These brown butter bourbon chocolate chip cookies are unique and oh so gourmet! They have a thick, chewy texture and are scooped large for a bakery-style look. A splash of bourbon, melty chopped chocolate, and flaky sea salt all take them over the top!
Chocolate Chip Cookies With Bourbon & Brown Butter
Nutty brown butter, warm bourbon, rich chocolate, and just a hint of sea salt–have I piqued your interest yet?! These brown butter bourbon chocolate chip cookies are the boozy cousin to my brown butter chocolate chip cookies and elevate a household staple (talking about the butter, not the bourbon 😉) into something extraordinary. If you are looking for a dessert that’s simple, familiar, but also a bit edgy and more interesting, you’ve officially found it!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- No chilling or mixer needed. Since we are starting with melted brown butter, the dough comes together easily without the need for a mixer. And while the dough doesn’t need to chill before baking (yay!), you will need to wait a *little* bit for the butter to cool down before you can move on to the next steps of the recipe.
- Unique and fun, but also crowd-pleasing. Similar to my black bottom cookies, these cookies stand out in a crowd and yet they are also incredibly crowd-pleasing. The bourbon is unexpected but fits in seamlessly, the nutty brown butter adds a familiar coziness, and the chocolate chip cookie base is something everyone can get behind!
- Gourmet taste & appearance, yet still very approachable. The sweet caramel and vanilla notes of bourbon pair beautifully with classic chocolate chip cookies. These cookies taste fancy enough to impress just about anyone, and with their sea salted, melty pools of chocolate, they look straight from a bakery. At the same time, they are still very easy to make without any complicated techniques, tools, or hard-to-find ingredients.
Jump to:
Ingredients
- Bourbon. Use your favorite! I’ve used the brand shown above as well as Jim Beam, but really any kind of bourbon that you enjoy drinking will work.
- Dark brown sugar. The deeper, more molasses-y flavor of dark brown sugar really pairs well with the caramel notes of the bourbon. If you don’t have dark brown sugar on hand but you do have granulated sugar and molasses, you can actually save a trip to the store and make it yourself, see my post on how to make brown sugar.
- Egg + egg yolk. Bourbon adds extra moisture to the dough, if we don’t accommodate for that, we’ll end up with cakey or even dry cookies (a problem with many pumpkin cookies). We account for the extra moisture by eliminating the second egg white and instead use just the egg yolk.
- Semi-sweet chocolate bar. While chocolate chips will work fine (you would want to use 1 ½ cups), I prefer a chopped chocolate bar for a more gourmet experience (just like in my double chocolate chunk cookies!). Dark chocolate would be excellent here too!
- Sea salt. The combo of salty and sweet just works well with the bourbon and brown butter flavors, don’t skip it.
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!
SAM’S TIP: Room temperature eggs will incorporate best. If you forget to set yours out ahead of time, follow my trick to quickly bring eggs to room temperature.
How to Make Them
Brown the Butter
Melt the butter over medium low heat in a light colored saucepan. Increase the heat to just above medium, and cook, stirring constantly, as the butter pops and foams. Once the popping and foaming slows down, keep a close eye as you look for browned milk solids forming on the bottom of the pan. Once you see quite a bit of browning happening (as shown above!), remove the pan from the heat to prevent any burning.
Pour the brown butter into a heatproof bowl and add your bourbon. I cannot overstate how incredibly important it is that you let the butter cool down (completely!) before adding your sugars; if you don’t you’ll be left with a greasy dough that spreads all over your baking pans.
Make the Dough
Once your butter has completely cooled (it doesn’t need to be re-solidified, but it shouldn’t be at all warm), stir in your sugars. Add the eggs and vanilla, then set this aside.
Whisk the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. Grab your butter mixture and gradually add the dry ingredients until everything is completely combined and the dough is cohesive. Fold in the chopped chocolate or chocolate chips.
Bake
Scoop the dough into large balls and roll them so they bake nice and uniform. Bake until the edges begin to turn a light golden brown.
Sprinkle the cookies with sea salt immediately after removing from the oven. They will be very fragile when warm, so let them cool completely on their baking sheet before enjoying.
