Imagine biting into a cookie so soft and chewy, infused with the rich, nutty aroma of browned butter, bursting with mini chocolate chips and dark chocolate chunks, offering bursts of bittersweet bliss in every bite. Baked to perfection, the cookie is then lightly sprinkled with a touch a sea salt, creating a perfect balance of sweet and salty flavors.
I love all cookies, even bad ones. Just like pizza, even the worst cookie is worth the calories for me. Of course, I prefer really good cookies, which is why I usually make my own. I mean, I don’t want to toot my own horn, but… toot toot. I make really good cookies. This recipe is a perfect example of that. I use brown butter to make these chocolate chip cookies extra soft and chewy, and whenever I put a batch out on the counter, they go fast. I routinely make batches of these cookies, and between the kids and their friends, these cookies are gone in about a day. After you make them, you’ll see why!
Brown Butter Cookies
These delicious chocolate chip cookies start with brown butter. That’s the secret to their soft, chewy texture and subtly nutty flavor. I also add an extra egg yolk for richer dough and mini dark chocolate chips and chocolate chunks for even deeper chocolate flavor. After I’ve baked them to chewy perfection, I finish them off with a sprinkling of sea salt to really bring out the sweet flavors. After that, I take three or four for myself and watch the rest of them disappear!
Why You’ll Love This Brown Butter Cookie Recipe
- The brown butter gives the cookies a nutty, rich flavor that’s unlike anything you’ll find in a regular chocolate chip cookie.
- Both the chocolate chips and chocolate chunks give the cookies a variety of textures.
- The sea salt helps to balance out the sweetness of the chocolate and helps to bring out the other flavors in the cookies.
Brown Butter Cookies Ingredients
This recipe uses all the same basic baking ingredients that any other chocolate chip cookie uses. That means that everything you need is probably in your kitchen already. Anything you don’t have takes just minutes to snag at your grocery store.
- All-purpose flour
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Butter
- Brown sugar
- Granulated sugar
- Large egg + 1 egg yolk
- Vanilla extract
- Sour cream
- Mini semisweet chocolate chips
- Dark chocolate chunks
- Sea salt
How to Make Brown Butter Cookies
Making these cookies isn’t that much different from making traditional chocolate chip cookies. In fact, the only difference at all is that you’ll brown the butter instead of creaming softened butter. It only adds a couple of minutes to the total time, so you’ll still be in and out of the kitchen in no time flat.
Step 1: Brown the Butter
Heat the butter over medium heat in a saucepan, stirring constantly, until it begins to turn an amber color. Remove the butter from the heat as soon as it begins to brown. Pour it into a large mixing bowl and let it cool for 10 to 15 minutes.
Step 2: Combine the Wet Cookie Ingredients
Add brown sugar and sugar into the brown butter. Stir until combined. Using an electric mixer, beat the egg, egg yolk, vanilla, and sour cream to the brown butter mixture until combined.
Step 3: Combine the Dry Cookie Ingredients
Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl.
Step 4: Make the Cookie Dough
Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until combined. Then, stir in the mini chocolate chips and dark chocolate chunks.
Step 5: Bake
Scoop out the dough with a 1-inch cookie scoop and roll the cookie dough into balls. Place them on an ungreased baking sheet and bake for 10 to 11 minutes at 350 degrees until the edges start to brown.
Step 6: Cool
Remove the cookies from the oven, sprinkle them with sea salt, and let them cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes. Then, transfer them to a wire rack to cool. Enjoy!
Recipe Tips
- Brown butter should have a deep yellowish-brown color. Do not cook it until it’s a deep brown. That’s burned.
- It’s important to let the brown butter cool before adding the other wet ingredients. If your brown butter is hot, you’ll scramble the eggs and curdle the sour cream.
- Don’t overbake the cookies. Remove them as soon as the edges start to brown. Leaving them on the cookie sheet will allow carry-over cooking time to bake them to perfection.
- Refrigerating the dough does help prevent the cookies from spreading too much. We didn’t for this recipe. Feel free to do either.
Variations
- You can use milk, semi-sweet, or dark chocolate chips in this recipe.
- Coconut is delicious with the chocolate and brown butter flavors in these cookies.
- You can use full-fat Greek yogurt in place of sour cream for this recipe.
What to Serve with Brown Butter Cookies
Like all cookies, these are great with a glass of ice-cold milk or a cup of hot coffee or tea. They also make a great addition to any dessert spread at parties with your other favorite sweets. This classic cookie recipe is an excellent dessert after a classic Americana meal of burgers, dogs, chicken, beef, or pork.
Recipe FAQ
Brown butter is butter that’s been cooked in a pan until the milk solids caramelize, giving the butter a golden color and a toasted, nutty flavor.
To brown butter, simply heat it in a pan over medium heat until it becomes an amber color. Remember to stir constantly to keep the heat evenly distributed throughout the butter and avoid burning.
Watch your butter closely as you brown it. It’s ready when it changes from a bright yellow to a deep, golden brown and you smell a nutty aroma.
Browning butter gives baked goods an extra depth of flavor with a subtle nuttiness. It also makes incredibly soft and chewy cookie dough.
Yes, you can. Several grocery store chains like Trader Joe’s carry brown butter. You can also find it online.
How to Store Leftover Brown Butter Cookies
Store these cookies for up to a week in an airtight container at room temperature. For longer storage, freeze them for up to 3 months in an airtight, freezer-safe container. Place the cookies in the container in single layers separated by parchment paper before freezing.
Try This Delicious Brown Butter Cookie Recipe Today
These brown butter cookies are as easy as they are delicious. With a super-soft, chewy texture, tons of chocolate mini chips and dark chocolate chunks, and a sprinkling of sea salt on top, these are some of the most decadent cookies you’ll ever eat. The best part is that they’re also incredibly easy to make! With a combination like that, all you have to do is make these cookies one time to be completely hooked. Bake a batch of these cookies today and get ready to fall in love.
More Delicious Cookies You’ll Enjoy
Here is a Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie that is super easy to make, and loaded with dark chocolate chips and dark chocolate chunks. One huge cookie pie everyone will enjoy.
Brown Butter Cookies with Mini Chocolate Chips
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter
- 1 ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk, room temperature
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon sour cream
- 2 cups mini chocolate chips
- 1 cup dark chocolate chunks
- Sea salt, for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°.
- In a frying pan, brown butter over medium heat, stirring constantly until butter turns an amber color. Remove from heat as soon as the butter starts to brown.
- Pour browned butter into a medium bowl and set aside to cool for 10-15 minutes.
- Add brown sugar and sugar into the brown butter. Stir until combined. Using an electric mixer, beat the egg, egg yolk, vanilla, and sour cream into the brown butter mixture until combined.
- In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda and salt together. Gradually add dry ingredients into wet ingredients and beat on low speed until combined.
- Stir mini chocolate chips and dark chocolate chunks into cookie dough.
- Using a 1 inch cookie scoop, roll cookie dough and place on ungreased baking sheet(s).
- Bake for 10-11 minutes or until edges start to brown.
- Remove from the oven, sprinkle a bit of sea salt on each cookie, let sit on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes, then remove and place on a wire rack to cool.
Notes
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