Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
I am obsessed with brown butter chocolate chip cookies. A simple step of melting and browning the butter on a stove will transform your chocolate chip cookies. It is a game-changing trick to create toffee-flavored, rich buttery cookies by just elevating one ingredient. It is truly remarkable! These are the best chocolate chip cookies!
I have been making brown butter chocolate chip cookies for at least 15 years and they have become one of my signature cookies. I shared my MJ’s Top Secret Chocolate Chip Cookies, all made in one saucepan, which is one of my go-to cookie recipes.
Since I am always playing in the kitchen with different ingredients and methods, I wanted to work on melting and browning the butter until it is a perfectly warm amber color and letting it chill in the refrigerator before creaming the butter and sugars in a mixer. Since some of the liquids can evaporate when browning the butter, I needed to compensate for that. I decided to add one egg yolk, which adds both liquid and fat.
How to Brown Butter:
This is an important step. The butter will go through different phases. It will begin to melt and bubble. Take a wooden spoon or spatula and stir often and around the sides of the pan. Let the butter melt and watch for it to begin changing colors from a creamy yellow to a deep amber yellow.
The butter will begin to foam and this is why it is important to stir often so you can see what is going on below the foam. Small brown bits will begin to form and that will be a signal that the butter is officially browned. Butter can burn quickly so watch carefully. It is better to pull off of the heat a little early instead of browning too long and risk burning it.
Since you want the butter to chill quickly, pour it into a large bowl and place in the refrigerator. Use a spatula to get every bit of butter out of the pan. Every bit of butter matters! Let it chill in the refrigerator for at least 40 minutes.
Creaming the Brown Butter and Sugars:
This is an integral step as it creates a smooth and creamy dough and gets rid of the graininess from the sugars. It needs to be creamed for at least 4-5 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl often. The eggs and egg yolk can be added one at a time, mixing for 30 seconds after each addition.
If time is on your side, an easy way to make chocolate chip cookies even BETTER is to chill the cookie dough. The chilling process is important because it helps the ingredients marry together and you end up with a richer chocolate chip cookie. Also, the dough doesn’t spread as much in the oven so you end up with a chewier cookie with crisp edges. Trust me on this one, chilling the dough is worth the sacrifice!
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If you love chocolate chip cookies, check out these other popular recipes:
- MJ’s Top Secret Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Charmina’s Chocolate Chip Cookies
The Best Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies will always be a hit!
- 1 cup Butter (melted until an amber color with browned bits on the bottom of pan)
- 1 cup Dark Brown Sugar (may use golden brown sugar)
- 1/2 cup Sugar
- 2 large Eggs
- 1 large Egg Yolk
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- 2 1/4 cup Flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 2 cups Chocolate Chips (may use more and a combination of chopped up chocolate bars and chips)
Place butter in large pot or deep skillet. Melt butter over medium-low heat. The butter will go through different phases. It will begin to melt and bubble. Take a wooden spoon or spatula and stir often and around the sides of the pan. Let the butter melt and watch for it to begin changing colors from a creamy yellow to a deep amber yellow.
The butter will begin to foam and this is why it is important to stir often so you can see what is going on below the foam. Small brown bits will begin to form and that will be a signal that the butter is officially browned. Butter can burn quickly so watch carefully. It is better to pull off of the heat a little early instead of browning too long and risk burning it.
Since you want the butter to chill quickly, pour it into a large bowl and place in the refrigerator. Use a spatula to get every bit of butter out of the pan. Let it chill in the refrigerator for about 40-60 minutes.
Pour chilled butter into mixing bowl. Add brown sugar and sugar and cream for 4-5 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl often.
Add eggs and egg yolk, one at a time, beating for 30 seconds after each addition. Stir in vanilla.
Add flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir just until combined, avoid overmixing. Stir in chocolate chips.
If time allows, wrap cookie dough tightly and let chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour. If time allows, chill for 24-48 hours.
Preheat oven to 385 degrees. Place parchment paper liners or Silpat liners on baking sheets. Roll balls of cookie dough and place on cookie sheet. Bake for 9-10 minutes or until edges starts to become a light golden color.
Happy Baking, my friends! Don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter below. Thank you for following along!
I really want to try the brown butter chocolate chip cookies can I use my kitchen aid stand mixer or does it have to be mixed with a wooden spoon
Hi there, Nancy! Here’s what I do…I brown the butter and stir it with a wooden spoon. Then I let it chill in the refrigerator. Once it is chilled for about 45-50 minutes, I pour it into my Kitchenaid mixer. I cream the butter and sugars together for 4-5 minutes until it starts to become creamy. Then I add the eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla. I hope that helps!
Why 385 degree oven? Sounds too hot.
