Best Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

People often find brown butter recipes a little scary. But these brown butter chocolate chip cookies are worth overcoming your fear. 

And honestly, browning butter isn’t as difficult as most people think. As long as you get the heat right (medium) and whisk constantly, you’ll do just fine. 

So take a deep breath, grab an apron, and conquer that fear. I will teach you to bake some delicious (and addictive) brown butter chocolate chip cookies. 

Everyone who tries them will be so thankful that you took that leap. They’re freaking fantastic!  

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies 

So, what makes these brown butter chocolate chip cookies so much better than regular chocolate chip cookies? (I bet you can guess!) 

If you said, “the brown butter,” you are absolutely right. That thing that so many people fear is precisely what makes these cookies so tasty. 

Brown butter, or as the French would say, buerre noisette, is delicious. It doesn’t taste much like butter at all. 

Instead, it has a rich, nutty, toffee-like flavor that makes baked goods irresistible. 

And yes, that includes these gooey chocolate chip cookies. It’s also fantastic in my brown butter banana bread if you want to try that. 

For now, though, let’s talk more about these cookies and what you need to make them.

Ingredients

You need the following ingredients: 

• Unsalted Butter- While not the only star of the show, butter plays a vital role in this recipe. So be sure to pick up high-quality REAL butter- not margarine or another substitute. 

• Flour- All-purpose flour is fine. Spoon it into a dry measuring cup and level off the top using the back of a knife. Don’t scoop it with the measuring cup or pack it into the cup.

• Baking Soda- The leavening agent that makes the cookies rise. 

• Salt- Salt enhances flavor, making each ingredient pop. 

• Sugars- This recipe calls for both granulated and light brown sugar. The granulated sugar sweetens the cookies; the brown sugar makes them soft and chewy. 

• Eggs- Eggs act as the binding agent in this recipe. They also add moisture and make the cookies chewy. 

• Vanilla Extract- Another flavor enhancer. 

• Chocolate Chips- Use semi-sweet and milk chocolate chips for the best flavor. 

• Flaky Sea Salt- Flaky sea salt looks lovely on these cookies. The contrasting sweet and salty goodness is also a big win. 

How to Make Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies 

Follow the below steps to make these yummy cookies:

1. Brown the butter. To brown the butter, heat it in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook it for 5-7 minutes, whisking the entire time. 

It’s ready once the butter turns golden, smells nutty, and the browned butter fat separates. Set it aside for now and let it cool. 

2. Make the batter. Mix the flour, baking soda, and salt in one bowl. Set it aside. 

Combine the brown butter and sugars in another bowl. Mix well, then add the eggs one at a time. 

Finally, stir in the vanilla. 

Next, add the flour mixture to the mixture with the eggs. Mix until everything is just barely combined. Then, stir in the chocolate chips. Be careful not to overmix. 

3. Shape and chill the dough. Scoop dough balls and place them onto a lined baking sheet. Leave about 2 inches between each mound of dough. 

Cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Then, place the entire sheet in the fridge to chill for at least 45 minutes. (Longer is even better if you have time to wait.) 

4. Bake. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and sprinkle the chilled dough with sea salt. When the oven is ready, bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes until the edges are set. 

5. Cool. Remove the trays from the oven, and let the cookies cool for about 5 minutes. Transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling. 

6. Serve and enjoy! This one is pretty self-explanatory. 

Tips for the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies 

Use these tips for the best possible cookies: 

• Use a cookie or ice cream scoop to scoop the dough. Doing so will help you make uniform balls of dough. This ensures the cookies bake evenly.

• Add mix-ins. Customize with your favorite add-ins. Toasted nuts, coconut, dried fruit, butterscotch, peanut butter chips, etc. All make excellent options.

• Avoid recipe substitutions. Adding mix-ins is fine– encouraged, even! But avoid substituting ingredients. The cookies may not turn out if you change a single ingredient in this recipe.

• Use room-temperature eggs. They incorporate better and will help prevent overmixing. 

• Don’t skip the chill time. Chilling the dough before baking results in a better taste and texture. 

• Don’t overmix or over-bake. The cookies will be flat and tough to chew if you overmix the cookies. If you overbake the cookies, they’ll be hard and dry. Mix until everything is just barely combined. Bake until the edges are set. But the centers are still slightly soft. 

• Make oversized cookies. These cookies are best when they’re big, round, and chewy in the center. You want at least 2 tablespoons of dough in each cookie. You could even use as much as 3 tablespoons for extra large cookies. 

How to Store

You can easily store these cookies at room temperature or in the freezer. However, you can also freeze the dough before baking it. 

The following sections will outline how. 

How to Freeze Cookie Dough

Follow these steps to freeze your unbaked cookie dough:

1. Follow the recipe instructions to form the batter.
2. Scoop the dough as instructed. 
3. Place the dough balls on an unlined baking sheet. 
4. Flash-freeze the balls on the sheet until they’re frozen solid. 
5. Remove the baking sheet and dough from the freezer.
6. Transfer the frozen dough balls to freezer-safe bags. 
7. Press out as much air as possible from the bags before sealing. 
8. Seal, date, and label the bags.
9. Freeze them for up to 3 months. 

When you want to bake the cookies, let them warm to room temperature first. Then, bake according to the instructions on the recipe card. 

How to Store & Freeze Baked Cookies

You can store baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. Let them cool first. Then, transfer them to an airtight container or Ziploc bag. 

They will stay fresh at room temperature for about a week. 

You can also freeze the cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 months. You can eat them straight from frozen or let them thaw to room temperature first.