These brown butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are a gourmet combination of two popular cookies. A sprinkle of sea salt on top is a must! Recipe includes a how-to video!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Incredible flavor. Toasty brown butter, melty chocolate chunks, and flaky sea salt make these an indulgent and unique, yet familiar cookie. They’re the perfect hybrid of my brown butter chocolate chip cookies and oatmeal cookies.
- Easy! Browning the butter is simple, so don’t be intimidated by it. I demonstrate this in detail in my video below, but I also have an entire post on how to brown butter if you want a more in-depth tutorial.
- Perfect balance between chocolate chip cookies and oatmeal cookies. I was intentional to not use too many oats so the cookies weren’t overly oatmeal-forward.
- No mixer or chilling required! Just make sure you let the brown butter cool down before you add the sugars. There is no need for it to completely re-solidify though.
Despite their overly long name 😆, I absolutely love these brown butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. They are quite possibly my current favorite cookie (okay, my “worst” chocolate chip cookies are still at the top of the list).
They have a great hearty texture and the browned butter adds an INCREDIBLE depth of flavor–it’s almost impossible to just eat one, or even just 2 cookies. I can’t wait for you to try them!
What You Need
Before we begin, let’s go over a few of the important ingredients in today’s recipe.
- Butter. I use unsalted butter. If you only have salted butter, you can use that and reduce the table salt in the recipe to ½ teaspoon. Don’t skip or reduce the sea salt topping though!
- Oats. I recommend old-fashioned oats, though I imagine quick-cooking oats could work in a pinch. Note that I use less oats in this recipe than my classic oatmeal cookies; this is intentional! I didn’t want these cookies to be too oat-y.
- Brown sugar. Using more brown sugar than granulated sugar keeps these cookies nice and chewy. I do this with my monster cookies as well. Personally, I like to use a blend of light and dark brown sugar, but you can use all light brown sugar if that’s all you have on hand. I don’t recommend using all dark brown sugar; it’s too rich.
- Semisweet chocolate. You could use chocolate chips (I include instructions for this in the recipe below), but a chopped chocolate bar creates a more melty and gourmet experience.
- Sea salt. A sprinkle of sea salt on top is non-negotiable. It really amps up the flavor and complements the toasty brown butter so well!
SAM’S TIP: Since we are using room temperature butter, it’s best if your eggs are room temperature as well. This will help them incorporate much easier and will give you a more cohesive dough. If you forget to set yours out ahead of time, I have a trick to quickly bring eggs to room temperature.
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Brown Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Brown the butter: melt the butter over medium-low heat, then increase the heat to medium. Stir constantly as the butter sizzles and pops, scraping the pan to prevent any sticking. Once the butter has browned, pour it into a heatproof bowl and let it cool completely before proceeding.
- Add the sugars to the cooled butter and stir until everything is uniform.
- Stir in the eggs and vanilla until combined, then set aside.
- Whisk the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl, then gradually add them to to the wet ingredients.
- Gently fold in the oats until you have a cohesive dough.
- Fold in the chocolate chunks, and then you’re ready to scoop!
- Roll 1 ½ tablespoon scoops of dough into smooth balls, then bake until the edges start to turn a light golden brown. Don’t over-bake or your cookies will be dry and crumbly. It’s totally fine if your cookies look a bit underdone when they come out of the oven; they’ll finish cooking on the baking sheets.
- Sprinkle with sea salt while the cookies are still warm.
SAM’S TIP: It’s important to add the sea salt within a minute or two of the cookies coming out of the oven, because it won’t stick to them after they’ve cooled.
Frequently Asked Questions
Honestly, it’s not my preference here. You can absolutely do it, but I actually find that this cookie dough doesn’t spread properly if it sits for too long, and especially when it is chilled. If you are looking for a dough that does better made in advance, try my oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.