SAM’S TIP: The longer these cookies sit, the better they taste. I actually like them even more the second day!
Frequently Asked Questions
The alcohol cooks out while baking, so there’s no chance that you’ll get a buzz from a cookie or two. Regardless; the bourbon is present and you will absolutely taste it. If you don’t like bourbon, make my brown butter chocolate chip cookies instead!
If your butter was still warm when you added the sugars, it can actually melt the sugars and cause a super runny, greasy dough. No amount of chilling can fix this, so it’s best to avoid it in the first place.
This can also happen if you add your dough to hot cookie sheets–never do this!
Yes! You can make this dough up to 3 days in advance. Be sure to cover the bowl tightly to prevent it from drying out, and just know that the dough will be quite hard to scoop after chilling that long (you’ll likely need to let it sit on your counter to soften before you can scoop it).
You can also freeze this cookie dough! To do this, follow the instructions in my post on how to freeze cookie dough.
More Brown Butter Recipes
Looking for more brown butter cookies? Try my brown butter snickerdoodles, brown butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, or brown butter toffee cookies!
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! Subscribe to my newsletter to be notified of all the newest recipes, and find my free recipe tutorials on YouTube 💜
Brown Butter Bourbon Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter cut into Tablespoon-sized pieces
- 3 Tablespoons bourbon
- 1 cup (200 g) dark brown sugar
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 1 egg + 1 egg yolk room temperature preferred
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 ¾ cups (340 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon table salt
- 6 oz (170 g) semi-sweet chocolate bar chopped
- Flaky sea salt for sprinkling
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Brown the butter. Place butter in medium-sized skillet and heat over medium/low heat until melted. Once melted, increase heat to just above medium and use a heatproof spatula to stir and swirl the butter constantly. Butter will begin to bubble, sputter, and pop. When the popping slows down you will see brown bits forming on the bottom of your pan. Once you see significant browning, remove from heat and pour into a heat-proof bowl.1 cup unsalted butter
- Add bourbon, stir, and set aside to cool until butter is no longer warm to the touch. As the butter cools, preheat oven to 350F (175C), line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.3 Tablespoons bourbon
- Once butter is cooled, add sugars and stir well.1 cup (200 g) dark brown sugar, ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- Add egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and stir to combine.1 egg + 1 egg yolk, 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.2 ¾ cups (340 g) all-purpose flour, 1 Tablespoon cornstarch, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ¾ teaspoon table salt
- Gradually add dry ingredients into the wet, stirring until completely combined.
- Add chopped chocolate and stir well.6 oz (170 g) semi-sweet chocolate bar
- Scoop dough into 2 Tablespoon sized scoops (86g) and place on prepared baking sheet, spacing cookies at least 2” (5cm) apart.
- Transfer to center rack of 350F preheated oven and bake for 10 minutes or until edges are beginning to turn light golden.
- Upon removing from oven, sprinkle lightly with flaky sea salt. Allow to cool completely on pan before enjoying!Flaky sea salt
Notes
Storing
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 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.
I originally pubished this recipe in June of 2015. I’ve since updated the recipe to improve upon it and have updated the photos and text of the post as well. If you are looking for the old recipe, you can find the original here.
Taylor
What size cookie scoop should I use for these?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Taylor! We use a ¼ cup scoop for this recipe 😊
Wanda Routzahn
So happy to find this recipe. I hope to mix up at least one batch in the next few days. I am going to add some toasted pecans that have been soaking in bourbon. I was going to substitute these for some of the chocolate. Do you think this will work? SO excited to try them.
Sam
Hi Wanda! The addition of bourbon soaked nuts sounds delicious! I would probably cut down the chocolate chips to 2 cups before adding nuts. 🙂
Suz
This recipe is incredible. On a practical note, I really appreciate that you put the ingredient measurements within each step of the directions–saves scrolling back and forth. I agree with other comments that it’s way easier to form dough balls before refrigeration. If you want a stronger bourbon flavor, I’ve increased it even to double the recipe amount without any noticeable problem with the dough.
