Thick, buttery-soft, and generously portioned, these bakery style cookies are infused with a faint hint of warm bourbon. These browned butter and bourbon cookies are a deliciously unique twist on the classic chocolate chip cookie.
Finally, after many days and nights of threatening to do so, the summer storms have begun to break and they’re doing so with a vengeance. The grounds are soggy, the winds borderline blustery and the skies perpetually muddied with dismally-shaded clouds.
I don’t believe I’m alone in thinking that there’s something wickedly beautiful about these storms and their abrupt, dark arrivals, their capacity for uprooting trees and snuffing out electricity. Thunderstorms are intoxicating in a most villainous way — is there anything more entrancing than lightning lash down from the sky with sinister elegance, or the rumbling percussion of thunder roiling in the distance?
To me, these sights and sounds are the perfect soundtrack and inspiration for a baking spree, and as the most recent storms rolled in I sought refuge in the kitchen, tucked away comfortably and cozily between my KitchenAid and the stove. These cookies then came to life out of a desire for a paradoxical treat: a complexity of flavors veiled by a shell of simplicity (and what could appear more simple and domestic than a chocolate chip cookie?).
Despite their appearance, these gigantic cookies are much, much, more than your standard chocolate chip cookie. They are made with perfectly browned butter, an un-apologetically high proportion of brown to white sugars, and a hearty swig of bourbon.
Browning butter is one of the best baking tricks to have up your sleeve (learn exactly how to brown butter, step-by-step), and using it in your cooking can bring your desserts to an entirely new level of decadence. The very act simply must be good for the soul: there is possibly nothing more cozy and wholesome than warming butter over a gas flame and listening to it sizzle and pop, permeating the kitchen with a toasty, nutty aroma while a cacophony of raindrops pelts the windowpanes.
The bourbon, though integral to this recipe, is definitely not an overwhelming feature. While the addition is important and worthwhile, it serves more to accent the flavors of the butter and the cookie as a whole, a subtle contributor to the final product. They do not taste alcoholic (and they’re really not as the alcohol cooks out while baking) but the bourbon is important for a truly exquisite cookie.
Though not very difficult to make, these cookies require patience. The browned butter must cool for at least an hour and a half before you can mix it in with the sugars, and once the dough is made it should chill overnight for the absolutely best flavor. As if the wait isn’t enough, the dough is also challenging: large spoonfuls need to be wrested out of the solidified dough, and I usually resort to carving thick chunks out with a knife and pressing them into an ice cream scoop to form the desired, round shape.
Also, while I usually strongly argue that cookies are best enjoyed immediately out of the oven, gooey and as fresh as possible, that is not the case here. The longer these cookies sit and cool, the better their flavor (I actually prefer eating them the next day rather than the same day that they are made, but then again that requires more patience, which I am in short-supply of).
Browned Butter & Bourbon Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 sticks (345 g) unsalted sweet cream butter
- 1 ¾ cup (350 g) light brown sugar packed
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 3 Tbsp (45 ml) bourbon
- 2 tsp (10 ml) pure vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs + 1 egg yolk
- 4 cups (500 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp (8.5 g) cornstarch
- 1 ½ tsp (6 g) baking soda
- ¾ tsp (3 g) salt
- 2 ½ cups (425 g) chocolate chips/chunks I used a combination of half mini chips and half chopped premium dark chocolate
Instructions
- Place the butter in a saucepan and melt over low heat. Increase heat to medium (do not leave your butter or it will burn) and swirl occasionally as the butter snaps and crackles.3 sticks (345 g) unsalted sweet cream butter
- Let the butter snap and pop (while stirring occasionally) and once this begins to slow, begin to stir and don't stop. The butte will be foamy so it will be difficult to tell once it has begun to brown, but once you begin to smell the unmistakably nutty aroma of browned butter, remove from heat (still stirring continuously) and pour into a heat-proof container. (If you accidentally burn the butter, which you will know if you did, it will smell burnt, then do not use it or you will have burnt-tasting cookies).
- Allow butter to cool for at least an hour and a half before proceeding.
