My Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies come together in the time it takes to preheat the oven. Chewy on the inside and crispy on the edges, brown butter chocolate chip cookies have massive chocolate puddles, and these no mixer, no chill time cookies will become your new favorite - these are the most popular recipe on my site for a good reason!
Hi hi! Just popping in to share the recipe for these brown butter chocolate chip cookies! These are a thin and chewy version of my favourite small batch chocolate chip cookies. These brown butter cookies are crisp around the edges and still chewy in the middle - I love them so, so much.
I made these a ton of times during the recipe testing process to really nail down the recipe so that they are totally foolproof for you - I will hold your hand the whole way. If you wanted to turn these into a cookie bar, my chocolate chip cookie bars are exactly that!
The most Underrated ingredient: Brown Butter.
Brown butter is butter that has been heated to a point where the moisture evaporates and the milk solids brown. It has a delicious toasty flavour, which adds an amazing depth to brown butter chocolate chip cookies. Browning butter for recipes is a super simple trick to adding flavour to recipes - I love it in cookies, a streusel topping, cinnamon rolls, or a brown butter salted caramel.
My top tip to remember when browning butter is to go slowly. I have made a ton of brown butter in my time and it can catch quickly and you don't want to burn the milk solids, just toast them until nicely brown.
I know that making brown butter can be intimidating. Don't be scared, I will hold your hand the whole way through in my post and you'll be nailing it in no time: Brown Butter 101: The Ultimate Guide
Community Review
“I made these today and am already looking for an occasion to make them again. They're simple to pull together with an added bonus of not having to remember to soften butter first. The browned butter makes these stand out in a sea of chocolate chip cookies. If you're on the fence, bake these! You won't regret it.”
—Libby
The recipe testing process for changing a cookie's texture
These brown butter chocolate chip cookies are more on the 'thin and crispy' side than other chocolate chip cookie recipes on my site. They aren't super thin, but they have that perfect chewy chocolate chip cookie soft centre, and get that crispy edge. If you would like them more on the crispy side, you can increase the bake time to give you crispy chocolate chip cookies.
Here's what I usually change when I am looking to make a cookie recipe thinner:
- Increase the quantity of butter in the recipe. This means the cookies will spread more in the oven.
- Reduce or remove the chill time. While some cookies call for a long chill time, I wanted a recipe that was super easy to make and did not need a chill time. This meant finding a delicate balance between dough that spread in the oven but not too much.
- Bump up the chocolate quantity. This doesn't have a huge impact on how much a cookie spreads, but more chocolate chunks in the cookie certainly help it to spread a little more.
- Play around with the ratio of brown to white sugar. Cookies which have a higher ratio of brown sugar to white tend to be a little thicker, while those with more white sugar spread and are a little more chewy. Sugar and butter ratios are what I will usually play around with first when trying to change the texture or spread of a chocolate chip cookie.
The best chocolate to use for chocolate chip cookies
I almost always use chopped chocolate in my chocolate chip cookies. There are a few reasons for this:
- Sizing - Cutting up chocolate into chunks gives you a great range of size in your chocolate. This means you get a good distribution throughout
- Melty Pockets of chocolate - Chocolate chips often have a stabiliser in them which means they don't melt. This makes them great for things like muffins, but I much prefer using chopped chocolate for cookies because the chocolate melts, and you get pockets of chocolate throughout.
- Quality - if you use chopped chocolate, you can use whatever quality you like. It's also a great way to mix up the types of chocolate you use too - I like doing a mix of dark and then sometimes a fun flavour
- Chocolate Dust - This is a name I made up, but the dust is what's left from chopping chocolate. It all goes into the bowl and you get tiny chocolate specks all throughout the cookies.
- Melty Chocolate Puddles - Chopped chocolate means you can press extra chocolate onto the top of the cookies to get big chocolate puddles!
How to make a freezer stash: Freezing cookie dough
Yes- because it is a no chill chocolate chip cookie recipe, if you freeze the dough it will bake up a little thicker, but this is fine as long as you are aware of this. You can also freeze the baked cookies if you like - however this recipe only yields 12 cookies, so even in our household of two they don't last that long!