Hi Amy! I love experimenting with oven temperatures. One of my cookie recipes calls for 410 degrees! Some call for 385, 375, 350, and 325. It just depends on the type of cookie dough and the result that I am looking for. After testing these cookies at different temps, I found 385 to be ideal. If your oven runs hot, I would suggest reducing it to 375. I hope that helps!
This is almost an exact recipe I have except
mine calls for 3 cups flour instead of 2- 1/4 cups.
What’s the difference using less flour? Sorry I’m not the most experienced baker
I love the brown butter idea.
Thank you
Hi David! Great question. Less flour = a chewier texture with a more pronounced butter and brown sugar flavor. They are amazing! If you want a little more flour for a thicker cookie, I would suggest only adding about 2 Tablespoons more. I hope that helps!
In the description you said you like to add an egg yolk when you brown the butter, but in the recipe it doesn’t say to add the yolk. Should the egg yolk be added when browning the butter or no?
Hi Anthony! After you brown the butter and let it chill in the refrigerator, you mix it with the sugars for 4-5 minutes. After that, you add the 2 eggs, 1 egg yolk, and vanilla. I hope that helps!
That does indeed! Thank you for the clarification.
What’s the difference in taste and texture between these cookies and MJ’s Top Secret Chocolate Chip Cookies? Just trying to figure out which one to try first.
This is such a great question! Here are the differences — MJ’s is made in a saucepan so you never use a stand mixer or handheld mixer. Brown Butter recipe takes longer to brown the butter and it needs to be chilled for longer. There are more steps in the brown butter recipe but because the butter is browned for longer, it has a more pronounced brown butter flavor. Both are amazing! I would say MJ’s is easier and takes less time but there’s more flavor with the Brown Butter recipe. Hope that helps!
Hi, I’ve really been into experimenting with new chocolate chip recipes and I can’t wait to try this one as well!! I was just wondering if I can use a non-stick cookie sheet instead of a regular parchment lined one?
Hi- I’m a big fan of brown butter cookies and this one reminds me of the one published by Cook’s Illustrated in 2009. Love your website and your enthusiasm for cooking!
Hi Julie! I am such a huge fan of Cooks Illustrated and own many of their cookbooks. Their recipes are amazing! Have a great day!
Made your recipe last night and oh my goodness…I didn’t think you could perfect perfection! Follow the steps as specified- These cookies are phenomenal! 😋😍
Fantastic recipe..I encourage everyone to try this!!..Takes an ordinary recipe for chocolate chip cookies to a new level. I added some instant coffee powder to the mixture but not too much because the brown butter is simply so rich on its own! The cookie flavor and texture were amazing! Temperature to bake at is perfect. I baked mine for 8 – 9 minutes and it was spot on crispy yet chewy…
Hi Pam! Thank you so much for the kind words. I really appreciate it and I am so happy you loved the cookies! The brown butter puts them over the top! Have a great day! — Melissa
These cookies are awesome! I have never used browned butter in a cookie recipe and we all loved the taste! I have two daughters who are gluten-free and these worked great with GF flour. I will make the next batch with regular flour. I imagine that they will taste even better.
Hi! Making these for Christmas. Salted or unsalted butter?
So excited to try this yummy recipe. My daughter is turning 23 next week and chose this recipe instead of cake…I hope I don’t disappoint. Do you use a particular chocolate chip? Also, the picture looks like you might have used milk chocolate, also? Would love to know your preferred brands and flavors. Thanks so much!
Angela
I was disappointed. While the raw dough had an incredible flavor, once baked it tasted like the original toll house cookie recipe I use regularly. The chilled dough was harder to work with, as well.
Perhaps because I always (including this time) put in a cup of toasted pecans? Could that overpower the brown butter flavor?
I used salted butter, Guittard semisweet chips and golden brown sugar.
The dough was so delicious I am inspired to try other brown butter recipes.
Did you use light or dark brown sugar? I found the flavor more favorable with dark brown sugar.
So excited to try these!
I have few questions:
1) Can I make brown butter ahead & keep in the fridge?
2) Can I freeze the dough?
Thank you so much! Hoping to hear back from you.
What kind of Chocolate Chips did you use? Semi-Sweet? Milk? Both?
I made these yesterday and was very pleased with the dough. Also made a lot of cookies. After the butter had chilled, I avoided the brown bits on the bottom of the chilled bowl, using just the amber solidified butter. I toasted the pecans in a skillet with a bit of olive oil. Small pieces toasted too long on some but used them anyway. Though very good, I’m still out on all the toasted flavors as a base. I agree with another, the dough taste better than the cookie.
…I also used chopped milk chocolate with the semi-sweet chips. Lots of Choc!
Have you tried using cornstarch like in other recipes if not is it a good idea to try?
Hi, can we scoop the dough into cookie balls, and then chill them on the pan in that shape, instead of chilling the dough and trying to form the balls with the cold dough? I find the cold dough hard to work with. Also, should we use salted or unsalted butter? Thank you.