• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Recipes
  • About Me
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • Youtube
Sugar Spun Run
  • All Recipes
  • Desserts
    • Cookies
    • Candy
    • Bars & Brownies
    • Cake
    • Pies
  • Breads
  • Savory
  • Breakfast
    • Muffins
    • Scones
  • Seasonal
    • Cozy Winter / Holiday Treats
    • Easter / Spring
    • Fall Recipes
    • Summer Recipes
  • Shop
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • Home
  • About Me
  • All Recipes
  • Contact/Work with Me
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • Youtube
  • ×
    You are here: Home / Desserts / Cookies / Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

    Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

    May 20, 2019 By Sam 168 Comments

    This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure policy.
    Jump to Recipe Jump to Video Print Recipe
    Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

    Infused with the rich, nutty flavor of browned butter, loaded with semisweet chocolate, and topped off with flaky sea salt, these Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies are world-class cookies.  If you’ve never browned butter before, don’t panic! I walk you through all the steps in the recipe and in my how-to video (just below the recipe). 

    Brown Butter Chocolate chip cookies cooling on cooling rack

    Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

    I almost want to call these my best chocolate chip cookies ever. They’re just a notch below my “worst” chocolate chip cookies (nothing can top those life ruiners), so I think calling them the best might be fair.

    Anyway, what really sets these cookies apart from your standard cookie recipe is one key magical ingredient: Brown Butter. Brown butter (more formally known by its French name: Buerre Noisette… fancy!), is simply butter that’s been cooked until all of the water is cooked out and the milk solids begin to turn brown. The end result is a rich, flavorful butter with a nutty, toffee-like aroma. When used in baked goods (especially cookies) it yields a buttery, rich, flavorful end product.

    If you’ve never browned butter before, the idea of cooking it on the stovetop until it’s perfectly browned (and not burnt!) might sound a little intimidating, but I’ve covered all the steps in the recipe below and in my video.

    So grab a saucepan and two sticks of (unsalted) butter, and prepare yourself for the most gourmet brown butter chocolate chip cookies you’ve ever tasted.

    Ingredients for Brown Butter chocolate chip cookies

    Brown butter chocolate chip batter in mixing bowl

    How to Make Brown Butter Cookies

    The most complicated part of making brown butter chocolate chip cookies is browning the butter. It’s not difficult and I’ll walk you through all the steps in the recipe and in my video, but if you’ve never done it before the idea might be a little daunting. Once you’ve browned the butter (and have let it cool!), it’s pretty similar to making any other cookie dough.

    1. To brown the butter, simply cook over low/medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until browned. The butter will sizzle and pop after melting, then once the sizzling stops you’ll notice browning beginning to occur on the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely. (More details and photos included in the recipe below).
    2. Stir together cooled butter, white sugar, and brown sugar.
    3. Stir in (room temperature) eggs and vanilla extract.
    4. Combine all of your dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Stir these into the wet ingredients.
    5. Add chocolate! I know I call these “Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies” but I honestly prefer to use chopped candy bar pieces. I do include instructions in the recipe for using regular chocolate chips, though!
    6. Chill the dough at least 30 minutes. This step is mandatory! Once chilled, scoop and bake your cookies.
    7. Sprinkle with a touch of flaky sea salt. This really adds a great flavor to the cookies!

    Overhead view of chocolate chip cookies cooling on cooling rack

    Tips for Making Brown Butter Cookies

    Cool Your Butter After Browning!

    Here’s the most obnoxious thing about browning butter: You have to wait for it to cool after browning. It’s going to take about 30 minutes to an hour at room temperature for your butter to cool enough so that it’s no longer warm to the touch (it’s not necessary for the butter to re-solidify, it just should not feel warm).

    If you add the sugar to your butter while the butter is still hot, you could end up melting your sugar. This is going to leave you with a greasy, runny cookie dough that will spread all over your cookie sheet if you even manage to get it to the oven. Take the time to let your butter cool!

    Room Temperature Eggs

    You might have noticed with a lot of my cookie recipes I call for room temperature eggs. Usually, eggs are stored cold, while the rest of your ingredients are room temperature (or in this case with our melted butter, slightly warm). You want all of your ingredients to be the same temperature so they combine properly. In this instance with our beloved browned butter, if we add cold eggs to this we could potentially shock and even curdle our butter.

    Also, as this recipe can be mixed completely by hand (no need for a stand mixer, here), the eggs will be much easier to mix and evenly incorporate throughout the better if they are room temperature.

