookies tonight and they were amazing! I added a pinch of cinnamon into the dry ingredients. Also, I realize that I want to use medium or dark brown sugar since that affects the color of the cookie. I baked the first batch a little too long so they came out crunchier than the other lighter but chewier batches. Live and learn. Thanks for this great post! Love the pics too.