Browned butter and brown sugar caramelly goodness, crispy edges, barely thick and soft centers, and melty little puddles of chocolate chips.
Favorite Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Featured comment
These are amazing!!! I’ve been on the hunt for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe and this is it. I increased the bake time a bit because I like my cookies a little less on the chewy side and they turned out delicious. New go-to recipe!
karida
This recipe is an all-time POY fan-favorite and was originally published in 2022 as part of our February Fun Series! View the full series.
Browned butter and brown sugar caramelly goodness, crispy edges, barely thick and soft centers, melty little puddles of chocolate chips and sprinkles of just enough salt to cut the sweetness and make you feel like you could probably eat 5 of them.
My first favorite thing about these browned butter chocolate chip cookies is that they combine the best of both the thin-cookie and thick-cookie worlds with that satisfying little crunch around the edge AND underbaked centers that are thick enough to really sink your teeth into. Best. Of. Both. Worlds.
My second favorite thing about these cookies is that they also just shine, and I mean really shine, with rich, deep, caramelly flavor thanks to a whole lot of browned butter.
In This Post: Everything You Need For These Cookies
- VIDEO for how to make
- Ingredients you’ll need
- How to make this recipe
- Comparison to our original chocolate chip cookies
- FAQ about this recipe
Watch How To Make This Recipe:
Click Here to See the Step-by-Step Web Story Instructions for This Recipe!
Ingredients For These Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
To make these beautiful, nutty, crispy-edged gems happen, you’ll have to gather up the usual chocolate chip cookie party guest list. It’s just going to be a slightly fancier party this time!
- unsalted butter
- granulated sugar & brown sugar
- vanilla extract
- eggs
- all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt
- chocolate chips or chocolate chunks (I love dark chocolate here)
- parchment paper
How To Make Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
As mentioned, these are a little more involved. They require some tending to butter, some chill times, some extra willpower to not eat ALL the dough before baking. But beyond that, truly not too overly complicated.
- Brown the butter. Cut the butter into small pieces for even melting. Swirl in a pan over medium heat. It will get bubbly and then foamy – once the butter starts to turn golden brown (happens quickly!), remove from heat and transfer to a bowl to cool for a bit.
- Make the dough. You’ll get the cooled brown butter (make sure to scrape in all those golden brown bits!) and sugars going first. Then eggs and dry ingredients to that. Hold off on those chocolate chips!
- Let the dough rest! It will need to cool for a bit before you add the chocolate chips so they don’t melt. Once it’s fully cooled, add your choco chips and let the dough rest again to fully hydrate the flour and let that browned butter work its flavor magic.
- Scoop and bake! You know the drill. Edges cooked, middle a little soft and puffy.
- (Okay, let rest one more time 😬). Don’t be mad. But it lets those middles sink and get super dense and barely thick and everything is perfectly chewy-crisp. What a dream.
Browned Butter Vs. Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies
We have a lot of cookies on Pinch of Yum, but two of them (these brand new browned butter ones, and the original best soft chocolate chip cookies) are easily tied for being the best.
I feel it is my civic duty to give you a full breakdown cookie breakdown on each of these recipes and what makes each of them awesome in their own ways.
- Browned butter chocolate chip cookies (these ones you’re looking at now): These cookies are a work of art. They have complex, rich flavor. They have more of that crispy-meets-soft-and-yummy texture. They are grown-up and almost-fancy. There is more effort required. And the reward is that there is more nuance to both the flavor and the texture. Making them is not overly complicated but it’s also not mindless. These are the cookies for when you need to impress, even if the only person you’re impressing is yourself on a Wednesday night. I feel this is a good time to let you know that this particular cookie dough tastes amazing. AMAZING. Next level. It’s where the browned butter flavor comes through the most. I’m not recommending eating raw cookie dough, I’m just saying, alright?