    I usually set my eggs out the night before I’m going to be baking, but if you have forgotten to do this you can quickly warm them up to room temperature by placing them in a bowl of warm (not hot, you don’t want to cook the egg!) water for about 15 minutes.

    Storing Cookie Dough

    This browned butter chocolate chip cookie dough needs to chill for at least 30 minutes. However, it can be made up to a week in advance, just store it in your refrigerator (in an airtight container or tightly covered with plastic wrap) until ready to use. The flavors will actually develop even more as the dough sits.

    Keep in mind that if your dough has chilled for longer than 30 minutes, it might be pretty firm when you go to scoop it. If it’s too difficult to scoop, just let it sit at room temperature for 10-15 minutes so it can soften a bit.

    Cookie with a bite out of it: showing soft, buttery/chocolate interior

    Enjoy!

    More Recipes You Might Like:

    • Brown Sugar Cookies
    • Ultimate Chocolate Cookies
    • Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
    • Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

    Be sure to check out my Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie video at the bottom of the recipe! If you enjoy watching, make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel where I’ve already uploaded over 100 recipe videos that you can watch for free!

    Brown butter chocolate chip cookie on cooling rack

    Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

    Infused with the toffee-like flavor of browned butter, loaded with semisweet chocolate pieces and topped off with flaky sea salt, these brown butter chocolate chip cookies are positively gourmet.  
    4.97 from 60 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Cookies, Dessert
    Cuisine: American
    Prep Time: 30 minutes
    Cook Time: 12 minutes
    Chilling Time: 30 minutes
    Servings: 20 cookies
    Calories: 302kcal
    Author: Sam Merritt

    Ingredients

    • 1 cup unsalted butter cut into Tablespoon-sized pieces (225g)
    • 1 cup light or dark brown sugar¹ (200g)
    • ⅔ cup white sugar (135g)
    • 2 large eggs room temperature
    • 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
    • 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour (340g)
    • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
    • 1 teaspoon baking powder
    • 1 teaspoon baking soda
    • ¾ teaspoon salt
    • 10 oz semisweet chocolate² chopped into pieces (285g)
    • flaky sea salt for sprinkling optional but so good!
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions

    How to Brown Butter (it's easy!)³

    • Before you can go any further we need to brown our butter. Place your butter pieces into a medium-sized saucepan (preferably a light colored one--this will make it easier to tell once your butter has browned) and melt the butter over low/medium-low heat. 
    • Once butter has melted, increase stovetop heat to just above medium heat.
    • Swirl and scrape the sides of the pan constantly with a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula - the butter will bubble, pop, and sizzle. Once the bubbling/popping slows, the butter will begin to turn brown, (it should look similar this once it's finished; the butter on the bottom of the pan might not be quite as brown):
      Overhead of browned butter in sauce pan
    • Watch the butter very carefully at this point, and as soon as it begins to brown (and you smell that beautiful nutty aroma of browned butter), remove from heat quickly and pour into a large, heatproof bowl.
    • Allow butter to cool at room temperature for at least 30 minutes or until no longer warm to the touch before proceeding with the recipe.

    Cookie Dough

    • Once your butter has cooled, add sugars and stir well.
    • Add eggs and vanilla extract and stir well. 
    • In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt (not flaky sea salt).
    • Gradually add your flour mixture to butter mixture, stirring until ingredients are completely combined.
    • Add chopped chocolate pieces and stir well so that chocolate is well distributed through the batter.
    • Cover cookie dough bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. 
    • About 15 minutes before dough has finished chilling/before you are ready to bake, preheat oven to 350F (175C) and line cookie sheets with parchment paper. 
    • Once dough has finished chilling scoop by about 2 Tablespoon-sized portions. Gently roll the dough between your palms so that you have a round ball, then place cookie dough at least 2" apart on prepared cookie sheet.
    • Bake on 350F (175C) for 10-12 minutes or until edges are just beginning to turn golden brown (cookies should still be quite soft when you remove them from the oven, and may even appear slightly underbaked in center).
    • Let cookies cool for about a minute then sprinkle lightly with flaky sea salt.
    • Allow cookies to cool completely on baking sheet, then enjoy!

    Notes

    ¹I like to use half light and half dark brown sugar, just because I usually have both on hand and like the blend. Either variety will work fine in this recipe, though. Cookies made with light brown sugar will be lighter in color, cookies made with dark brown sugar will be darker in color and slightly richer in flavor.
    ²You can substitute chocolate chips instead, you'd need about 1 ¾ cups chocolate chips.
    ³If you've never browned butter before and are nervous about the process, make sure to watch my video below so you can see exactly how I do it. 
     