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Suz! 🙂
Joel
Won a cookie contest with these tonight. I used four tablespoons of Wild Turkey 101 and one stick of salted butter with the two unsalted. I did half milk chocolate chips and half semi sweet. Don’t overdo it on the amount of chips. I made a few cookies with extra chips and the chocolate overpowered the batter, which is the star of the show here. In my oven they baked for 13 minutes and thirty seconds to be perfect. I made the dough balls before putting them in the fridge making the process much easier on day two. I used a wood spoon to press them down to make the tops flat.
Sam
That’s so awesome! I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Joel! 🙂
Michelle
Can you scoop them on parchment paper and then refrigerate them overnight before baking???
Sam
Hi Michelle! That will work. I would just make sure to cover them so the dough doesn’t dry out. 🙂
Stan
These are my most requested cookie recipe. There nothing like an upgraded version of a classic!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Stan! 🙂
Rachel Smalley
I just made these for my annual family beach trip . They were a huge hit, especially among a group of bourbon lovers. Browning the butter really made a difference to add unique and premium flavor.
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed them so much, Rachel! 🙂
AShleigh
These were very easy to make and taste good. Do you have a bourbon recommendation? I used Maker’s Mark and while I smelled it during making the dough after being in the fridge over night and baking I didn’t really smell or taste any. Or would adding a bit more make a difference? I don’t want an overpowering taste but I do want to be able to taste it.
Thank you!
Sam
Hi Ashleigh! I used Jim Beam when I made these. The flavor isn’t going to be strong and overpowering. It is simply going to add an extra depth of flavor here. 🙂
Jennifer
Hi, I’m wondering if I can freeze this dough for a few days before cooking?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Jennifer! If you wish to freeze the dough, I would reccomend rolling the dough into balls prior to freezing. To avoid sticking, I usually will layer the cookie dough balls in between layers of wax paper before storing it in the freezer. I hope that helps! 🙂
David
Thanks for the recipe! I did the 3x tablespoons of bourbon per the recipe and added 2 more shots of 86 proof Old Barton. I didn’t read part two of the instructions and needed the dough for a solid 20 minutes and then used my gelato scoon. Baked for 11 and 11.45 minutes @ 350 and perfect. Made 14 big cookies. Party of 1 that loves bourbon and experimented perfectly for a new adventure! Pure heaven….
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed the cookies, David! 🙂
Allison
I keep forgetting to rate these, but I have made this recipe dozens of times. They are incredible each time I have made them – I don’t know if I can return to chocolate chip cookies without browned butter and bourbon again. Letting the dough chill overnight has yielded the tastiest results for me, and like you said they are even better the next day. Thanks for sharing my ultimate favorite cookie recipe!
Sam
I appreciate any comments, Allison! I’m glad you enjoyed the cookies. 🙂
Kimberly Newman
Love your recipes! I have a quick question does using cornstarch stoped the cookies from spreading?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Kimberly! Thank you for being a fan of my recipes. I am so glad that you enjoy them! Cornstarch, when combined with flour, softens the flour leading to a more tender cookie. 🙂
Jackie
How many cookie does this make?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Jackie! I used an ice cream scoop and ended up with about 46 cookies, give or take a few. I did eat some dough (I couldn’t resist). 🙂
AKJ
I have eaten these cookies and they are AWESOME!!!! I am going to make some for a Christmas party. Can’t go wrong with this one.
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much! I am so glad that you enjoyed the cookies. I hope everyone enjoys them at your Christmas party as well. Happy Holidays. 🙂
Nikita
Made these quite a few times, and they get better every time. I used Knobb Creek Smoked Maple Bourbon Whiskeyand that gave it an amazing flavor: 3 times I chilled the dough over night, but last night I sent the cookies from the mixer straight to the oven and I highly recommend. They are far easier to scoop, and you get to enjoy a lot sooner. Other than that, expect to get a ton of compliments when giving to others to enjoy. My friends and family request I make these cookies all the time.
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoy the cookies, Nikita! I am glad they are a crowd-pleaser. Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Nikita
Thanks for sharing the recipe, absolutely brilliant!
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much, Nikita! I am so glad that you enjoyed it! 🙂