Brown butter imparts a nutty, toasted flavor in cookies. It makes a HUGE difference in the flavor! It does require some extra work (and patience, since it needs to cool), but it is well worth it for the final result. I love brown butter and use it in many of my recipes, like my brown butter frosting, brown butter rice krispie treats, and even my butter pecan cake.
This can happen if you combine your butter and sugars when the butter is still warm. The butter will melt the sugars, and unfortunately this cannot be remedied–even with chilling. This is why it’s so important to let the butter cool completely before adding your sugars.
If oatmeal raisin is more your thing, give my oatmeal raisin cookies a try!
Enjoy!
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Brown Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter
- 1 cup (200 g) brown sugar firmly packed (may use light brown sugar or a blend of light and dark brown sugar)
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 ⅓ cups (292 g) all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 2 cups (160 g) old-fashioned oats
- 6 oz (170 g) semisweet chocolate bar chopped, see note to substitute chips
- Sea salt for sprinkling
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Brown the butter. Place butter in a medium-sized skillet or saucepan over medium-low heat and cook until melted. Increase heat to medium and cook, stirring frequently as the butter sizzles and pops. Stir constantly, scraping the bottom of the pan with a spatula to prevent burning, and continue to stir until butter has browned (there will be lots of deep brown specks and the butter will have a toasty, nutty aroma). Immediately remove from heat and pour into a large heat-proof bowl. Allow to cool completely (until no longer warm to the touch) at room temperature before proceeding.1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter
- While butter cools, preheat oven to 350F (175C) and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Once the browned butter is no longer warm, add the sugars and stir well.1 cup (200 g) brown sugar, ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- Add eggs and vanilla extract and stir well.2 large eggs, 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- In a separate, medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.2 ⅓ cups (292 g) all-purpose flour, ¾ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon table salt
- Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet, stirring until completely combined.
- Add oats and chocolate and stir until well distributed through the dough.2 cups (160 g) old-fashioned oats, 6 oz (170 g) semisweet chocolate bar
- Scoop dough by 2 Tablespoon-sized scoops (43g) and drop onto prepared baking sheet (for more uniform, round cookies, roll between your palms to make a smooth ball before placing on baking sheet). Space cookies at least 2” apart on baking sheet.
- Transfer to center rack of 350F (175C) oven and bake 9-11 minutes.
- While cookies are still warm, sprinkle with flaky sea salt. Allow cookies to cool 5-10 minutes on baking sheet before carefully removing to cooling rack to cool completely.Sea salt for sprinkling
Notes
Chocolate
You may substitute 1 ½ cups (255g) of semisweet chocolate chips instead.Chilling cookie dough
This is one dough I actually don’t recommend chilling, as if it sits for too long the cookies don’t spread properly. For this reason I also don’t really recommend freezing the dough. You certainly can, just be aware the cookies stay in balls and don’t really spread. Still delicious, though!Storing
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.Nutrition
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.
Gina
My adult son loved these cookies. The oatmeal and browned butter makes them a hearty treat. Thanks, Sam!
Sam
You’re welcome, Gina! I’m so glad they were such a hit! 🙂
Dogr
either too much butter or not enough flour. these cookies spread all over the pan and were greasy. the taste is ok aside from the greasy butter. my kids ate them but are not presentable for a party.
Sam
Hmm, all the measurements are correct and you can see me make the cookies in the video if that helps you see the texture and look of the dough at every point. Definitely sounds like something went wrong and I’d love to help troubleshoot. Was the butter cooled completely before you added the sugar to it? From what you described either one of the ingredients was mismeasured or the butter was too hot.
Sam
I added butterscotch chips,chopped maraschino cherries chocolate chips and chopped pecans!! YUM!!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Sam! 🙂
Clarence
Can I add nuts? If so, how much do you suggest? I love the texture and taste that nuts give cookies.
Sam
Hi Clarence! You can, but it will make the cookies less likely to spread. I would probably add about a cup. Let me know how it goes! 🙂