- Once butter has cooled, combine in KitchenAid (or with hand-mixer) with sugars, beating on medium-speed until well combined.1 ¾ cup (350 g) light brown sugar, ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- Add eggs and egg yolk, one at a time, pausing to scrape down the sides and then beating well after each addition.2 large eggs + 1 egg yolk
- Add bourbon and vanilla. Stir.3 Tbsp (45 ml) bourbon, 2 tsp (10 ml) pure vanilla extract
- In separate bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt.4 cups (500 g) all-purpose flour, 2 tsp (8.5 g) cornstarch, 1 ½ tsp (6 g) baking soda, ¾ tsp (3 g) salt
- Gradually (with mixer on low-medium speed) add flour mixture to butter mixture, pausing periodically to scrape down sides of bowl.
- Stir in chocolate chips/chunks, transfer to container with a lid and refrigerate overnight.2 ½ cups (425 g) chocolate chips/chunks
- Once dough has refrigerated, preheat oven to 350F (177C) and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Scoop dough either into ice cream scoop or into ¼ sized measuring cup and drop onto prepared cookie sheets (the dough is difficult to work with, I have to scoop out smaller pieces of dough at a time and press them into my ice cream scoop into a cohesive ball and then drop them onto the cookie sheet. Press down gently on the balls to flatten slightly.
- Bake 10-12 minutes.
- Remove and allow to cool completely at least 10 minutes on cookie sheet before transferring 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.
Theresa Weisbrod
Hi Sam! I just found your website while searching for a recipe for browned butter bourbon chocolate chip cookies and can’t wait to make them. I also noticed the beautiful tiny green plates that you have the cookies stacked on and since I’m a bit of a plate collector ( hoarder!!) I was wondering if you could tell me where you got them or the name of them?
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much, Theresa! I actually got the plates years ago at a thrift shop. All the green one says is “California Pantry” on the bottom and the green and white one says “Royal China” on the bottom if that helps. 🙂
Carol T
Delicious! I divided the batch and drizzled half of them with a quick bourbon glaze (bourbon, confectioners sugar, a little heavy cream and a little orange zest – just threw it together, so all by taste). The unglazed ones were a hit with everybody – the bourbon is very subtle – not a boozy cookie. And the glazed ones were over the top favorites for the bourbon lovers. First time I’ve baked with browned butter and WOW do I love that flavor! I bake cookies a lot, and by popular demand these are going into my permanent rotation!!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed the cookies, Carol! The browned butter really adds an incredible depth of flavor. 🙂
Andi
I just made the cookies and used 1/4 cup scoop. The yield was 2 dozen cookies. I scooped them into parchment paper lined pans and chilled. I plan to bake them tomorrow. Is this correct, or should I make smaller cookies tomorrow.
Sam
Hi Andi, you can make them whatever size you would like but I usually do 1/4 cup. Enjoy 🙂
Alaina
Hi Sam! I almost never make comments but these cookies were so delicious I felt like I had to! I’ve never used brown butter before but they really did bring my cookies to a whole new level. I’ve only made them one time but I am definitely going to try them again. I think I put too much chocolate chips in mine because I noticed that in the cookies with less chocolate, I could taste the dough and slight hint of bourbon much better. In the future, if I want to make the bourbon flavor stand out more, how much more bourbon do you think I could add to the cookie dough without it overpowering the overall flavor of the cookie?
I will definitely be trying more of you recipes in the future! I am currently eyeing your White Cake(:
Sam
Hi Alaina! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed the cookies! It’s tough to say about the bourbon without trying it in a greater amount because increasing the liquid can have an adverse affect on the outcome of the cookies (too much could make them too cakey or spread too much etc.). I think I’d recommend swapping out regular vanilla extract for one that’s been made with bourbon (if you can get your hands on some, Nielsen Massey sells a Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla extract) but other than that it will honestly just have to be trial and error. I wouldn’t recommend trying more than an additional Tablespoon of bourbon for starters. I’m sorry I can’t be more helpful with exact measurements!
David
Or….Jim Beam makes a vanilla flavored bourbon…which is what I used.
Shawn
How many servings does this recipe yield? Those cookies look amazing! I’d love to make these for a party soon.
Sam
Hi, Shawn! Sorry for the delayed response. This should make about 3 dozen cookies. 🙂
frances
Hello, I wanted to ask… I am hoping to make one of your recipes for work (it’s potluck time): The Smo’re Cookies Recipe or this Brown Butter and Bourbon cookie recipe! Is it possible that I use this brown butter cookie recipe as a base and make it into a smore’s cookie (adding marshmellows and hershey bars) or do you recommend utilizing the smores cookie recipe instead?
