Hands down the BEST Brown Butter Cookie recipe! This easy cookie recipe makes the best cookies with buttery edges, chocolate chunks and chewy centers!
See my step by step photos of How To Brown Butter. You might also love our Brown Butter Snickerdoodle Recipe.
The Best Brown Butter Cookies
If you haven’t made brown butter chocolate chip cookies before, you are in for the ultimate treat. Don’t be afraid of browning butter, it takes just a little patience, and it’s absolutely worth the wait!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Rich. This brown butter cookie recipe is rich, sweet and perfect for any occasion.
- Crisp And Chewy. They’re crisp around the edges while soft and chewy in the center.
- Great Homemade Gift. They make the perfect homemade gift for family and friends.
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What You’ll Need
Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make brown butter cookies at home. See the recipe card located at the bottom of the post for full details and instructions.
- Brown Butter– Brown butter is butter that has been cooked until browned. See my notes for full instructions.
- Dark Brown Sugar– Dark brown sugar has more molasses than light brown sugar.
- Granulated Sugar– This fine sugar adds sweetness to the cookies.
- Eggs– For consistency, I always use large eggs for my cooking and baking.
- Pure Vanilla Extract– For best tasting results use pure vanilla.
- All-Purpose Flour– Flour is the main dry ingredient in the cookies.
- Baking Soda– Baking soda helps the cookies rise during baking.
- Kosher Salt– Kosher salt is a coarse salt. I prefer it for my cooking and baking.
- Milk Chocolate Chunks– If you have a Trader Joe’s near you, I like to cut my own chunks from their block of chocolate. It’s fantastic.
How To Make Brown Butter Cookies
Brown The Butter. To brown butter, place butter into a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook and swirl butter in pan to melt butter. Continue to swirl pan while butter bubbles and cooks. Watch carefully as butter browns. When butter is brown, carefully pour into a heat proof bowl, scraping brown bits from pan too. Let butter cool for 30 minutes or you can place in refrigerator for 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place brown butter into a large mixing bowl. Stir in brown sugar and granulated, stirring until well combined. Add eggs and vanilla stirring until well combined. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt. Stir until dough forms then add chocolate chunks stirring until combined. You either can scoop regular size cookies, about 2 tablespoons of dough onto your baking sheet 1 inch apart.
Bake. Bake for 10 minutes or scoop heaping 1/4 cup size cookie dough balls shaped into a ball 2 inches apart and bake for 12-13 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes before transferring to a serving plate.
Where Do I Buy Chocolate Chunks?
My favorite place to get my blocks of chocolate is from Trader Joe’s. It comes in a 1 pound block and I use a chef knife to cut it into pieces for my cookies. Another option is the King Size Hershey Bars that are a bit thicker than the regular Hershey’s Bars. Chop them into pieces and use for the cookies. Some baking isles sell pre-packaged chocolate chunks as well. Keep your eyes open for those.
Can I Use Chocolate Chips Instead of Chocolate Chunks?
Yes, substitute your favorite variety of chocolate chips in place of the chocolate chunks in the recipe. Milk chocolate, semi-sweet and even dark chocolate are great options.
There is something quite magical about brown butter cookie dough. Try a sample and you’ll see what I’m talking about.
When it’s time to bake your cookies, you can either use regular size scoops (2 tablespoons) for regular size cookies or you can scoop heaping 1/4 cup sizes of cookie dough, roll into balls and place 2 inches apart onto your baking sheet. For regular size cookies, bake for 10 minutes, for the large cookies, bake for 12-13 minutes.
How To Serve Brown Butter Cookies
Serve cookies room temperature at your next event. These cookies are great for bake sales and gift giving too!
How To Store Leftovers
Store any leftover cookies in an airtight container, room temperature for up to 2 days for best results.
Try More Brown Butter Cookies
The BEST Brown Butter Cookies
Equipment
- Oven
- Bowl
- saucepan
- cookie sheet
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- mixing spoons
Ingredients
- 12 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups chopped chocolate chunks I use the milk chocolate block from Trader Joe’s
Instructions
- Place butter into a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook and swirl butter in pan to melt butter. Continue to swirl pan while butter bubbles and cooks. Watch carefully as butter browns. When butter is brown, carefully pour into a heat proof bowl, scraping brown bits from pan too. Let butter cool for 30 minutes or you can place in refrigerator for 15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place brown butter into a large mixing bowl. Stir in brown sugar and granulated, stirring until well combined. Add eggs and vanilla stirring until well combined. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt. Stir until dough forms then add chocolate chunks stirring until combined. You either can scoop regular size cookies, about 2 tablespoons of dough onto your baking sheet 1 inch apart and bake for 10 minutes or scoop heaping 1/4 cup size cookie dough balls shaped into a ball 2 inches apart and bake for 12-13 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes before transferring to a serving plate.
Video
Nutrition
Pin Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies
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These cookies are 100% THE BEST! They are so easy. I think it has to be the browned butter! Whatever it is, this is a genius, fool-proof recipe!
So glad you enjoyed, thanks for the feedback Sara.
We love these cookies, a fantastic cookie, new family favorite
By far THE BEST chocolate chip recipe I’ve tried so far and I’ve tried so many!! I used half semi sweet, half milk chocolate for the best balance of sweetness and the brown butter come through so well. And of course I topped my cookies off with flaky sea salt after coming out of the oven!! Saving this recipe for sure!
Do you add the Oreos and m&ms after baking?
Thank you
Hi Claudia, yes once they’re baked, press the oreos and M&M’s on top of the hot cookies. Let them cool and they’re ready to serve.
How much of the Trade Joes block do you use?
I chop/chunk the chocolate and measure about 2 cups.
Can you brown the butter too slow? Like all the foam/fat cooked off but still not brown.
Hi Lauren, sounds like the heat just needed to be a bit higher. It seems like it takes forever and then it will start browning.
Have you tried making a cookie “cake” with this recipe? Just wondering how big of a pan I would need and how long to bake it.
I’ve tried the jumbo cookies and they were amazing!!! Now my son wants some for his birthday.
Hi Jill, I have done a giant cookie with this recipe. I half the recipe and use a medium size cookie sheet to bake it. Shape the dough into a flattened round shape as opposed to a giant ball of cookie dough. You’ll need to bake for 16-ish minutes. Monitor it.
with this recipe, can I put the dough overnight in the fridge as well?
Yes, just bring to room temperature before baking 🙂