- Best soft chocolate chip cookies (the original POY fave): These cookies are unfussy and uncomplicated. No fancy steps, no unusual ingredients, no chill time – just a small batch of chocolate chip cookies underbaked to soft, thick perfection. If I need a quick batch of cookies for friends coming over in an hour, these are the ones I’m making. They have less nuanced flavor than the browned butter cookies, and they’d be less likely to win a high-level baking contest, but depending on the moment, maybe that doesn’t matter. I made these recently and gave a few to our nanny and she texted me later that night to say they were the best cookies she’s ever had. Sometimes basic is best.
If I had to pick between the two… I wouldn’t!
I like them both at full 100% liking capacity, for different reasons. I like to have a cookie for each mood, know what I mean?
But since today is the day we’re sharing these browned butter beauties out into the world, today will be the day I say… make these ones.
The originals will still be there for you when you need them. Today is a day to go brown some butter and then experience the rush of sinking your teeth into that crispity edge with the underbaked, slightly thick, gooey, rich center. Treat. Your. Self.
Buttery, caramelly, salty, and chocolatey all in one.
You’re in for a real moment here.
Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies: Frequently Asked Questions
My cookies turned out extra thick. Why?
This is because of the flour. It’s really important to get the right amount of flour here, which is why I’m going to recommend that you take the time to spoon your flour into your measuring cups and level them with a knife. That is not something I typically recommend because I don’t have the patience for it – but here, it really does matter! An over-floured cookie will be too thick and won’t get the crispy edge. Watch the video to see the consistency of the dough that we’re going for – I find that it’s easier to go by the feel than by exact measurements since there are so many variables that can affect how much flour you’ll need. If you’re weighing your flour and making the recipe as-is without any scaling, we’ve found that 335 grams of flour works best.
I measured my butter, but I ended up with less after I browned it. Why?
If you brown the butter for longer than 5 minutes, it’ll start to lose moisture which will affect your butter / flour ratios. I like to transfer my butter to a glass measuring cup after I brown it to make sure I still have very close to 1 cup of butter. If you have less, it’s fine, they’ll still turn out, you just want to scale back on the flour by 1-2 tablespoons if you lost a little of that moisture.
I see little flecks of brown in my butter. Is that normal?
Yes! The browned butter will have flecks of brown in it – those are the browned milk solids and they hold all the yummy flavor, so be sure to really scrape your pan down so you get to use all of them!
How can I store the dough in the fridge or freezer?
This makes a very large batch of cookies! If you don’t need all of the cookies at once, here’s what I recommend: split the dough into thirds. One third of it should fit onto one large cookie sheet, so you can bake that immediately. Then store the other two thirds in their own containers and either refrigerate (up to 5 days) or freeze (up to three months) and you’ve got two more fresh batches sometime in the future! You can also freeze the rolled balls or the baked cookies, both with great results.
Do I need to make any changes to this recipe if I live at a high altitude?
From a reader: “Due to altitude, I typically add extra flour to get the correct thickness, so for this recipe, I anticipated needing to add about 3-4T extra flour. My browned butter measured about 2 tablespoons shy of 1 cup in liquid form, and I ended up needing to add almost 1/2 cup extra flour and refrigerated as instructed.”
What does browned butter do to cookies? (Is it really worth it!?)
Browned butter has a sweet and savory flavor, almost like toffee, which makes these cookies rich, delicious, and a little caramelly!
How do you know when your browned butter is done?
The whole process should only take about 5 minutes. You’ll see the butter start to turn golden brown very quickly, and you’ll be able to smell it (yum). When it is a nice golden brown color, remove from heat and transfer it to a cool bowl or glass measuring cup. This last part is key – if you keep it in the pan after it’s perfectly browned, it will start to burn.
Source notes: I was first inspired to make this type of fancier chocolate chip cookie by the browned butter cookie recipe in Sarah Kieffer’s book 100 Cookies (affiliate link), which, by the way, is a super fun cookbook for people who love to bake! This was the tutorial I used for learning how to properly brown butter from America’s Test Kitchen, and I also read up quite extensively through the comments section of this Bon Appetit recipe for tips from people who love making cookies with brown butter!
