Cookies will always be one of my favorite things to make – and my love affair with chocolate chip cookies means I’m always experimenting with my recipe, whether it be changing up the creaming method, or the sugar ratios, or the type of butter used. These brown butter chocolate chip cookies are my current obsession!
These Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies are my current addiction because they are filled with rich and nutty brown butter, making them a perfectly balance combination of butterscotch and chocolate flavors. They’re properly salted, giving the cookie an indulgent sweet and salty taste, and the ratio of cookie to chocolate is absolutely perfect.
Best of all, these cookies come together without needing to pull out your electric mixer! All you need is a couple of bowls, a whisk, and a spatula to get you going.
How to Make Perfect Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Browning the butter
When browning the butter, be sure to watch it closely and continue stirring to ensure even browning. Don’t hesitate to go slow and steady, butter can go from brown to burnt in a matter of seconds.
Sugar
An even ratio of dark brown sugar to granulated sugar is used in this recipe. The dark brown sugar gives the cookie their moist, rich and chewy texture while the granulated sugar ensures tenderness in the middle. If you don’t have dark brown sugar on hand, feel free to substitute using light brown sugar, just note that the cookies won’t have the same color and chew as the ones posted here.
Chocolate
In this recipe, it’s recommended to use chocolate bars or chocolate disks, because they melt much more naturally than chocolate chips. We coursely chop half of the chocolate in this recipe to break up the chocolate into little bits that get melted and flavor parts of the cookie dough with chocolate. I used the Ghirardelli chocolate baking bars, but you can also find similar baking bars at most grocery stores like Pavilions, Sprouts, Whole Foods, or specialty food stores like Williams Sonoma or Sur la Table. I highly recommend going out and getting chocolate bars or disks over chocolate chips! They will melt into chocolate puddles that truly make this cookie so special.
Baking Tips For Successful Cookies
Weigh Your Ingredients
As much as possible, always weigh your ingredients using a kitchen scale, especially the flour, which is most easily mis-measured when just using the measuring cups. Using too much or too little flour can lead to your cookies turning out dry and tough, or the dough too wet to handle.
Chilling the Dough
I can’t emphasize how important it is to chill your cookie dough! I’ve done several side by side bakes to compare the difference between a cookie baked immediately after mixing and after an overnight chill in the refrigerator and believe me, the difference is noticeable. The flavors have a chance to completely meld together, and the dough cools down so that the cookies don’t spread and melt into greasy puddles. This is a crucial step!
Size
Ever since I started using a 3 tablespoon cookie scoop to make my cookies, I’ve been able to achieve the perfect cookie size that allows for crispy edges, soft center, and an overall chewy cookie. The bigger the cookie scoop you use, the more likely you’ll be able to get variations throughout in one cookie. If you use a smaller cookie scoop, please make sure to reduce the baking time by 5-10 minutes.
Make Ahead
This cookie dough recipe can be made well in advance and refrigerated for up to 3 days. For longer storage, I typically scoop balls of dough onto a baking sheet and freeze them until solid, then transfer them to a freezer safe airtight container. Cookie dough balls last in the fridge for a couple months, which means that anytime a craving strikes you have some trusty cookie dough to satisfy your next craving!
Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Ingredients
- 8 oz unsalted butter
- 2 tbs heavy cream (28g) half and half or whole milk works
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (260g)
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- ¾ cup dark brown sugar (150g)
- ¾ cup granulated sugar (150g)
- 2 large eggs, cold
- 1 tbs vanilla extract
- 142 g bittersweet chocolate disks half coursely chopped
- 142 g milk chocolate disks half coursely chopped
Instructions
Brown the Butter
- In a saucepan, start browning the butter over medium heat. Continue stirring as the butter begins to sizzle and foam.
- After 5-7, the butter will foam up and brown bits will float amongst the foam. Continue stirring until the butter reaches an amber brown color. Remove from heat and pour into heatproof bowl.
- Pour the heavy cream into the brown butter and set the bowl over ice to allow the mixture to cool. Whisk the brown butter and cream mixture constantly while the mixture cools down so that the brown butter and cream combine into a room temperature homogenous mixture. We don't want melted butter as base of our cookie dough so be sure this mixture gets cooled down before the next step.
Make the Cookie Dough
- In another bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda.
- Whisk the dark brown sugar and granulated sugar into the bowl with the brown butter and cream mixture for 1 minute, making sure the sugar is evenly melted and incorporated.
- Add the eggs and vanilla extract. Whisk thoroughly so that all the ingredients are incorporated, at this point the dough will have a shiny, silkier texture.
- Using a spatula, gently fold dry ingredients (flour, salt, and baking soda) and the chocolate into the bowl until the dough is fully combined and that there are no dry streaks.
- Scoop the dough into dough balls before chilling in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours. Make sure to cover the cookie dough with plastic wrap to prevent the dough from drying out.
- When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350°F. Set the cookie dough balls on a baking sheet 2 inches apart. Bake for 13-15 minutes or until golden brown on the edges and just set in the middle. Enjoy!
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