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 302kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 44mg | Sodium: 155mg | Potassium: 144mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 23g | Vitamin A: 318IU | Calcium: 35mg | Iron: 2mg

    Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.

    Tried this recipe? Show me on Instagram!Mention @SugarSpun_Sam or tag #sugarspunrun!

    I originally published this recipe for brown butter chocolate chip cookies 05/18/2017. Recipe and photos improved and updated 05/20/2019.

    « Memorial Day Recipes
    Cookie Butter No Bake Cookies »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Meg

      June 08, 2022 at 12:40 am

      5 stars
      So my family has a dedicated chocolate chip cookie recipe already. Everyone loves it. It’s a staple that we bring to any gathering that involves food. I have been loyal to that recipe for my whole life. I didn’t even make a whole recipe tonight because I didn’t think fancy-pants brown butter would make a difference. I didn’t want to waste the ingredients if it was a flop.
      But, man…this recipe. My faith and loyalty are wavering. I feel like a cheat. I’ll never be able to confess to my Momma that Mammaw’s recipe is inferior. I’ll have to take it to the grave and never make these for family events. I’m sad they’ll miss out on the glory, but hey, more for me.
      And I’m angry now I only made a half recipe 😭. This moment is so deliciously bittersweet.

      Reply
      • Sam

        June 08, 2022 at 8:51 am

        I’m so glad everyone enjoyed them so much, Meg! The brown butter really does add an extra amazing flavor! 🙂

        Reply
    2. KAT

      March 22, 2022 at 6:48 pm

      5 stars
      WOooonderful. They are worth the effort and it is a lot. The waiting for the butter to cool and the 30 min in fridge, however, go for it you will not be disappointed. Thank you. I added toasted pecan.

      Reply
    3. Timnite

      March 08, 2022 at 6:42 pm

      5 stars
      Is it possible to substitute the eggs in this recipe for heavy cream like you did in your eggless chocolate chip cookie recipe? The recipe was amazing by the way.

      Reply
      • Sam

        March 09, 2022 at 2:53 pm

        I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure how it would go here. If you try it I’d love to know how it turns out. 🙂

        Reply
    4. Menchi

      January 21, 2022 at 10:38 am

      Hi! Already tried several cookie recipes but this is the best one by far! Our family loves this! I wonder if this can be a chocolate cookie? How much cocoa powder and will there be adjustments in the recipe? Please help.
      Thank you in advance!

      Reply
      • Sam

        February 02, 2022 at 4:28 pm

        Hi Menchi! You would have to add cocoa powder and reduce the flour and without experimenting it’s really hard to say how to adjust each. If you do try it, I would love to know how it goes. 🙂

        Reply
    5. Amber

      December 16, 2021 at 6:36 pm

      5 stars
      Made these cookies a bunch of times and it gets better each time!! Finally found the perfect recipe!! Thank you (:

      Quick question: if I wanted to make this into a pizookie, how long and at what temp should I bake it? I would be using the whole batch at once!

      Reply
      • Sam

        December 17, 2021 at 12:14 pm

        Hi Amber! It will work as a pizookie. The temperature will be the same, but I’m not 100% sure on a bake time. Enjoy! 🙂

        Reply
    6. Natalie

      December 14, 2021 at 12:27 pm

      Hello, is there a maximum for how long you can chill the dough before baking? Can I chill for 24 hours in the fridge before baking? Thanks!

      Reply
      • Sam

        December 17, 2021 at 12:16 pm

        Hi Natalie! I have refrigerated the dough for several days before baking so you will be fine to refrigerate them for 24 hours. You may need to let the dough warm up a little bit before you’ll be able to scoop it. 🙂

        Reply
    7. Divine

      November 09, 2021 at 2:44 am

      Been searching why cookies are greasy.. now i found the answer. Thank you..

      Reply
    8. Zoie Penick

      September 11, 2021 at 9:20 pm

      5 stars
      Hi Sam! My sister and I made this recipe today. Our family and us loved it so much! Definitely our go to chocolate chip cookie recipe now. The brown butter just added a great flavor to the cookies. Thanks for the recipe Sam!

      Reply
      • Sam

        September 12, 2021 at 1:04 pm

        I’m so happy to hear this, Zoie! Thank you so much for letting me know how they turned out for you, I really appreciate it! 🙂

        Reply
    9. Aya

      July 29, 2021 at 3:12 pm

      5 stars
      These cookies are amazing!!! We were supposed to give a batch to our new neighbors, but my family and I ended up eating them all instead, so I’m making another batch today! (Hopefully we don’t eat all of these too). I definitely recommend chilling the dough overnight or even for a few days, because it really allows the flavors to develop. Definitely a keeper. Thanks for the awesome recipe!