For all my tips and tricks on freezing chocolate chip cookie dough and baking from frozen, check out my post: How to freeze cookie dough
❤️ Made this recipe and love it? ❤️
I would LOVE for you to leave me a review and star rating below to let me know how you liked it! Also, please make sure to tag me on Instagram!
Answers to your baking questions
Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:
- baking in grams
- adjusting oven temperatures
- what kind of salt to use
- and many more!
I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!
Chewy and Crispy Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 12 cookies 1x
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
My Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies come together in the time it takes to preheat the oven. Chewy on the inside and crispy on the edges, brown butter chocolate chip cookies have massive chocolate puddles, and these no mixer, no chill time cookies will become your new favorite!
Ingredients
- 150g unsalted butter, cold from the fridge is fine
- 100g light or dark brown sugar
- 60g granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 150g all-purpose flour
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 3g (1 tsp) salt
- 220g dark chocolate, chopped, plus about 150g additional for the tops of the cookies (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°f / 180°c. Line two sheet pans with parchment paper.
- Place the butter in a medium saucepan, and place over medium heat. Cook until the butter has melted, and then continue to cook, swirling the pan often and stirring with a whisk, until the butter foams and turns golden brown and nutty - this should take 3-4 minutes.
- Weigh out 110g (see Notes section below) of the brown butter into a medium bowl and leave to cool for 15-20 minutes so that it does not scramble your eggs.
- Add the brown sugar and granulated sugar to the bowl with the brown butter, and mix to combine.
- Add the egg and whisk well for 1-2 minutes, or mix using an electric mixer, until the mixture has lightened in colour and has thickened.
- Add the vanilla and mix well.
- Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix to combine with a rubber spatula until there are some flour streaks remaining - this is to ensure you do not over work the dough.
- Add the chocolate and mix to incorporate with a rubber spatula.
- Scoop 6 cookies (about 55g per cookie dough ball) using a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop onto the prepared baking sheet. If desired, flatten each ball of dough, press more chocolate pieces on the top, and roll into a ball (this works particularly well in this recipe). Arrange evenly apart on the pan. Keep the remainder of the batter in the bowl lightly covered with plastic wrap.
- Bake the cookies for 11-13 minutes, until the edges are set. Bake for longer if you would like your cookies to be crispier. Remove from the oven and bang the pan briefly on the counter to help deflate the cookies. If you would like to help your cookies to be perfectly round, use a cookie cutter slightly larger than the cookie to ‘scoot’ them into a perfectly round shape.
- Sprinkle the tops of the cookies with flaky sea salt. Allow to cool on the pan for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Repeat the baking process with the remainder of the cookies. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Notes
If you are worried about browning butter - don't be! I have a full guide on brown butter 101
You will notice that there are two quantities of butter in the recipe - the initial quantity of butter, then a second measurement in the method which is the quantity of brown butter. The larger initial quantity is to account for water loss when browning - read more about that in my FAQ.
If you are using the recipe scaling feature (2x or 3x) be aware that any quantities, measurements, pan sizes, and cooking times given in the method do not scale automatically - it's only the quantities in the Ingredient List that scale automatically.
Different butters will have different moisture levels, which affects the yield of brown butter. American style butter have a higher water content, so will produce less brown butter when the water is cooked off. European or New Zealand style butter, which is higher in fat than American butter, will have less water that needs cooking off, so you will end up with a higher yield of brown butter. The quantity of the butter in these browned butter cookies is important here, so the best way to measure it is by using a scale. You start with an initial quantity of butter - in this case 150g, and then cook it down. You then re-measure the weight of the brown butter, and use 110g of that in your cookie recipe. I have accounted for the moisture loss from the initial quantity of brown butter in the recipe.
Comments
stacy says
the best!
Nicole says
Absolutely delicious! The brown butter and the coffee gives the cookies such a beautiful well rounded flavour with depth. Definitely saving this for next time!
Caribou says
thanks for this !!!!!
Ann says
Super quick and easy. Simply the best chocolate chip cookies I tried. Thanks for sharing your recipe 😊
Dominique says
Brown butter might be my new favourite smell! These biscuits are so easy to make and they are seriously delicious! Thanks for the recipe, it is my new go to 🙂
Knead2Quilt says
I made these today and they smell and look delicious. Love the browned butter in them. They are so easy to make. My hubby likes crisp cookies so I am hoping that baking them 15 minutes made them crisp enough for him. Yummy recipe, thank you for sharing!
