Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
4.9
(11)
Brown butter chocolate chip cookie recipes can often skew fussy, requiring multiple steps and specialty ingredients (like fancy chocolate or sea salt) to make, but this recipe streamlines things and comes together in just one bowl without the need for an electric mixer. The star of the show, brown butter, lends a subtle toffee-like flavor that makes the cookies far more enticing than your everyday version. Brown sugar provides a bittersweet edge that enhances the brown butter flavor, and a touch of granulated sugar crisps up the cookies’s edges. Instead of chopped chocolate (the go-to for many more laborious recipes), this recipe uses semisweet chips to heighten the nostalgia and avoid the knife work. The resulting cookies are everything you love about classic chocolate chip cookies but with the added richness of brown butter.
Before you dive into this recipe, note that the dough must chill in the refrigerator for at least three hours before baking. But for those looking for more instant gratification, the dough can be transferred to a large resealable plastic bag, flattened, and chilled in an ice water bath for 20 minutes to speed up the process. This gives you just enough time to tidy up after making the dough and to prepare your baking sheets.
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What you’ll need
Sheet Pan
$28 At Amazon
Large Cookie Scoop
$14 At Amazon
Silicone Spatula
$20 $17 At Amazon
Recipe information
Total Time
45 minutes (plus chilling)
Yield
Makes 20 large
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Melt 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring often with a heatproof rubber spatula to prevent burning, until butter turns a light amber color, smells nutty, and foam has started to settle, 5–7 minutes. Immediately pour butter into a large heatproof bowl and scrape in any browned bits stuck to bottom of pan.
Step 2
Add 1¼ cups (250 g; packed) light brown sugar, ⅓ cup (67 g) granulated sugar, and 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract to butter and whisk until combined and sugar starts to dissolve. Add 2 large eggs, room temperature, and 1 large egg yolk, room temperature, one at a time, whisking after each addition until incorporated before adding more. Add 2¾ cups (344 g) all-purpose flour, 2 tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1 tsp. Morton kosher salt, 1 tsp. baking powder, and 1 tsp. baking soda and stir with rubber spatula until a soft dough forms and there are no pockets of unincorporated flour. Add 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (about 12 oz.) and mix just until distributed throughout. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill dough at least 3 hours and up to 12 hours. (Alternatively, if you want to speed up the process, transfer dough to a large resealable plastic bag and flatten dough to all 4 corners. Close bag and place in a large bowl of ice water; make sure bag is submerged. Let sit 20 minutes.)
Step 3
Place racks in upper and lower thirds of oven; preheat to 350°. Line 3 baking sheets (or what you have) with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats. Using a #16 cookie scoop or ¼-cup measure, portion out dough and roll into smooth balls. (Or, if using the ice water technique, cut dough into 66 g portions and roll into smooth balls.) Place balls on prepared baking sheets, spacing about 2" apart (6–7 per baking sheet).
Step 4
Bake 2 baking sheets of cookies, rotating baking sheets top to bottom and front to back halfway through, until tops are cracked and lightly browned, 14–16 minutes. Gently bang baking sheets on counter a few times to deflate cookies slightly, then let cool on baking sheets. Repeat with remaining baking sheet of cookies, baking them on either rack.
Recipe notes
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Your brown butter chocolate chip cookies will thank you.
