Brown butter chocolate chip cookies are such an elevated version of the chocolate chip cookie. Paired with the sweet gooeyness of dark, milk, and white chocolate chips, these cookies are heavenly! This recipe is almost as easy as regular chocolate chip cookie dough. It just has one extra step to brown the butter first. Trust me, it’s worth it!
Enjoy with a glass of milk or one of my favorite basic teas.
Literary Baking Adventures
Not that anyone needs any special reason or inspiration to make brown butter chocolate chip cookies, but this recipe reminds me of one of my favorite children’s books. I’ve always loved If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff. The cover art is so cute and scrumptious. And what does everyone always want after reading this book? Chocolate chip cookies and a glass of milk!
What are Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies?
Brown butter chocolate chip cookies contain “brown butter” instead of regular softened butter.
Brown butter, is just regular butter that’s been cooked. The butter is heated in a saucepan over medium-low heat until the milk solids separate from the butter fat. The solids undergo a Maillard reaction and become brown and toasty. This produces a lovely golden brown color and gives the butter a warm roasted, nutty taste.
Brown butter can be used in sweet and savory dishes like cookies, cakes, pastas, sauces, and more. The final result is a flavorful and aromatic buttery taste that adds depth to any dish.
In this recipe, the brown butter adds a layer of toastiness to these chocolate chip cookies. I use three types of chocolate chips – dark, milk, and white chocolate.?Enjoy their sweet gooeyness along with the toasty goodness of the brown butter!
Chef’s Tips
Browning Butter
If you’ve never browned butter before, make sure you have some extra on hand in case you mess up. You can always start over with browning the butter, but once you add it to the cookie dough, you can’t go back. Look out for these signs of success:
- Heat: Medium to low heat
- Time: The butter should brown in under 10 minutes, as long as the stove is hot enough. Don’t walk away from the pan and KEEP STIRRING.
- Consistency and Color: The butter will separate into two states: golden yellow to light brown butter fat (liquid) and toasty medium to dark brown (not black) milk solids at the bottom. Don’t strain out the solids.
- Smell: Once you start to to smell that beautiful nutty, caramelized aroma, remove the pan from the heat
- For more details, watch our tutorial below or check out this guide to browning butter.
You Will Need
- Bread flour: adds a bit more chewiness to cookies. If you don’t have bread flour, replace with all-purpose flour.
- Butter: Unsalted, that will then be heated to make brown butter (see Chef’s Tips above)
- Espresso powder: to give the cookie a bit more depth. I like to use Cafe Bustelo Decaf Instant Espresso because it has a strong flavor without the caffeine. If you prefer real espresso powder, I recommend Illy Ground Espresso Intenso Coffee.
- Eggs: This recipe calls for 1 whole egg and 1 egg yolk. Do not just use 2 eggs, or the texture of the cookie dough will change.
- Chocolate chips: I use a ½ cup each of three types of chocolate chips – dark, milk, and white chocolate. Substitute for any combination of chocolate chips or mix-ins, as long as the total volume is still 1 ½ cups. For example, you can add 1 ½ cups of only milk chocolate chips. Or, using 1 cup of dark chocolate chips and ½ cup of walnuts would work, too.
- Baking staples: baking soda, salt, white sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla extract
Tools
No specialty tools are required for this recipe, just a few basics.
- medium mixing bowl
- small saucepan
- large mixing bowl
- electric mixer or wooden spoon
- cookie scoop (optional)
- cookie sheet
Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
- medium mixing bowl
- small saucepan
- large mixing bowl
- electric mixer
- cookie scoop optional
- cookie sheet
Ingredients
- 1 cup bread flour (can substitute in all-purpose flour)
- 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp espresso powder
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- ½ cup milk chocolate chips
- ½ cup white chocolate chips
- ½ cup dark chocolate chunks 70% or cacao or greater
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda . Set aside.
- Brown the butter in a small saucepan. To brown the butter, cook on medium heat until the butter solids separate from the liquid and turn brown. This will give off a toasty scent. Promptly remove the saucepan from the heat.Be careful not to let the solids burn, as they can quickly turn from golden brown to black.
- Pour the brown butter into a 1 cup-sized measuring cup. Top it up with some water until the liquid level reached 1 cup. This will make up for any water that has evaporated while heating the butter.
- Preheat the oven to 350?.In a large mixing bowl, combine the liquid brown butter, brown sugar, white sugar, espresso powder, and vanilla. Mix on medium speed until smooth. Cream in the egg and egg yolk. The mixture may still be liquidy at this stage.
- Add in the flour mixture from Step 1 in three increments, mixing in between to form the dough. Add in the 3 types of chocolate and stir until distributed.
- Prepare a cookie sheet with a sheet of parchment paper or a silicone mat. Scoop the cookies into balls and place them about 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheet.
- Bake at 350? for 12-14 minutes, until the edges are firm and the middles are slightly gooey. Let the cookies cool for 10 minutes on the pan before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!