Erin Clarkson says
Yay so happy you loved!
Alice says
These are what we call unicorn cookies, they are absolutely sensational. I have made countless batches of mediocre cookies and finally found the right recipe. I didn’t think my golden child recipe could be topped till I found this unicorn. I got rave reviews on the cookies and aside from browning the butter (I checked a YouTube tutorial on this) it’s relatively easy to make. Thank you so much for introducing these to my life!
Liliana says
These are soooo good, i am making them again today but have to half the recipe as I'm almost out of butter!! will make double and freeze next time! big hit at work too
Tina says
Hi Erin! Can I make these ahead of time by freezing the dough? Id have to bring it to room temp before baking it right?
Thank you!
Erin Clarkson says
Hi! Yes you can - you just bake from frozen 🙂
Allison says
These were v good! A little crispy on the edges but still chewy in the center. Will def make again. My second tray didn’t spread as much as the first batch did, for some reason, but still tasted good!
David says
When people ask me to describe what kind of Chocolate Chip Cookie i prefer i think a cookie like this comes to mind. Chewy, thin, crisp around the edges and Dark Chocolate. This cookie is a nice balance of the nutty browned butter, bittersweet dark chocolate and explosive bits of the flaky salt. I think the best part of this recipe is that it's easy and anyone can follow along. No need to soften butter in your pocket (because you forgot to soften butter) or equipment needed. Highly recommend.
Sooin says
Can you sub Flour with Almond flour ?
Erin Clarkson says
No sorry! You could try a gf flour blend but almond flour won't work
Margarita says
Such a great recipe (as are all your other recipes I've tried!) Super simple and easy, and so much depth of flavour with the brown butter. Will definitely be making these again!
isra malik says
solved my chocolate chip cookie curse! will definitely make again!!!!
Kara Jo Engelbrecht says
Love these cookies!
Sophie says
Best chocolate chunk cookies EVER!! I make these far too often but they are just perfect. Hubbys fave is big chunks of whittakers dark ghana and then some whittakers white or blondie. So so good!
Brittany says
Y'all. These cookies are the best I've ever made. Hands down, sorry grandma, but I'll be browning my butter forever now. I used semi-sweet chocolate chips and can't wait to try it with dark chocolate!
Val says
THE ONLY RECIPE I WILL EVER USE FOR CCC EVER AGAIN. SO GOOD!
Kara Engelbrecht says
Made these again and they are amazing. I put the batter together before making dinner for some friends. Then once we finished I baked them off while we all hung out. They were incredible!! I do them with a blend of gf and a little almond flour for texture. Perfect cookie. Thank you!
Lilian says
This is, by far, the best CCC recipe I've tried! The overall texture, the touch of salt--perfect. Measuring by weight is KEY to making all bakes successfully and this is recipe is proof. I love the nutty aroma and flavor the browned butter gives and the amount of chocolate is perfect. I have also made these replacing 100g of chocolate for 100g of chopped walnuts and they're also amazing. Thank you, Erin, for developing this amazing recipe.
Ann says
Super quick and easy. Simply the best chocolate chip cookies I tried. Thanks for sharing your recipe 😊
Vlatka says
Dear Erin,
just want to let you know that I 've made the brown butter version of ccc and afterwards none other ccc recipe exsist for me. I'm in love with the balanced flavour. Thank you so much for sharing. I also love your other recipes, all seems to be completly mý taste. Wish you many more renewed and adjusted recipes to newer advanced culinary era.
Greetings from Croatia
Erin Clarkson says
Oh yay I am so happy you loved!
Adele says
I made this yesterday, yesterday right bake it was great. However, today i bake it it turns thicker and not spread. Why yeah? 🙁
Erin Clarkson says
The recipe has you bake the cookie straight away and is developed with that as the intention. If you let the batter sit the butter would have firmed up and the flour hydrated, meaning that when you baked the cookie it did not spread out as much.
adele says
Hi dear, but what if i bake it right after frozen it ? it turns greasy.
c says
Is there a reason why you waste that much butter? i don’t know if i’m not reading it correctly but i’m seeing that you melt 300 grams then separate 110 grams and only use that. why brown so much butter if you’re just going to waste it? i’m genuinely curious, i want to make these cookies but will not be wasting that much and am wondering if you can just brown the 110 grams you are actually using
Erin Clarkson says
Hi! No butter is being wasted. There is a note in the blog post about this - the heading is "moisture loss when browning butter". Please also check the note underneath the recipe about using the scaling button as it sounds like you have hit the '2x' button if you are getting 300g of butter. Thanks!
