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 (200 g) brown sugar (light or dark is fine, I like to use a blend of the two)
- ⅔ cup (135 g) white sugar
- 2 eggs room temperature preferred
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ¾ cups (350 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch cornflour in UK
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (170 g) milk chocolate toffee pieces (Like Heath Milk Chocolate Toffee Pieces)
- sea salt for sprinkling on top of the cookies (fine or coarse, your preference)
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.1 cup unsalted butter
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.1 cup (200 g) brown sugar, ⅔ cup (135 g) white sugar
- Stir in eggs, one at a time, stirring well after each addition.2 eggs
- Add vanilla extract and stir.1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt.2 ¾ cups (350 g) all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ¾ teaspoon 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.1 cup (170 g) milk chocolate toffee pieces
- Drop by heaping, rounded 1 ½ 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.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
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.
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Alexa
I just baked these and they are fantastic! I’ve been looking for a toffee cookie recipe *specifically* with brown butter because of how well I thought it would pair with the toffee and this recipe did not disappoint! I prefer toffee cookies without chocolate, so I used the toffee bits-only bag by Heath but this recipe is definitely a keeper!
Sam
Hi Alexa! I am so glad you enjoyed them! They are definitely one of my favorites! 😃
Laura
Great flavor! Mine came out a little flat and I’m wondering if I’d scooped then chilled them if they’d be thicker? I cooled the browned butter 40 minutes.
Sam
Hi Laura, scooping and chilling should definitely help. 😃
Kels
Delicious flavor and so yummy the same day I made it. The next day I went to have a cookie with my tea and they were rock hard. It was so hard and not pleasant to eat. Great flavor but not texture.
Sam
Yikes! These usually stay nice and soft for me so I’m hoping to help troubleshoot. How were they stored? By any chance were they over-baked? That would make them hard once they cooled. Disappointed they didn’t stay soft for you
Danielle
They turned out great w gluten free flour, too! Wow!!!!
Tasia
Just made these cookies and WOW!!! I can’t stop eating them; this is going to be a problem!! They are just so so yummy. Brown butter is key. Love the good amount of brown sugar as well. Great recipe, thanks for sharing!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much! They are one of my favorites, too!
Kendyl
I just made this recipe for the second time and, once again, they came out perfectly! I think these might be my favorite cookies ever. If anyone out there is recipe-shopping, stop browsing and make these. 😉 You will not be disappointed!
Sam
So glad to hear they were such a hit!!! 😀
Myisha
WOW! I had leftover toffee bits from making a mocha toffee ice cream dessert for thanksgiving; i told my mother i would make cookies with leftover. I was originally going to sub the toffee in my chocolate chip cookie recipe, but i wanted a different complex buttery taste…i found your recipe, and immediatly could tell it was going to be exactly what imagined tasting! So yummy we can’t stop eating them right from oven! ( i used a sil pat mat)
Sam
I’m glad you enjoyed the cookies so much, Myisha! they are one of my favorites, too! 🙂
Michelle
Looking forward to baking these! Quick question … can I use a Kitchenaid mixmaster? Or do I need to stir with a wooden spoon?
Sam
For the browned butter or the cookie dough? You can use a KitchenAid for the dough 🙂
THERESA WADE
Just made a batch to share with teacher friends for making it through another week and OMG. I just hope I can save enough to bring in tomorrow morning. These are delicious!
Stacey
Outstanding cookie! A must try for everyone. This recipe is perfect.
Sam
I’m so glad that you enjoyed it, Stacey! Thank you!! 🙂
Betty J Hattan
Absolutely the best cookie I ever baked…..and ate. Everyone has asks for the receipe that tastes them. My son took 3 dozen to a football game party…..six people only and they were all gone by the time the party was over.
Sam
I’m so happy to hear this, thank you for commenting, Betty!! 🙂 <3
kelly
I made these for a Super Bowl party. They are amazing and wonderful flavor. I had never browned butter before and wanted to try it. Super easy and your instructions were very helpful. This is a great recipe and the cookies are amazing. Thank you for another awesome cookie recipe!
Sam
I’m so glad that you enjoyed them, Kelly! They’re definitely near the top of my Favorites list! 🙂
Kitty
I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who can taste fake flavors. I hone right in on those off, overly buttery, sweet additives. But this scratch cookie looks off- the-hook delicious!
Sam
Thank you so much, Kitty!
Joanne
I love brown butter too, and these cookies look so good! My hubby will devour them!
Sam
I hope both of you LOVE them, Joanne!! Thank you for commenting! 🙂
Chelsea
Brown butter is my favorite thing on the whole planet! These cookies are AMAZING!!!
Sam
Thank you so much, Chelsea!!