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Home » Brown Butter Toffee Cookies

Brown Butter Toffee Cookies

January 18, 2017 Sam 48 Comments

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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!

Brown Butter Toffee Cookies, soft & chewy with sweet crunchy toffee pieces and a sprinkle of sea salt! || Sugar Spun Run

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!

Brown Butter Toffee Cookies, soft & chewy with sweet crunchy toffee pieces and a sprinkle of sea salt! || Sugar Spun Run

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.

Brown Butter Toffee Cookies, soft & chewy with sweet crunchy toffee pieces and a sprinkle of sea salt! || Sugar Spun Run

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.

Brown Butter Toffee Cookies, soft & chewy with sweet crunchy toffee pieces and a sprinkle of sea salt! || Sugar Spun Run
Hint: It should look like this when you’re done

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.

Brown Butter Toffee Cookies, soft & chewy with sweet crunchy toffee pieces and a sprinkle of sea salt! || Sugar Spun Run

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!).

Brown Butter Toffee Cookies, soft & chewy with sweet crunchy toffee pieces and a sprinkle of sea salt! || Sugar Spun Run

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

Brown Butter Toffee Cookies: soft & chewy with sweet crunchy toffee pieces and a sprinkle of sea salt! 
5 from 18 votes
Print Pin Rate
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 3 dozen
Calories: 135kcal
Author: Samantha Merritt

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

Calories: 135kcal
Tried this recipe?Mention @SugarSpun_Sam or tag #sugarspunrun!

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Comments

  1. Laure E says

    November 20, 2018 at 8:32 pm

    I am so excited to try these! I just tried making toffee for the first time and the mixture of butter and sugar separated. However the texture and flavor is still good enough to use in another way so I decided I needed to find a recipe to use the broken toffee. I can’t wait to make these cookies with my toffee!

    Reply
    • Sam says

      November 20, 2018 at 8:33 pm

      I hope you love them! ☺️

      Reply
  2. Julia says

    December 16, 2018 at 10:43 pm


    I just made these and man, they are AMAZING. Perfectly sweet and salty, chewy yet crispy, just great all around. I was worried because the dough was a bit crumbly but they came out perfect!

    Reply
    • Sam says

      December 16, 2018 at 11:05 pm

      I am so glad you enjoyed them, Julia! 🙂

      Reply
    • Melanie Bentley says

      December 17, 2018 at 12:49 pm


      i ate julia’s cookies and they are delish! i’m going to make some tonight!

      Reply
      • Sam says

        December 17, 2018 at 5:17 pm

        I am so glad you enjoyed them, Melanie! 🙂

        Reply
  3. Anna says

    December 18, 2018 at 6:25 am


    Omg!!! Just made these only I swapped the chocolate for just regular toffee & added almonds! My best friend is going to love these. I make him cookies & almond brittle for the holidays and this was like the best of both worlds!

    Reply
    • Sam says

      December 18, 2018 at 3:10 pm

      That sounds delicious, Anna! I am so glad you enjoyed them. 🙂

      Reply
  4. Rhiannon says

    December 22, 2018 at 5:02 pm

    Wanted almond flavoring so subbed 1/8c almond paste for 1/4c brown sugar. They came out really good! Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply
    • Sam says

      December 22, 2018 at 5:36 pm

      I am so glad you enjoyed them, Rhiannon! 🙂

      Reply
  5. Carla Masopust says

    December 27, 2018 at 10:43 am


    This is my go to cookie recipe base! I omit the toffee and replace with milk chocolate chips and I also add 1tsp of cinnamon to the dry ingredients (flour mixture). I bake for exactly 11 mins and they come out perfect!!

    Reply
    • Sam says

      December 27, 2018 at 5:20 pm

      I am so glad you enjoy them, Carla! 🙂

      Reply
  6. Debbie says

    February 1, 2019 at 5:14 pm

    Do you know if there’s a way to adapt them to bar cookies? They sound delicious, but I’m looking for bar format at the moment.

    Reply
    • Sam says

      February 1, 2019 at 8:03 pm

      Hi, Debbie! The recipe may actually work as is. I don’t know how long it would need to bake though. If you try it, let me know how it goes. 🙂

      Reply
  7. Cara says

    February 3, 2019 at 2:21 pm


    Just made these cookies. They are delicious! The browned butter gives a marvelous flavor. Wasn’t sure if I would like the salt on top, so tried half of the first sheet of cookies with turbinado sugar instead and Maldon sea salt on the remaining half. Everyone liked both, so I added a little of both to the remaining cookies. Everyone loves them! Will absolutely make again! Five stars!!!!!

    Reply
    • Sam says

      February 3, 2019 at 6:05 pm

      I am so glad everyone enjoyed them, Cara! 🙂

      Reply
  8. Debra says

    February 12, 2019 at 4:10 pm


    Love browned butter. These are good with other additions…I added chopped walnuts and white chocolate bits. The toffee keeps them real good and chewy, so I don’t think ill leave that out. Crab raisins would be good with the white chocolate. All I know is these are heaven!

    Reply
    • Sam says

      February 12, 2019 at 8:20 pm

      I am so glad you enjoyed them, Debra! 🙂

      Reply
  9. Karean says

    February 22, 2019 at 1:38 am


    I was craving a scratch cookie but didn’t want to wait to soften butter as needed for most. This recipe looked perfect for the moment. And indeed it was! What a great flavor, and so easy. Family says it’s their new favorite. For the last of the batch I thought I’d try adding chopped macadamia nuts and coconut …. that works, too, but the original recipe is amazing.

    Reply
    • Sam says

      February 22, 2019 at 1:44 pm

      I am so glad you enjoyed the cookies Karean! 🙂

      Reply
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Sam Sugar Spun Run 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.

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