Kathryn says
These cookies are so good! Very simple recipe, super easy to follow instructions (as always!) and just delicious. Will definitely be making them again.
Estelle says
Best cookies EVER!! So good that my teacher asked me to make them for the class!
Lu says
Doesn’t brown butter just make everything better! The little bit of time to brown the butter makes these cookies delicious! Simple recipe with a great outcome! Try them!
Dee says
Absolutely delish! I made these for a last minute get together and they were a hit, thanks Erin!
Rebecca Hennessey says
I knew these were gonna be awesome before I even made them so doubled the recipe for a true batch of cookies. Good thing because they are wonderful! Great flavor from brown butter and no chilling was a bonus. Froze some as well and the brown butter really shines if you happen to eat the frozen cookie dough.
Erin Clarkson says
Yesss smart move! So happy you loved!
Emily N says
Insanely good cookies. I struggled a little bit with the brown butter (I should've cooked it a bit longer) but it still turned out so good. I also weighed out the dough to 55g since I didn't have a cookie scoop, and I'm glad I did!
Samantha says
Literally so good. Too good. My new go to recipe.
Erin Clarkson says
Aw yussss!
Mamie says
This is the quintessential chocolate chip cookie! I subbed the tsp salt for 1/8 tsp ground Himalayan pink salt and you can taste the salt working against the chocolate and the brown butter. Will likely be my go to chocolate chip cookie recipe.
Janette O'Leary says
Made these twice now and beautiful to eat both times, delicious
Caitlin says
The absolute best choc chip cookie recipe I have ever tried- brown butter makes everything more delicious! Thank you for sharing your wonderful recipes!
Bel says
Actually my go-to recipe now. So delicious. Also greatly appreciate that more butter is listed in the ingredients list so that the right amount comes out when you brown it.
Jennette says
Could you please inc measurements in cups/tsp?
Thank you. Would really love to try your creations.
Erin Clarkson says
Hi Jennette, no I will not be including cups - please see the note above every recipe regarding this. Thanks!
Merushka says
I've made these before (and left a review before). But they are so darn good I have to leave another review! I make them a bit smaller (so everyone in my house gets to have at least one!) and they bake up perfect. This is honestly the perfect chocolate chip cooke recipe. I normally make the small batch recipe (and double it obviously due to the deliciousness) with the coffee and then top with some flaky salt but I didn't this time and they were still so perfect and balanced! Can't say enough good stuff about this recipe 10/10
Kimberly Salzbrunn says
The best cookies they work really well. Easy to follow recipe and measure, measure, measure your ingredients! It makes a difference and isn’t hard if you get an inexpensive kitchen scale. My husband loved them. Thank you for posting the recipe.
savannah says
hi!! curious what kind of chocolate you used? i made these yesterday and while they were delicious, the chocolate didn’t “pool”.
Erin Clarkson says
Hi! I use whittaker's 72%. Depending on the kind of chocolate, some won't pool - if it's chocolate chips or chocolate with a lower cocoa % they won't melt as well!
savannah says
ah! i will try a higher cocoa percentage - already making another batch!! thanks for the reply and the delightful recipes!
Amber says
I love this recipe, it’s my new go-to and have made it repeatedly! The tips and hints are so useful as well
Megan says
Omg best cookies ever!!!! So yum!
Thankyou!
Melowl97 says
Excellent cookies. Loved that they did not need any time in the fridge and still came out amazing!
Sarah says
Wow! These are hands down the best choc chip cookies I’ve ever tasted! I was bummed I couldn’t find any flaky sea salt as I reckon that would have perfected this already perfect recipe!! Thank you Erin!
An says
Just looking at the recipe I had a feeling these would be amazing, so I made a triple batch. Crispy outside, still chewy in the middle. The browned butter and espresso were *chef’s kiss! I let the batter sit in the fridge for about half and hour to let the flour hydrate, used a 2T scoop and baked for 10-11 minutes. They spread less when chilled. My only mistake is not keeping some dough in the freezer for future emergency cookie needs! Thank you so much for putting in the time and effort to get it right.
