Sweet, soft cookies packed with toffee pieces and just slightly salted. These Brown Butter Toffee Cookies are flavored with vanilla and a generous amount of perfectly browned butter. Recipe includes easy steps for browning butter!
The inspiration for these Brown Butter Toffee Cookies came to me via the cafeteria of the hospital where I work.
After taking our lunch together last week (I think I’ve mentioned that Zach and I work at the same hospital, just in different departments), Zach went to buy himself a drink. As we went through the checkout, I saw small, clear-wrapped package labeled “Butter Toffee Cookies” and immediately threw them at him.
I need these — for research!
He bought them and the graceless mouth-stuffing research commenced, but I was honestly a little disappointed.
They were almost too sweet– there was too much artificial flavor somewhere in there. Faux vanilla, maybe? Some sort of preservative?
They weren’t exactly crunchy, but still somehow seemed a little too dry for me. And for a cookie that touted the word “Butter” right in its name, I expected a much… butterier flavor.
I had some good starting points, thanks to an underwhelming cafeteria cookie.
These Brown Butter Toffee Cookies live up to the “butter” part of their name.
For the best, butteriest flavor, you’re going to use browned butter in this recipe. You may have spied this ingredient in several of my other cookie recipes, or maybe in my recent brown butter blondies (just… yum).
I absolutely adore browned butter because of its nearly nutty, toffee-like (what better complement to the toffee add-ins) flavor.
Brown butter used to seem intimidating to me — you have to get out a saucepan and turn on the stove and, yes, watch it very carefully for a few minutes, but it’s really a simple process. The recipe below includes step-by-step instructions on how to perfectly brown butter.
Make sure to cool the browned butter for 25-30 minutes before adding your other ingredients, otherwise you run the risk of melting your sugars, and could end up with some seriously runny, unusable dough.
This recipe does not require any chilling (I know, a lot of my recent cookie recipes have required fridge time). However, it may be covered and chilled, if you would like, and this would likely give the cookies an even richer, more buttery flavor.
Keep in mind that that the dough gets a bit crumbly when chilled and will need to warm back up to room temperature in order to scoop and bake.
I have a serious cookie obsession and each time I make a new version I sincerely believe that it’s my new favorite, and these are no exception. They are so good — slightly crisped exteriors, crunchy toffee bits accented with milk chocolate, and a nutty, buttery flavor in every bite (especially in those soft centers!).
Make sure to top everything off with a small shower of sea salt, which really intensifies all of the already robust flavors of these brown butter toffee cookies.
I also cannot recommend strongly enough that you re-heat these briefly in the microwave before eating (about 9-seconds per cookie, in my microwave).
Warm cookies are the best cookies.
Enjoy!
Brown Butter Toffee Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup brown sugar 200g
- 2/3 cup white sugar 135g
- 2 eggs room temperature preferred
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 350g
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch cornflour in UK
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup milk chocolate toffee pieces (Like Heath Milk Chocolate Toffee Pieces) 170g
- sea salt for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (177C) and line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Cut your butter into Tablespoon-sized pieces and place in a medium-sized saucepan. Melt over medium-low heat.
To Brown the Butter (It's easy, I promise!)
- Once butter has melted, increase heat to just above medium heat.
- Swirl and scrape the sides of the pan frequently with a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula - the butter will bubble and pop. Once the bubbling/popping slows, the butter will begin to turn brown, it will look like this once it's finished:
- Watch the butter very carefully at this point, and once it begins to brown and you smell the nutty aroma of browned butter, remove from heat quickly and pour into a large, heatproof bowl.
- Allow butter to cool for 25-30 minutes before proceeding with the recipe.
Cookie Dough
- Add sugars into cooled browned butter, stir well.
- Stir in eggs, one at a time, stirring well after each addition.
- Add vanilla extract and stir.
- In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, stirring until ingredients are nearly completely combined.
- Add milk chocolate toffee bits and stir until ingredients are well-incorporated.
- Drop by heaping, rounded 1 1/2-Tbsp scoops onto prepared cookie sheets, placing at least 2" apart.
- Bake on 350F (177C) 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).
- Sprinkle lightly with sea salt.
- Allow cookies to cool on baking pan for about 3 minutes and then use a spatula to gently scoop beneath them and carefully wiggle them free from the parchment paper, as the toffee tends to stick.
- Allow to cool several more minutes and then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.
