Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

There’s just something magical that happens when you brown butter before you bake with it. I don’t know who the genius is that ever first came up with the idea, but I’m so glad they did – and I think you’ll approve too once you take just one bite of these browned butter chocolate chip cookies!

Looking for more delicious cookie recipes? Look no further than my popular posts for Caramel Pretzel White Chocolate Cookies, Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars, and Cowboy Cookies.

Here’s How You Make It

Don’t let the instructions fool you – these cookies only take about an hour, including chilling time!  

Browning the butter

1. First, melt the butter in a small saucepan. Once the butter is melted, keep cooking it by stirring it over medium (not high) heat for about another 3-4 minutes, or till the color of the butter changes from pale yellow to golden brown.
2. Now, take the butter off the heat and pour into a heat-safe bowl and then put it in the fridge to cool for about 10 minutes, but still liquified.
3. Preparing the cookie dough

1. Now the fun part – putting together the dough. First, in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.

2. Then, in another large bowl, combine the browned and cooled butter, the sugar, and the brown sugar. Mix this together for 2 minutes, then mix in the eggs and vanilla.
3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until the cookies are just combined (don’t over-mix). Stir in the chocolate chips.
4. Tightly cover the chocolate chip cookie dough in a bowl and chill for 30 minutes.

Bake the cookies

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with a nonstick baking mat or very lightly grease the baking sheet with nonstick spray.
2. Using a large cookie scoop, scoop mounds of cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheet at least 3 inches apart.
3. Pop in the oven and bake for 9-11 minutes. Remove the browned butter chocolate chip cookies from the oven and immediately sprinkle them with sea salt. Allow the cookies to cool completely on the pan.

Why This Recipe Works

Browned butter – You cannot have these browned butter chocolate chip cookies without the browned butter. But seriously, they taste much richer, and a little bit nutty and oh-so-melt-in-your-mouth delish, you’ll want to brown all the butter in all the things.

Easy to make – Really, the only additional step to making these chocolate chip cookies is to brown the butter, which only takes a few minutes. The rest of the instructions are easy too!

So delicious – My suggestion? Go ahead and double this recipe, because the first batch is going to be gone before you even have a chance to put any away. And if you have kids? Forgetaboutit. You say they can have only one but then who are you kidding? You’re going to have more than one yourself and two cookies really should be the serving size for any chocolate chip cookie anyway.

So soft – These cookies are so soft and moist and tasty and just ALL the things a browned butter chocolate chip cookies should be. I promise you; you should make these today! You won’t regret it.  

Customizations

• Switch up the chocolate chips a bit by using dark chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, or a combination of any chips you like – just be sure they equal 2 cups.
• Add rainbow sprinkles to the top of the cookies right before cooking (press into the top slightly to get them to stick) for a little bit of a fun presentation – my kids love rainbow sprinkles on all the cookies.
• Add chopped walnuts or pecans to these cookies before baking. About ¾ of a cup is plenty, less if they are chopped very fine.  
• There’s no need to make these cookies so big. If you prefer a smaller cookie, that’s totally fine. But only bake them for about 8-10 minutes, checking for doneness at the 8-minute mark.

What is the Point of Browned Butter?

Browning butter for browned butter chocolate chip cookies may seem like an extra, annoying step but it’s SO worth it! Why? Well, it’s actually a lot easier and faster to brown butter than you think and also it makes everything it touches taste better. You can really TASTE the nuttiness of the butter, its richness, its depth of flavor. You notice the butter instead of just merely accepting it as an ingredient.

Expert Tips and Tricks

• Store the chocolate chip cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.
• To heat up the cookies a bit for an extra treat, warm them up individually in the microwave for 15-20 seconds!
• If you don’t have a large cookie scoop, you’ll need about 2-3 tablespoons of dough to make these large cookies. Roll the dough into a ball the best you can between your hands.

More Recipes Like This

• Super Soft Peanut Butter Cookies
• Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies
• Salted Caramel Stuffed Double Chocolate Cookies
• Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

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