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Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies come together in the time it takes to preheat the oven. Chewy on the inside and crispy on the edges, brown butter chocolate chip cookies have massive chocolate puddles, and these no mixer, no chill time cookies will become your new favorite!
Hi hi! Just popping in to share the recipe for these brown butter chocolate chip cookies! These are a thin and chewy version of my favourite small batch chocolate chip cookies. They spread out a little more, and require no chill time. These brown butter cookies are crisp around the edges and still chewy in the middle - I love them so, so much.
I developed this chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe we left NYC last year and have made them a few times over the last few weeks just for scientific purposes, and they are a current favourite in the house. You really can't beat a homemade chocolate chip cookie. If you wanted to turn these into a cookie bar, my chocolate chip cookie bars are exactly that!
- What is Brown Butter?
- Ingredients in Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- How to make Thin and Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies
- The best chocolate to use for chocolate chip cookies
- Frequently Asked Questions
What is Brown Butter?
Brown butter is butter that has been heated to a point where the moisture evaporates and the milk solids brown. It has a delicious toasty flavour, which adds an amazing depth to brown butter chocolate chip cookies. Browning butter for recipes is a super simple trick to adding flavour to recipes - I love it in cookies, a streusel topping, cinnamon rolls, or a brown butter salted caramel.
The most important thing to remember when browning butter is to go slowly - it can catch quickly and you don't want to burn the milk solids, just toast them until nicely brown.
Community Review
“I made these today and am already looking for an occasion to make them again. They're simple to pull together with an added bonus of not having to remember to soften butter first. The browned butter makes these stand out in a sea of chocolate chip cookies. If you're on the fence, bake these! You won't regret it.”
—Libby
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How to make brown butter
Browning butter can look intimidating but provided you take your time and watch it carefully, you will be fine. If you are concerned, keep your heat super low, and stir well to help release the milk solids from the butter as they start to separate.
- Place the butter into a saucepan and place over medium to low heat. It will begin to melt.
- Cook until the butter melts - this is the first phase, then continue to cook, stirring occasionally. The butter will continue to boil and then you will see the milk solids start to separate out from the butter and collect at the bottom of the pan.
- Continue cooking the butter. I like to whisk frequently to make sure it doesn't catch. Cook until the milk solids are lightly brown - turn down the heat if you are worried it is going too fast. The butter will foam up and you will hear the cooking noises quiet down - this is a good sign that you are getting close to being done.
- Remove the brown butter from the heat and pour into a heatproof bowl to stop the cooking process. Do not leave the brown bits behind - that is the brown butter and that is where all the flavour is!
- Leave to sit for a little bit to cool down so you do not scramble your eggs. Whisk occasionally to help the brown butter to cool evenly.
Moisture Loss when browning butter
Different butters will have different moisture levels, which affects the yield of brown butter. American style butter have a higher water content, so will produce less brown butter when the water is cooked off. European or New Zealand style butter, which is higher in fat than American butter, will have less water that needs cooking off, so you will end up with a higher yield of brown butter.
The quantity of the butter in these browned butter cookies is important here, so the best way to measure it is by using a scale. You start with an initial quantity of butter - in this case 150g, and then cook it down. You then re-measure the weight of the brown butter, and use 110g of that in your cookie recipe. I have accounted for the moisture loss from the initial quantity of brown butter in the recipe.
Ingredients in Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Now we have learnt all about brown butter - here's what goes into browned butter chocolate chip cookies!
- Brown Butter. The base of the cookie and where that delicious toasty flavour comes from.
- Two types of sugar. Both brown and white sugar are in play here - the ratio of them determines spread and texture.
- Dry ingredients. The usual suspects here - flour, baking powder and baking soda, and salt.
- Egg. I just use one in this cookie to hold everything together.
- Chocolate. You can use whatever you like here, either all dark chocolate or a mix of dark, semi-sweet or milk chocolate. I usually do at least half chopped dark chocolate then make up the rest with what I have on hand.
- Flaky Sea Salt. Not compulsary, but gives the most delicious crunchy finish to chocolate chip cookies!
How to make Thin and Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies
These brown butter chocolate chip cookies are more on the 'thin and crispy' side than other chocolate chip cookie recipes on my site. They aren't super thin, but they have that perfect chewy chocolate chip cookie soft centre, and get that crispy edge. If you would like them more on the crispy side, you can increase the bake time to give you crispy chocolate chip cookies.
Here's what I usually change when I am looking to make a cookie recipe thinner:
- Increase the quantity of butter in the recipe. This means the cookies will spread more in the oven.
- Reduce or remove the chill time. While some cookies call for a long chill time, I wanted a recipe that was super easy to make and did not need a chill time. This meant finding a delicate balance between dough that spread in the oven but not too much.
- Bump up the chocolate quantity. This doesn't have a huge impact on how much a cookie spreads, but more chocolate chunks in the cookie certainly help it to spread a little more.
- Play around with the ratio of brown to white sugar. Cookies which have a higher ratio of brown sugar to white tend to be a little thicker, while those with more white sugar spread and are a little more chewy. Sugar and butter ratios are what I will usually play around with first when trying to change the texture or spread of a chocolate chip cookie.
The best chocolate to use for chocolate chip cookies
I almost always use chopped chocolate in my chocolate chip cookies. There are a few reasons for this:
- Sizing -Cutting up chocolate into chunks gives you a great range of size in your chocolate. This means you get a good distribution throughout
- Melty Pockets of chocolate -Chocolate chips often have a stabiliser in them which means they don't melt. This makes them great for things like muffins, but I much prefer using chopped chocolate for cookies because the chocolate melts, and you get pockets of chocolate throughout.
