These brown butter chocolate chip cookies are soft and irresistibly chewy, with a rich, caramelized flavor. Learn the secret to bakery-style cookies that stay soft and chewy.
You might also like our chewy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies or bakery-style peanut butter cookies.
Chocolate chip cookies have, and always will be, my favorite cookie. Classic, delicious, and loaded with my favorite food---chocolate. These brown-butter chocolate-chip cookies are chewy and deliver a burst of flavor in your mouth. A slight caramel flavor, and the best combination of sweet and salty.
Why I Like This Recipe
- Cookies stay soft. The one thing that always bothered me about brown butter cookies is that they tasted amazing on day 1, but were always hard on day 2. Regardless of lowering the baking time, temp, etc. My slightly modified version is even softer on day 2!
- Rich and flavorful. Brown butter adds richness and nuttiness to anything it is added to. It can be used in both savory and sweet recipes. When you add brown butter to a cookie recipe, it adds a depth of flavor and yields a soft, chewy cookie. Once you start browning butter, you won't be able to stop! It's liquid gold. I'm not usually a raw cookie dough fan, so you won't typically find me sneaking a taste of the dough---but this dough changed that. Oh my goodness. It's so good, and you can totally taste the brown butter. You've been warned.
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Tips and Tricks
- Brown butter: Heat butter in a skillet on medium heat. Stir frequently. Butter will foam as it cooks. Continue to stir until you see brown specks forming. It’s easy to go from perfectly browned butter to black, burnt butter, so watch carefully and remove from heat as soon as you smell the nutty aroma and see the amber color and brown bits form. Pour into a bowl to allow the butter to cool to room temperature before baking.
- Brown sugar vs. white sugar. White sugar has its place. In recipes like sugar cookies, snickerdoodles, and shortbread cookies it truly shines. A combination of brown and white sugar is generally what you'll find in chocolate chip cookies. This recipe is a spin-off of my popular classic chocolate chip cookie recipe and is brown sugar-heavy. 1 ¼ cups of brown sugar and only ¼ cup of white sugar. Brown sugar has more moisture, creating a soft, chewy cookie that is even more chewy on the second day.
- Bake on light colored baking sheets. Lighter metal bakes more evenly than dark and doesn't brown the bottoms of the cookies too quickly. If using a dark metal baking sheet, adjust the baking time and watch the cookies to prevent burning.
Ingredients
- Butter: I bake exclusively with salted butter, but you can use unsalted. If using unsalted, add an additional ½ teaspoon of salt to the recipe.
- Brown and White Sugar: the combination of both sugars gives the cookies great texture and sweetness.
- Eggs: for richness and texture.
- Vanilla extract: have you tried making your own vanilla extract? It's easy!
- Milk: The water content is simmered out of the brown butter, so I also add a couple of tablespoons of milk to the cookie dough for moisture.
- Baking soda and salt: for leavening and flavor.
- All-purpose flour: I typically bake with all-purpose flour, but you can also use bread flour.
- Chocolate Chips: My favorite is a combination of semisweet, or a combination of semisweet and milk chocolate chips, but you can use whatever you'd like. Chocolate chunks are yummy too.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How To Make Chewy Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Step 2: Pour into a bowl to allow the butter to cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes.
Step 3: Mix butter and sugars together with an electric mixer. Add eggs, then milk and vanilla extract.
Step 4: Mix in baking soda, salt, and flour (until just combined).
Step 5: Stir in chocolate chips.
Step 6: Cover and chill the cookie dough for 1 hour.
Step 7: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat, if desired.
Step 8: Use a cookie scoop (3 Tbsp. size) to scoop dough or use your hands to form dough balls. Place 6-8 balls of cookie dough onto a baking sheet. Bake for 11-12 minutes or until lightly golden.
Step 9: Cool for 3-5 minutes on a cookie sheet, then transfer to wire racks.
Brown Butter Cookie FAQs
Heat butter in a skillet on medium heat. Stir frequently. Butter will foam as it cooks. Continue to stir until you see brown specks forming. It’s easy to go from perfectly browned butter to black, burnt butter, so watch carefully and remove from heat as soon as you smell the nutty aroma and see the amber color and brown bits form. Pour into a bowl to allow the butter to cool to room temperature before baking.
Yes, the water content in the butter evaporates as the butter simmers. This cookie recipe takes that into account and uses extra butter and milk to compensate for any moisture lost during the cooking process.
These chocolate chip cookies stay soft for days because the recipe uses more brown sugar than white sugar. Brown sugar is key to soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies. You also need to store the cookies either individually wrapped in plastic or in an airtight container. The cookies will soften, and they will be even softer on day 2. You can also add a slice of bread to the container to retain moisture.
More Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes To Make
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Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup butter 2 ½ sticks
- 1 ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup white sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 Tbsp. milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 ⅔ cup all purpose flour
- 2 cups chocolate chips
Instructions
- Heat butter in a skillet on medium heat. Stir frequently. Butter will foam as it cooks. Continue to stir until you see brown specks forming. It’s easy to go from perfectly browned butter to black, burnt butter, so watch carefully and remove from heat as soon as you smell the nutty aroma and see the amber color and brown bits form.
- Pour the brown butter into a bowl to allow the butter to cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes.
- Mix butter and sugars together with an electric mixer. Add eggs, then milk and vanilla extract.
- Mix in baking soda, salt, and flour until just combined.
- Stir in chocolate chips.
- Cover and chill the cookie dough for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat, if desired.
- Use a cookie scoop (3 Tbsp. size) to scoop dough, or use your hands to form dough balls. Place 6-8 balls of cookie dough onto a baking sheet. Bake for 11-12 minutes or until lightly golden around the edges.If making regular-sized cookies (2 Tbsp. size), bake for 9-11 minutes.
- Cool for 3-5 minutes on a cookie sheet, then transfer to wire racks.
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