Name: Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 50 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1/2 cup unsalted butter, diced; 1/2 cup granulated sugar; 1/2 cup dark brown sugar; 1 egg + 1 egg yolk; 2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 1 teaspoon molasses; 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour; 1/2 teaspoon baking soda; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 3 oz dark chocolate bar, chopped into chunks; 4 oz dark chocolate chips; flaky sea salt, for topping

Chewy, gooey brown butter chocolate chip cookies with nutty brown butter, melty pools of dark chocolate, and topped with flaky sea salt.

The Best Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Brown butter, dark chocolate, and flaky sea salt? All of my favorite things in one delicious chewy, gooey cookie package. These brown butter chocolate chip cookies are my husband Chavez’s creation and let me just tell you…they are the best.

For the past couple of years he has been working on perfecting his chocolate chip cookie recipe and finally, he cracked the code. These cookies are just the right balance of salty, sweet, and balanced. They have the perfect texture and the best part? They’re also incredibly easy to make.

There’s nothing like a really good chocolate chip cookie and this recipe is one of the best. I hope you love them as much as we do!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Ingredients

Unsalted Butter: butter is the star of the show in these brown butter chocolate chip cookies so be sure to use a high quality, great tasting butter. I prefer to use unsalted butter whenever I’m baking so that I can better control the amount of salt in the recipe. Don’t worry, we’ll add a little salt later.

Sugar: this recipe uses a combination of dark brown and regular granulated sugar for the perfect flavor and texture.

Eggs: to keep the cookies nice and chewy, we’re using both a regular egg and an egg yolk.

Vanilla Extract: a must-have in any good chocolate chip recipe. This recipe uses two teaspoons but measure with your heart.

Molasses: this adds a little extra chewiness and flavor to the cookie.

Flour: we’re using regular all purpose flour in this recipe. I include my favorite gluten free swap below if you need it.

Salt: it may sound counterintuitive but salt is KEY in baking. It helps to add flavor and balance to your baked good, especially sweets.

Chocolate: we’re using both dark chocolate chips and a chopped chocolate bar for the ultimate chocolatey-chocolate chip experience.

Flaky Sea Salt: I mean, if you are not topping your chocolate chip cookies with flaky sea salt, what are you even doing?!

Ingredients Swaps and FAQs

Butter – I can’t stress enough the importance of using a butter that actually tastes good in this recipe. This is the time to splurge a little and use that extra fancy grass-fed butter if you can. I have not tried making this recipe dairy free but if you have experience with using vegan butter when baking, go for it and let me know how the cookies turn out!
Flour – if you need to make this recipe gluten free, I recommend using a 1 to 1 all purpose gluten free flour. King Arthur and Cup 4 Cup are two great options that I have used personally. Replacing the all purpose flour with almond flour or coconut flour, 1-to-1 will not work well in this recipe.
Chocolate – dark chocolate really gives these cookies the best flavor but you can milk chocolate if you prefer.

What is Brown Butter?

What makes these cookies a bit different from traditional chocolate chip cookies is the brown butter. If you have never made brown butter before you are in for a real treat.

Brown butter is melted and cooked until the milk solids in the butter have become toasted. Gently cooking the butter removes the water content while also browning the milk solids hence the name, brown butter.

Browned butter has a deep, rich, nutty, and toasted aroma and flavor that tastes so good in these cookies.

Want a full tutorial on browning butter? Check out our guide on HOW TO MAKE BROWN BUTTER

How to Make Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Step One: The first step is to make the brown butter by adding some diced butter to a small pot over medium heat. Allow the butter to bubble and “cook” until it begins to change from a bright yellow color to a golden brown color. Cook and stir the butter until it is a golden brown color and has a nutty aroma. Remove the butter from the heat and transfer to a heat safe dish to cool slightly.

Step Two: Add the granulated sugar, dark brown sugar, egg and egg yolk, vanilla extract, and molasses to a mixing bowl. Whisk until well combined. Pour in the cooled brown butter and stir again until the butter is well incorporated.

Step Three: Sift the all purpose flour, baking soda, and salt into the wet ingredients. Use a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to stir until well combined and a dough forms.

Step Four: Fold the chocolate chips and chopped chocolate bar into the dough until well combined.

Step Five: Transfer the cookie dough to a fridge and let chill for at least 30 minutes.

Step Six: After the dough has chilled use a roughly tablespoon sized cookie scoop to scoop the dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet, 2 inches apart.

Step Seven: Bake the cookies at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. The edges of the cookies will be set and the middle will still look slightly underdone. Let the cookies cool for 1 minute on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Tips and Tricks for the Best Cookies

Measure your flour properly – be sure to spoon and level the flour into your measuring cup when measuring out your flour to prevent adding too much flour to the recipe.
Don’t skip chilling the dough – I know it can seem like a pain, but don’t skip chilling the dough. It makes such a difference in the overall flavor of the cookies!

More Delicious Cookie Recipes

I hope you love these Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies! They are absolutely delicious and always worth your time!

If you do give this recipe a try, I want to know! Leave a comment with a star rating below. You can also snap a photo & tag @allthehealthythings on INSTAGRAM. Your reviews help support All the Healthy Things and make it possible for me to continue to create the recipes you know and love.