Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Name: Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 14 min
Total time: 84 min
Ingredients: 1 cup (2 stick) unsalted butter, divided; 1 cup light brown sugar; 1/2 cup granulated sugar; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1 teaspoon molasses; 1 large egg; 1 large egg yolk; 2 1/3 cup all-purpose flour; 1 teaspoon baking soda; 1 teaspoon kosher salt; 1 cup chopped dark chocolate (can use milk chocolate, if you prefer); 2 tablespoons sea salt flakes, divided

by Jenny Park · Published: Dec 6, 2021 · Modified: Dec 6, 2021

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The best Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie you'll ever taste! Our cookie incorporates nutty brown butter into the dough, loads of freshly chopped chocolate and is finished with sea salt flakes for the most well balanced and delicious chocolate chip cookie experience. Our cookies also freeze incredibly well, so you can always have a batch on hand!

Brown butter chocolate chip cookies with one broken in half.

The holidays are here and these Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies are always very my first go-to for the season (or almost anytime I think of baking cookies). Everyone loves a good chocolate chip cookie, but add a little brown butter and sea salt to the mix and you get next level deliciousness.

These cookies are incredibly tasty and hit the spot every time. They’re crisp on the outside, nice and soft on the inside, with the perfect amount of chewiness. The dough also freezes VERY well, so I usually have at least one batch of these cookies sitting in the freezer, ready to hit the oven when needed.

How to Make Our Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients to make brown butter chocolate chip cookies.

Process

Melt 1 stick butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat and continue to cook until butter begins to smell nutty and lightly brown. Remove from heat and cool completely.

Place remaining stick of butter and cooled browned butter in a bowl and using an electric mixer, beat until light and fluffy.
Add both sugars and continue to beat together until light and fluffy.

Brown butter beaten until light and fluffy.

Scrape down sides of the bowl, add molasses and vanilla and continue to mix together.

Cookie dough with molasses and vanilla in it.

Stir in egg and egg yolk.

In another bowl whisk dry ingredients together.

Dry ingredients in a bowl for chocolate chip cookies.

Dry ingredients mixed together in a bowl to make chocolate chip cookies.

Add dry ingredients to the butter mixture.
Beat together until a dough comes together.
Mix in chopped chocolate chips until fully combined.

Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.

Chocolate chip cookie dough in a bowl with plastic wrap.

Preheat oven to 350˚F.
Scoop 3 ½ tablespoon sized balls onto a parchment lined baking sheet, about 1 ½ inches apart and sprinkle with sea salt flakes.

Chocolate chip cookie dough on a baking sheet.

Bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until cookies are golden brown.
Allow cookies to cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack or serve warm.

Freshly baked chocolate chip cookies on a baking sheet.

Chocolate chip cookies cooling on a wire rack.

Tools You Will Need

Brown Butter chocolate chip cookies laid out on a kitchen counter.

brown butter – The concentrated nutty, buttery flavor is incredible in these cookies and once you try it, you will never want to make chocolate chip cookies without it again!
sea salt flakes – The sea salt flakes sprinkled on top of each cookie adds such a nice savory balance to the sweet cookies.
molasses – It adds color, flavor, moisture, and the chewy texture to the cookies and should really be required in every single chocolate chip cookie recipe!
chopped chocolate – chopping your own chocolate for cookies is really the way to go. Instead of uniform chips of chocolate dotted through each cookie (which are a little boring!), you get a mixture of small and big puddles of chocolate weaved through each cookie.

Nuts or No Nuts in Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies?

We’re definitely team “no nuts” over here when it comes to any chocolate chip cookies, but especially these born butter chocolate chip cookies. The brown butter gives the cookies its own nutty flavor without the added chunks of nuts.

We totally get that this is subjective and based on personal preference, so if you’re a “yes nuts” in chocolate chip cookies type of person by all means go for it! We recommend adding 3/4 cup chopped nuts of choice (walnuts and pecans are some of the most popular options) if you are going to add them.

Keep a close eye on the stove when browning your butter. You really want the butter fill the room with a nutty aroma and for the milk solids to become a deep brown color, but you definitely don’t want to burn the brown butter. overly browned butter works in some cases, but it will leave a slight bitter flavor in these cookies.
Do NOT over-bake the cookies! If the cookies are over-baked they will lose there wonderfully chewy texture, which is a huge part of these cookies. They will get very crispy, especially once completely cooled.

Make Ahead and Freezing Instructions

Make Ahead

The cookies can be made 5 to 7 days ahead of time, stored in an airtight container in a cool and dry place until ready to enjoy.

Freezing

The cookie dough can be made and stored in the freezer for up to 3 months. To freeze cookie dough, scoop chocolate chip cookie dough balls and place onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet, spaced about 1/4 inch apart. Top each cookie with sea salt and gently press to adhere. Place cookie sheet in freezer until cookie dough balls are frozen. Once frozen, transfer cookie dough balls to a resealable freezer bag and tightly seal until ready to use.

When ready to bake, transfer cookie dough balls to a parchment lined cookie sheet, about 1 1/2 inches apart and bake for 15 to 16 minutes.

Baked Cookies

To freeze baked cookies, cool completely then transfer to a resealable freezer bag and tightly seal. Store in the freezer for up to 2 months. Cookies can be enjoyed straight from the freezer or thawed at room temperature for about 10 minutes. To warm cookies preheat oven to 300˚F, place cookies onto a cookie sheet and bake for 3 to 5 minutes, just until warmed. Alternatively cookies can be warmed in the microwave, for 30 seconds to 1 minutes until just warmed through.

Check out of Best Christmas Cookies recipe roundup!