The Best Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

These brown butter chocolate chip cookies are crispy on the outside and gooey in the middle! Sprinkled with sea salt on top, the chocolate chips just melt in your mouth with the richness that only brown butter can give.

So, I grew up in a ‘because I said so’ household.

“Why can’t I have an Easy Bake Oven?” I no doubt said in the whiniest voice ever. “Because we have a real oven and because we said so!” was likely the answer from my very reasonable parents.

“Why can’t I wear these filthy overalls and Nirvana-inspired grunge flannel to church!?” I’d ask my mom as we rushed out of the house, almost late for service. “For so many reasons, but mostly because I said so!” Thank goodness for mothers.

So, with that in mind, I bring you the BEST chocolate chip cookies EVER… because I said so (and also because of browned butter).

I think I’ve posted this recipe on my blog before, but I’ve found a renewed spirit for these cookies after my friends at King Arthur Flour put these Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies to the test.  They asked, in step-by-step pictures of butter melting and flour whisking, if these cookies were the very best there are.

The answer is up to you, really. Are the cookies that come out of your oven after mixing up this dough the best you’ve ever had?

The answer (in my opinion): HECK YES!! Obviously, and because I said so!

What is brown butter?

Brown butter is literally regular butter that you cook on the stove at low heat until it caramelizes and turns a golden brown color. There is a lot of science-y stuff going on when this happens. For one thing, as it cooks, it releases a deeper caramelized flavor. It also brings out the flavors in the butter, making it bolder.  Here’s how to make browned butter.

If you love the taste of butter and want it to stand out or be more pronounced, brown it first. It’s the secret to these rich chocolate chip cookies!

Why these are the best cookies

• Using butter two ways (browned and softened) helps create a chewy and crisp texture. Chewy on the outside and crisp around the edges.
• Adding just a touch more than 2 cups of all-purpose flour helps maintain the not-totally-flat-and-frustrating quality of the cookie.
• Brown sugar and an extra kick of molasses lend depth to the sweetness.
• Dark chocolate and a touch of sea salt pair bitterness and salty tang with the sweet cookies.
• They’re perfect because of brown butter, sea salt… and because I say so.

How to make the best brown butter chocolate chip cookies

On a scale of 1 to croissants, chocolate chip cookies are pretty simple to bake. There are not a lot of attitudes, but a handful of things need to go more right than wrong when making this cookie batter.

Here are a few of my best tips that will help you not fail when you bake a batch of them.

1. Brown half of the butter

Half of the butter is browned to a golden amber color. The milk solids in the butter will also brown and gather at the bottom of the skillet. Make sure every bit of these browned butter bits makes it into the batter.

We want all of their flavors!

2. Make sure to measure the flour

Measuring the 2 1/4 cups of flour needed for this recipe is a big deal. We’ve discussed measuring cups vs. kitchen scales and learned the best way to measure flour into measuring cups.

It takes a light but deliberate touch. Don’t just guess. The cookies will NOT turn the way they are supposed to.

3. Use a stand mixer for wet ingredients

A stand mixer or hand mixer is nice for incorporating wet ingredients such as butter, sugar, and eggs. A wooden spoon, elbow grease, and patience will also yield the same effects. It’s just way easier to let the machine do the work for you (just sayin’)!

4. Mix dry ingredients by hand

I personally like to mix the dry ingredients, chocolate chunks, and nuts by hand. We can get good bottom-of-the-bowl scrapes and are less likely to over-beat the dough. Taking it easy is best in this part of the cookie recipe.

5. Use chocolate chunks or jumbo chips

Chocolate should be dark in large chunks or milky, round disks for these brown butter chocolate chip cookies. You get to do whatever you want! That feels good.

I say use dark chocolate chunks because it makes the cookies taste richer with that browned butter.

6. Chill the dough

So, I always get this question when I share my cookie recipes: Do you really need to chill the dough before baking the cookies?

Well…. yes! Also… no.

I try my best to chill the dough for at least 30 minutes before placing it in the oven to bake. This allows the dough to relax and allows the flour to absorb and settle in with moisture added to the dough via butter and eggs.

I find that chilling the dough will create a slightly more plump cookie with an extra body. Baking the cookie straight away will create a slightly more flat cookie. Nuance.

7. Sprinkle sea salt flakes over the top

What’s up with the salt all up and over the top of these cookies? Because I said so.

And also because the salt enhances every single ingredient you use. It makes the chocolate sweeter and the butter nuttier!

How to store homemade cookies

Store homemade chocolate chip cookies in your favorite cookie jar! If you want to prevent them from sticking to each other, place a sheet of parchment paper in between each layer of cookies.

I heard someone say you can place a piece of bread on top of the cookies to prevent them from drying out. However, I don’t know if that’s true. These cookies are so yummy, I ate them up before they had a chance to get stale!

Please leave any baking questions and your rating of this recipe in the comments below! Happy Baking!

 

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