Brown Butter Dirty Chai Chocolate Chip Cookies

Soft and chewy Brown Butter Dirty Chai Chocolate Chip Cookies are infused with warm spices, nutty brown butter, and pools of melty chocolate. Topped with flaky sea salt for the perfect finish. They’re easy to make and so delicious! 

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Chai Chocolate Chip Cookies Ingredients

• Unsalted Butter: you can’t have brown butter without butter! The key to the best flavor is 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 goods, especially sweets.
• Espresso Powder: this is what creates “dirty” chai, creating a richer flavor and enhancing the chocolate taste. I promise your cookies won’t taste like coffee! 
• Chai Spices: ground ginger, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground cardamom, and a pinch of cloves create the warm spiced flavor we want. 
• Chocolate: we’re using both dark chocolate chips and a chopped chocolate bar for the ultimate chocolatey-chocolate chip experience.

Ingredient Substitutions

• 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. However, 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.
• Espresso – feel free to use caffeine-free espresso powder if preferred. You can omit it as well, but your cookies will be lacking that “dirty chai” flavor.
• Chocolate – dark chocolate really gives these cookies the best flavor, but you can milk chocolate if you prefer.

How to Make Dirty Chai Chocolate Chip Cookies with Brown Butter

Step One: The first step is to make the brown butter by adding diced butter to a small pot, and heating it over medium heat on the stove. Allow the butter to bubble and “cook” until it begins to change from a bright yellow color to a golden brown color.

Step Two: Next, add the granulated sugar, dark brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, and molasses to a mixing bowl. Whisk until well combined. Then, 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. Next, add the espresso powder and spices.

Step Four: Fold the chocolate chips and chopped chocolate bar into the dough until well combined. Let the cookie dough chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. 

Step Five: 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 Six: Bake the chai chocolate chip cookies at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until the edges are set and the center is still soft. Top the cookies with flaky sea salt as soon as you take them out of the oven.

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.
• Avoid overmixing – be careful to combine the ingredients just until the dough is combined. Continuing to mix is likely to overwork the gluten, which will result in dense, tough cookies. 
• 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 taste and texture of the cookies!
• Don’t overbake – don’t overbake your cookies! the bottoms should be golden, the edges set, and the tops should still look fudgy or slightly underdone. The cookies will continue to firm up as they cool. Check the cookies for doneness after 7 minutes, and keep a close watch on them.

How to Freeze for Later

Freezing Cookie Dough: scoop the cookie dough into balls, and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Transfer the sheet pan to the freezer, and freeze the cookie dough balls for an hour or until solid. Once the cookie dough balls are frozen solid transfer them to a freezer-safe storage bag, and store for up to 3 months. You can bake the cookies from frozen, just add a few extra minutes to the cooking time.

Freezing Baked Cookies: once the cookies have baked, let them come to a complete cool. Transfer the cookies to a freezer-safe storage bag, and freeze them for up to 3 to 4 weeks. Thaw in the fridge or at room temperature when you’re ready to serve. 

More Delicious Cookie Recipes

• Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Gluten Free Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Flourless Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies
• Almond Flour Peanut Butter Cookies

I hope you give these Brown Butter Dirty Chai Chocolate Chip Cookies a try! They’re sweet, spiced, and perfectly chewy. 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.

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Photography by Sasha Hooper