Please let me know
thank you!!
Sam
Hi, Frances! You can add the marshmallows and chocolate bars to the Browned Butter & Bourbon Cookies. The s’mores cookies actually have graham cracker crumbs in them for an even different flavor. Either one will work. Enjoy! 🙂
Krystal
How many cookies does the recipe yield?
Alaina
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) and it was hard to keep track when my brothers would run through the kitchen and snatch them up as they came out of the oven!
Sunshine
Oh my gosh. These were UNBELIEVABLY GOOD.
My boyfriend isn’t a huge fan of sweets, so it really made me grin when his eyes got really wide after he tried one and he immediately rushed back into the kitchen to grab three more.
Sam
Yay! So glad to hear they were such a hit!! 🙂
Michael Harman
I know this is a couple years old now, but thought I’d comment.
First, cookies are a big part of Christmas for me, growing up we always made a lot of cookies to give as gifts to teachers and friends. The best part was that it was a good amount of time we got to spend with my dad who worked a lot to keep the roof over our heads. So I’m always excited when Thanksgiving is over so I can get started on cookie baking for the season.
Anyway, I had a bag of cinnamon chips and the recipe on the back of the bag just seemed kinda boring. So I did some research (I searched Google for ‘what goes with cinnamon’) and found a lot of recipes (mostly drinks) that combined cinnamon with bourbon. I’m always up for cooking/baking with booze. Did some more research (I Googled ‘bourbon cookie recipes’) and this recipe was one of the first results that came up. The way you described it was what I was looking for (soft cookies for the win!) so I decided I’d follow your recipe, just substituting cinnamon chips for the chocolate chips/chunks.
They were delicious and were a huge hit at both my work and my wife’s (did get some complaints that the alcohol bakes out but you can’t please everyone). I made them a good bit smaller than recommended, but they came out great at the minimum baking time. Really didn’t have any problems working with the refrigerated dough.
So I wanted to say thanks for a great recipe!
(Hope this doesn’t double-post)
Sam
I’m so glad to hear that they were such a hit! The cinnamon chips in the dough actually sounds amazing, I am going to have to try that out for myself. Thank you for making my recipe a part of your Christmas cookie baking tradition and for coming back to let me know how they turned out for you, I really appreciate it! Happy baking! 🙂
Grace
This was posted a year ago so I don’t know if you’ll see this, but… Would it be possible to scoop out the portions to bake BEFORE the overnight refrigeration, while the dough is still soft, or would that interfere with the purpose of that step? (I’m not a baker so I wouldn’t want to risk the disaster of a clever mis-step–!)
Sam
Hi Grace! I actually think that is a great idea, it’ll make it much easier and won’t interfere with anything. I think I’ll update the recipe to suggest just that, too. Thanks, and I hope you love the cookies!
Grace
An acceptable baking idea… from me?! Better make a whole batch and eat them all first to test it! *ka*wink!*
Sam
Haha! You need your own blog now, Grace! 😉
I really hope you love the cookies!
marcie
I love this spin on chocolate chip cookies — these look everything but ordinary, and I LOVE brown butter!
Sam
Thank you Marcie! 🙂
Chella
A classic and great twist to the chocolate chip cookie and it is definitely worth trying! And btw, ‘love the plates too..
Sam
Thanks Chella! 🙂
Hannah | The Swirling Spoon
These cookies look pretty much to die for! They look so chewy and have spreaded so perfectly! I love summer storms, as long as I’m inside for them and get to watch from behind a window 😛
Harriet Emily
*mouth drools* These have to be the best cookies I’ve ever seen! Omg. They are so stunning!! I am such a cookie lover, I can barely go a day without one. I neeeeeeed to make these! Yum!!!
Sam
Haha, thank you Harriet! If you try them out let me know how you like them!
Beeta @ Mon Petit Four
Sam, these look incredible!! I love how chewy they look, which doesn’t surprise me since you used lots of brown sugar and cornstarch – perfection! I also love that you browned your butter…I can imagine how flavorful and life-changing these cookies are! <3
Sam
Thank you Beeta! 🙂