Print
Favorite Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 25–30 cookies 1x
Description
Favorite Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies! Browned butter and brown sugar caramelly goodness, crispy edges, barely thick and soft centers, and melty little puddles of chocolate chips.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 2 1/2 cups + 2 tablespoons flour (see the FAQs above for notes on spooning the flour and flour amounts)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips or chocolate chunks
Instructions
- Brown the butter: Cut the butter into small pieces for even melting. Melt the butter in a wide stainless steel skillet over medium heat. Swirl the pan a few times as the butter melts. It will get bubbly and then foamy – use a heat-proof spatula to scrape the butter across the bottom of the pan to prevent burning. You’ll see the butter start to turn golden brown very quickly, and you’ll be able to smell it (yum). When it is a nice golden brown color, remove from heat and transfer to a cool bowl or glass measuring cup, being careful not to burn it. The whole process should take about 5 minutes. Let the butter cool for another 5-10 minutes while you measure and prep everything else.
- Add the butter, sugars, and vanilla to the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium high speed for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the eggs and beat for 1-2 minutes until shiny and smooth.
- Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix until just combined into a dense, shiny dough. Let the dough cool for 15-20 minutes (if you add the chocolate chips now, they will melt).
- Mix in the chocolate chips or chunks (sometimes it helps to do this by hand). Let the dough rest for another 20-30 minutes. This helps hydrate the flour and carry the browned butter flavor farther in the cookies.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Roll or scoop your cookie dough into 3-tablespoon balls onto a baking sheet. Bake for 9 minutes, until the edges look cooked but the middles are still slightly soft and puffy.
- Remove from the oven and let the cookies rest for 15-20 minutes. I KNOW I KNOW I KNOW this is very hard. But as they rest, the middles are going to sink down and kind of densify the middle, so you get that crispy exterior with the barely-thick, underbaked center.
Equipment
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- Prep Time: 50 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: chocolate chip cookies, browned butter cookies, browned butter chocolate chip cookies, easy cookie recipe
We tested these cookies many times to figure out what worked and didn’t work to get them turning out just right! (Oh, the sacrifice! Ha!) Leave us a comment and let us know if there’s a question we can answer!
More Cookie Recipes We Love
- The Best Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies (the original cookie and most popular recipe on POY!)
- Strawberry White Chocolate Cookies (like a chocolate-dipped strawberry in cookie form)
- The Very Best Chocolate Cookies (dark chocolate, cardamom, crunchy sugar, all the good things)
- Soft Gingerbread Cookies (that maple glaze! seriously delicious)
- Big Soft M&M Cookies (another cookie classic!)
March 13, 2023
Nice to meet you!
I’m Lindsay and I ♡ FOOD. I used to be a teacher, and now making food and writing about it online is my full-time job. I love talking with people about food, and I'm so glad you're here.
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1/2 recipe has WAY WAY too much flower, had to add another egg to get “dough” consistency, turned out SEMI OK
These were amazing!!
The recipe is good when made as written. The cookies are tasty, the instructions are easy to follow, and the descriptions are accurate. After making the first tray of cookies, I discovered that I don’t care for the underbaked centers. I also prefer my cookies slightly smaller (2 tablespoons instead of 3). After making one tray, I formed all the remaining dough into balls and refrigerated them until the next day. I doubled the cooking time and the remaining cookies turned out exactly how I like them.
How long can I store these on the counter in an airtight container?
They’re best after 2-3 days before they start drying out a bit!
These were perfect! I was tempted to skip the resting but I’m glad I didn’t. The brown butter flavor is terrific.
These were amazing. The only change I made was using salted butter — perhaps this is why I don’t feel that they’re too sweet like some of the other reviews. I also used a standard cookie scoop rather than the “3-tablespoon balls.” Those would be massive. I think it must be a typo.
This is my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe and I bake a lot! I’m surprised to see any negative reviews on this recipe, but with a classic cookie like this people all have their own preferences 🙂 If you have a sweet tooth like me, like the nutty flavor of brown butter, and prefer a softy chewy cookie, I think you will love this. I like to use dark chocolate chips and a little more salt than the recipe, that’s just my preference 🙂
I had high hopes because last time I used a brown butter cookie recipe from tiktok and it turned out absolutely amazing! Instead, this recipe tasted so so so sweet. The only flavour I could take from it was sugar. Disappointed… Maybe next time I’ll use less than those two cups.