      Reply
      • Sam

        July 30, 2021 at 10:06 pm

        I’m so glad everyone enjoyed them so much, Aya! I definitely know how it feels to have to make a second batch because you accidentally ate them all. 🤣

        Reply
    10. Vanessa

      July 27, 2021 at 7:21 pm

      5 stars
      Thank you for a delicious, soft and chewy cookie! Don’t skip the salt on top, (I forgot it for the first two batches) it really adds the final touch of deliciousness! The only recommendation I’d have is to edit the recipe to say 1 hour of chilling time, because we have to wait for our butter to cool for 30 minutes and then chill the cookie dough for 30 minutes.

      Reply
      • Sam

        July 30, 2021 at 10:17 pm

        I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Vanessa! 🙂

        Reply
    11. Marcy

      June 13, 2021 at 2:49 pm

      5 stars
      These cookies are EPIC!!!! Made them last week, I’m now obsessed with browned butter. Total game-changer—and my colleagues at work loved them too!!!! A couple of them even asked for the recipe, and I provided the link to Sugar Spun Run. Thank you for generously sharing your recipes—this is definitely one of my favorites.

      Reply
      • Sam

        June 13, 2021 at 9:43 pm

        I’m so glad everyone enjoyed them so much, Marcy! 🙂

        Reply
    12. Karen

      March 18, 2021 at 6:34 pm

      5 stars
      I just had to come on here and tell you that I have tried soooo many chocolate chip cookie recipes and this one is THE BEST I have ever tried. These cookies are absolutely delicious! I kept the dough in the fridge and only baked a few cookies at a time for my husband and I and after a few days the dough only got better! The only change I made was I used salted butter and cut the salt to 1/2tsp.

      Reply
      • Sam

        March 19, 2021 at 9:17 am

        I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Karen! 🙂

        Reply
    13. Mo

      March 10, 2021 at 3:51 pm

      5 stars
      I just made this recipe for the second time in two weeks! It’s a winner and everyone in my family agrees! Thank you!

      Reply
      • Sam

        March 10, 2021 at 9:17 pm

        I’m so glad everyone enjoyed them so much! 🙂

        Reply
    14. Josie

      January 26, 2021 at 7:14 am

      Beautiful cookies 👍

      Reply
    15. Susanne

      December 25, 2020 at 2:12 pm

      5 stars
      Eating one now! Thank you, and Merry Christmas:)

      Reply
    « Older Comments
    Newer Comments »

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    The author (Sam) in blue shirt holding donut Hi, I'm Sam! I'm dedicated to bringing you sweet, simple, and from-scratch dessert recipes. My life may or may not be controlled by my sweet tooth. Send help (or chocolate). Read more about me.

    Cozy Soup Recipes

    Blue bowl of beef stew with chunks of beef, carrots, and potatoes.

    Beef Stew Recipe

    Potato soup in bowl, with toppings

    The Ultimate Creamy Potato Soup

    lasagna soup in white bowl

    Lasagna Soup

    bowl of chicken and rice soup with spoon scooping a bite

    Chicken and Rice Soup (One Pot Dinner Recipe!)

    white bowl of hearty homemade tomato soup garnished with parmesan cheese, fresh basil, and cracked black pepper

    Tomato Soup

    CHICKEN tortilla soup in white bowl

    Chicken Tortilla Soup

    Most Popular

    flaky biscuit on white cloth

    Easy Homemade Biscuits

    Pizza dough in glass bowl, after rising

    The Best Pizza Dough Recipe

    one bite missing from a slice of vanilla cake with chocolate frosting

    The Best Vanilla Cake Recipe

    Slice of cheesecake

    The Best Cheesecake Recipe

    Stack of cookies made from this chocolate chip cookie recipe with melty chocolate chips and a bite missing from the top cookie

    The WORST Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

    Potato soup in bowl, with toppings

    The Ultimate Creamy Potato Soup

    places sugar spun run has been featured (Women's Day, Redbook, Good Housekeeping, Country Living, the huffington post, People, Delish, MSN, TLC, Parade, Better Homes & Gardens, Buzzfeed)
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • Youtube

    Privacy Policy|Accessibility Statement

    Footer

    Subscribe To My Newsletter!

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    ABOUT

    • About Me
    • Policies, Disclosure & Privacy
    • Terms of Use

    CONTACT

    • Contact
    • Work with Me!

    [widget id="simple-social-icons-3"]

    © 2020 Sugar Spun Run. All Rights Reserved

    • 6