Shay says
I have made these cookies several times and they never fail. It is my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe! It is consistent and always comes out perfectly.
I have a question. Have the ingredients changed? I thought there was muscovado sugar in the recipe but I don't see it listed anymore. Did you remove it? Can I still use it? Was it replaced by dark brown sugar? Would I use dark or light muscovado? Thank you, Erin!
Erin Clarkson says
Hi! So happy you love! I haven't changed the ingredients! You may be thinking of my salted caramel chocolate chunk cookie recipe instead? You can sub brown sugar for either light or dark muscovado sugar!
Rachel says
Stop everything!!!! You HAVE to make these cookies, they are the best ones I’ve ever made. My son requested we make some that were very chocolatey and chewy and crispy and these ticked all the boxes. We only made them yesterday and there’s only one left. Bonus that they don’t need to chill before you cook them. The little sprinkle of sea salt at the end takes them to another level too. Seriously, make them now, you won’t regret it 😋
jenny says
Holy god.
Okay, so the second Fall hits, I bake, and I bake, and I bake. It’s nonstop. And the one thing I love to make is chocolate chip cookies. However, they’re never “amazing” just mediocre at best. So, I came across the recipe, and thought “why not”….
I have to say that these are by far the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever made. Truly. Thank you.
I attempted to make a brown butter Cc cookie’s a while back, and perhaps I burnt the butter, cause I just didn’t like the taste of brown butter. I wanted to give it another try, and didn’t want a recipe that was gonna take 2 days to make. Thanks again, cause these are absolute perfection. I do believe that when baking any type of cookie, u should use the best quality butter that you can find. Makes hella difference
Erin Clarkson says
So so happy you loved!
Elizabeth says
My go-to chocolate chip cookies! Such depth of flavor and love that I don’t have to get out the stand mixer (with a little effort you only need a whisk and a spatula). Thanks to Erin I keep brown butter in the fridge all the time now!
Esther Ng. says
Hi thank you for the recipe.yesterday I baked the cookies .wow it’s so yummy. I’m not good in eating cookies only I bake for my children. Today I ate one of the cookies I’m not stop eating.
I tried many recipe I’m not satisfied but yours really one of the best recipe. And you’re mentioned about the butter. It’s also helpful for the recipe.I really wanted to say thank very much for your recipe my family loves.my son early morning took one and ate it .👍♥️♥️♥️🙏🙏
freya says
these were so easy and absolutely divine! the texture is perfect with a delicately crisp edge and soft centre.
Melissa says
So good! They turned out perfect!
Kayla says
Love the precision of baking with weight and weighing out my dough since I don't have a cookie dough scooper yet! Love the crunchy outside and soft in the middle, the perfect cookie texture! Will definitely be making these again 🙂
Ria says
These are seriously the best cookies ever! The recipe is perfect as is. I love the tip of adding more chocolate on top to get a more gourmet look. Will definitely be making this again!
Emily says
These are incredible and were very easy to make. Will def be making again! I am wondering how they would turn out smaller so I may try that next time.
Lea Williams says
Do you have an easier measurement recipe to these cookies? I do not have a scale but would love to make them
Erin Clarkson says
I don't sorry! The scale is by far the easiest way to make them - highly recommend getting one!
Emily says
It is BEYOND worth it to start using a scale for your baking. The difference it makes can sometimes be profound. Escali makes a good, small scale that's <$20. I'm a US based baker in case that makes a difference.
Amber says
These cookies are SO GOOD! I’ve made them twice now in the span of about a week. The recipe is clear and easy to follow. Will be making them again in the future!
RK97 says
So amazing! Thanks for sharing the recipe. Quick and super flavorful.
Pamela Kramer says
Hands down THE best chocolate chip cookie recipe I have ever tried. 100% recommend!!
Emily says
This is my #1 chocolate chip cookie recipe. Since I made a batch for the first time a year ago, these cookies have been on standby in the freezer, and I make three batches at a time. I brown a pound of butter, weigh it out to the appropriate amount post browning, and go from there. These cookies are quick, simple, and DELICIOUS!
Ashley says
The most blissful cookie you could imagine, if you haven’t made these (and eaten them) you haven’t lived.