Nutrition
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Pam says
Oh my!!! These cookies were wonderful!!!! They were chewy and the salty/sweet was so fun in our mouths🥰 I didn’t have unsalted butter on hand so I used salted and just added 1/4 tsp. of the salt. Didn’t hurt a thing! They were still great. You’re soooo right about the brown butter👍 Thank you for the recipe, it’s a keeper for sure.
Sugar Spun Run says
I am so glad that you enjoyed the brown butter toffee cookies, Pam! Thank you for commenting. 🙂
Rebecca says
I am a huge fan of Toffee and have found something to be grateful for thanks to your recipe! I used half chocolate covered toffee bits and half plain toffee bits for a little chocolate, but more toffee. I substituted the baking powder with cream of tartar because I like the texture the cream of tartar gives the cookies. My new favorite., thank you for sharing. These will be in my forever recipe book 😊
Sugar Spun Run says
Thank you so much, Rebecca! I am so glad that you enjoyed the brown butter toffee cookies. I hope that you enjoy this recipe for years to come. Thanks so much for commenting. 🙂
Alex Enayat says
Hands down one of the best cookies I’ve ever made. These are divine!!!!
Sam says
So glad to hear they were such a success, Alex! Thank you for commenting, I appreciate it 🙂
Joe says
Is there a substitute for corn starch? I’ve never made a cookie using corn starch and I don’t have it on hand. Thank You.
Sugar Spun Run says
Hi, Joe! Cornstarch, when paired with flour, helps soften the cookie. You can omit the corn starch but they will not be as soft and tender. I hope that you enjoy the brown butter toffee cookies. 🙂
John says
Reading how you brown the butter sounds a lot like burning the butter.
Sugar Spun Run says
Hi, John! Yes, you need to be careful when browning butter for sure. The results are worth it! 🙂
Dawn says
I used this recipe last week and entered them into a baking contest at our SNF and won, even got my picture in our local newspaper! They are incredible! Thank you!
Sugar Spun Run says
That is amazing, Dawn! Congrats on your win! Thanks for using my recipe and for sharing. 🙂
Patrick Mains says
My new favorite cookie recipe. My son says it’s the best cookie he’s ever had. Made them for work and had to share the recipe with them. The sea salt really takes this cookie over the top. Do you have another recipe that you would recommend that I try?
Thanks
Sam says
I’m so glad you and your son enjoyed, Patrick!! I would definitely check out my other cookie recipes, my “worst” chocolate chip cookies are a big favorite around here.
Cindy says
These were amazing! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Sugar Spun Run says
I am so glad that you enjoyed the toffee cookies, Cindy! Thanks for trying my recipe. 🙂
Austin says
Hi! I’m gonna try to make these. Was curious if you’ve played around with how much toffee bits to put in? Is 1 cup plenty?
Sam says
Hi Austin! One cup is my preference but feel free to play around if you like a bit more (or less) toffee!
Jen Black says
I made these cookies tonight for my 3 year old and husband. They both LOVED them. You absolutely HAVE to brown the butter. It makes a world of difference. The only thing I didn’t like was it took over and hour to make, chilling to brown butter takes much longer than you said and I did it in my freezer to hurry up the process. But delicious. Followed exactly.
Sugar Spun Run says
Thank you so much, Jen! I am so glad that everyone enjoyed the Brown Butter Toffee Cookies. 🙂
Kimberle says
Do you usually use light brown or dark brown sugar
Sam says
Either will work fine and I usually use whichever I have on hand, which is usually light brown sugar. Dark brown sugar will make the cookies ever so slightly more moist and a bit darker.
Naima says
Tried them ..they turned out delicious ! Didnt add the sea salt though cause I didnt have any ..Can I use regular salt or pink salt on top instead of sea salt ?
Sugar Spun Run says
Naima, I am so glad that you enjoyed the toffee cookies! If you have pink salt on hand, I have had others use that and have had success. Enjoy! 🙂
Mary Ann says
This recipe is beyond delicious! The texture, soft and chewy, accented by a little sprinkle of sea salt – yum! And the buttery/sweet/salty taste lingers on your lips. The only change I made was to add 1/4 cup more flour so they didn’t spread as much as they did in my oven. Friends who sampled said “best cookie ever” and I have to agree. I refrigerated some of the dough overnight, let it come to room temp the next day and they were perfect. Thanks Sam!!!
Sugar Spun Run says
Mary Ann, I am so happy to hear that you enjoyed the toffee cookies! 🙂
Julie says
Can you freeze the dough to bake later
Sam says
Hi Julie! That should work great. 🙂