I’ve made this recipe twice and they came out amazing both times. You must refrigerate your dough or they cookies will spread like butter. I refrigerate my dough for an hour before baking. I also let my brown butter cool to room temperature before adding my sugars
This recipe is delicious. The cookies I get from it are absolutely perfect. I think the level of sweetness is just right, but I am a sweet tooth lol.
These cookies are lovely, however they are a bit too sweet in my opinion. I made the cookies with 1/8 cup less white sugar and brown sugar and it helped on my 2nd batch. One more con is these cookies seem dry even with fluffing and spooning the flour and not adding the additional 2 tbsp. So add the flour slowly and don’t add more than needed to get it to start pulling from the edges of the bowl and forming up. Well done!
After I found this recipe, I’ve been making it all year! I think I’ve finally perfected it. You have to make sure you beat or cream the butter mixture really well, add the vanilla with the sugars, then add the egg last before the dry ingredients (don’t stir it hard, half circles)
perfection!
(I have pics but I can’t find where to add them)
Also, even though you’ve already measured and mixed the dry ingredients, you only need enough for the dough to pull away from the bowl (cleans sides). You made not need all of it (even though you mixed it) or your cookies will come out too thick
I’m sorry but baking powder doesn’t belong in cc cookies and ruined these in my opinion. Wish I would’ve tried a different recipe 😫
What you need is good baking powder. Something without aluminum in it. I recommend Rumford brand.
1 star for sneakiness. Only let’s you post if 5 stars. I bake a lot and there is very little chance this recipe makes the cookie shown. Flavor is overly sweet. I added some salt on top and flattened a batch to see of that improves it.
I bake a lot and there is very little chance this recipe makes the cookie shown. Flavor is overly sweet. I added some salt on top and flattened a batch to see of that improves it.
These are the most amazing chocolate chip cookies. I have made them on repeat for several years and can’t imagine a better alternative. I follow the recipe to a T and wouldn’t change a thing.
for those of you with an issue with thickness/flour measurements, you may be measuring your flour wrong!
to measure your flour correctly, first “fluff” the flour with a spoon or fork, then gently spoon into the measuring cup, and level off with a knife. DO NOT PACK YOUR FLOUR!!! packing the flour is why you might be having an issue. (you do need to pack your brown sugar, though).
anyways, amazing recipe, i loved it!
also you only need as much flour as the mix needs to start to clean or pull away from the bowl, even though you’ve already measured and mixed the dry ingredients
DELICIOUS
I think the amount of flour on this recipe is wrong. I’ve tried to make it 4 times now and every time the dough comes out WAY too thick and crumbly, the choc chunks won’t even stay in the dough. Also- 9 minutes is NOT long enough for cooking these cookies. They came out completely raw still.
I have literally never commented on a blog recipe in my entire life but I had to come to this comments section to let you know these are the best cookies I’ve ever had in my entire life
This is hands down the best cookie recipe! They tasted amazing and got a ton of complements. The recipe was very easy to follow and the video demonstrations were very very helpful.
Fabulous cookies, they are easy and absolutely delicious. I had to use whole wheat flour cause I ran out of ap flour it tasted the same though. If your not sure if you want to make them I totally recommend that you do. I will use this recipe again.
I LOVE this recipe! I’ve been searching for a perfect browned butter chocolate chip cookie and, after over a year of searching, I’ve found the best one here. Definitely recommend. They have got the most gorgeous flavor. Not an overly complicated recipe. Just delightful!
Delicious! Would recommend pre-measuring/rolling into balls then resting in the fridge for the second “rest”. And cook closer to 12 minutes. I think this will help keep them thick – without the fridge they spread and got pretty thin.
I do not own a stainless steel frying pan. What else can I use ?
I followed this recipe to a T and the cookies came out with the most doughey and cake-like consistency I’ve ever tasted. Extremely disappointed.