- Quality -if you use chopped chocolate, you can use whatever quality you like. It's also a great way to mix up the types of chocolate you use too - I like doing a mix of dark and then sometimes a fun flavour
- Chocolate Dust- This is a name I made up, but the dust is what's left from chopping chocolate. It all goes into the bowl and you get tiny chocolate specks all throughout the cookies.
- Melty Chocolate Puddles -Chopped chocolate means you can press extra chocolate onto the top of the cookies to get big chocolate puddles!
Can this cookie dough be frozen?
Yes- because it is a no chill chocolate chip cookie recipe, if you freeze the dough it will bake up a little thicker, but this is fine as long as you are aware of this. You can also freeze the baked cookies if you like - however this recipe only yields 12 cookies, so even in our household of two they don't last that long!
For all my tips and tricks on freezing chocolate chip cookie dough and baking from frozen, check out my post: How to freeze cookie dough
How to get chocolate puddles on cookies
Adding chocolate puddles to the top of these brown butter chocolate chip cookies works particularly well - because they spread out so nicely, if you add additional chocolate before putting them in the oven, you get a nice even coating of chocolate puddles on the cookie.
If you don't want to add additional chocolate then there is no need - but if you're going to give it a try, this is the recipe to do it on! Here is how to add chocolate puddles to cookies:
- Scoop your cookie dough into balls.
- Chop additional chocolate and have nearby on a chopping board.
- Working with one ball of dough at a time, flatten it slightly then either press chocolate onto the top, or press the ball of dough onto the cutting board so that it picks up the chocolate.
- Shape the ball of dough back into a ball so that it encases the extra chocolate you just added. Place chocolate side up on the prepared sheet pan.
Usually I just press the chocolate on top of the dough, but because this recipe is a little softer, by pressing the dough onto the cutting board you get all the little pieces of chopped chocolate stuck to the cookie, giving you amazing chocolate coverage.
For all my best tips and tricks on perfect chocolate chip cookies, check out my post: How to make perfect chocolate chip cookies
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you store chocolate chip cookies?
Store chocolate chip cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.
What size cookie scoop did you use?
I use a 2 Tbsp cookie scoop - you can also weigh your cookie dough balls to 55g.
Can Cookie Dough be frozen?
Yes - baking this dough from frozen will result in cookies that are not quite as flat, but the dough freezes well. Either increase the bake time by a few minutes, or drop the temperature by about 20°f / 15°c.
Can I make this cookie using a stand mixer?
Yes you can, but it goes just as quickly with a whisk or a handheld electric mixer!
For more homemade chocolate chip cookie recipes, check out:
- How To Make Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies with Nutella Chunks
- Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Egg Yolk Chocolate Chip Cookies
❤️ Made this recipe and love it? ❤️
I would LOVE for you to leave me a review and star rating below to let me know how you liked it! Also, please make sure to tag me on Instagram!
Answers to your baking questions
Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:
- baking in grams
- adjusting oven temperatures
- what kind of salt to use
- and many more!
I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!
Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
5 Stars4 Stars3 Stars2 Stars1 Star5 from 117 reviews
- Author: Erin Clarkson
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 12 cookies 1x
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies come together in the time it takes to preheat the oven. Chewy on the inside and crispy on the edges, brown butter chocolate chip cookies have massive chocolate puddles, and these no mixer, no chill time cookies will become your new favorite!
Ingredients
Scale
- 150g unsalted butter, cold from the fridge is fine
- 100g light or dark brown sugar
- 60g granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 150g all-purpose flour
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 3g (1 tsp) salt
- 220g dark chocolate, chopped, plus about 150g additional for the tops of the cookies (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°f / 180°c. Line two sheet pans with parchment paper.
- Place the butter in a medium saucepan, and place over medium heat. Cook until the butter has melted, and then continue to cook, swirling the pan often and stirring with a whisk, until the butter foams and turns golden brown and nutty - this should take 3-4 minutes.
- Weigh out 110g (see Notes section below)of the brown butter into a medium bowl and leave to cool for 15-20 minutes so that it does not scramble your eggs.
- Add the brown sugar and granulated sugar to the bowl with the brown butter, and mix to combine.
- Add the egg and whisk well for 1-2 minutes, or mix using an electric mixer, until the mixture has lightened in colour and has thickened.
- Add the vanilla and mix well.
- Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix to combine with a rubber spatula until there are some flour streaks remaining - this is to ensure you do not over work the dough.
- Add the chocolate and mix to incorporate with a rubber spatula.
- Scoop 6 cookies (about 55g per cookie dough ball) using a 2 Tbsp cookie scoop onto the prepared baking sheet. If desired, flatten each ball of dough, press more chocolate pieces on the top, and roll into a ball (this works particularly well in this recipe). Arrange evenly apart on the pan. Keep the remainder of the batter in the bowl lightly covered with plastic wrap.
- Bake the cookies for 11-13 minutes, until the edges are set. Bake for longer if you would like your cookies to be crispier. Remove from the oven and bang the pan briefly on the counter to help deflate the cookies. If you would like to help your cookies to be perfectly round, use a cookie cutter slightly larger than the cookie to ‘scoot’ them into a perfectly round shape.
- Sprinkle the tops of the cookies with flaky sea salt. Allow to cool on the pan for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Repeat the baking process with the remainder of the cookies. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Notes
You will notice that there are two quantities of butter in the recipe - the initial quantity of butter, then a second measurement in the method which is thequantity ofbrown butter.The larger initial quantity is to account for water loss when browning - read more about that in myFAQ.
If you are using the recipe scaling feature (2x or 3x) be aware that any quantities, measurements, pan sizes, and cooking times given in the method do not scale automatically - it's only the quantities in the Ingredient List that scale automatically.