Description
The best thick and chewy brown butter chocolate chip cookies — deeply nutty, caramelized brown butter dough with white and light brown sugar, one egg, a splash of milk, and loads of chocolate chips, chilled and baked at 375°F for the chewiest, most flavorful chocolate chip cookies you have ever made. A five-minute brown butter technique that changes every cookie you bake forever.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (226g) salted butter (or unsalted — double the added salt to 1/2 tsp if using unsalted)
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated white sugar
- 3/4 cup (165g) light brown sugar, packed
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 2 tbsp milk
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cups (280g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt (1/2 tsp if using unsalted butter)
- 2 cups (340g) semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
- Flaky sea salt for finishing (optional but recommended)
Instructions
- Brown the butter: melt butter in a light-colored saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly. Continue cooking through the crackling, foaming, and dense foam stages. When golden foam appears and you smell a nutty toasted aroma with small browned flecks visible, immediately pour into a heatproof bowl. Cool completely — 20 to 30 minutes.
- Beat cooled brown butter with both sugars on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes until smooth and incorporated.
- Add room-temperature egg, milk, and vanilla. Beat until smooth and glossy, 1 to 2 minutes.
- Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl. Add to wet mixture and mix on low just until no flour streaks remain. Do not overmix.
- Fold in chocolate chips by hand with a spatula.
- Cover dough and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes — overnight for best results.
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Scoop dough into 2-tablespoon balls. Press extra chips into the tops. Add flaky salt if using.
- Bake one sheet at a time on the center rack for 10 to 12 minutes until edges are golden and centers still look slightly underdone and shiny.
- Rest on the hot baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
Notes
- Never walk away from browning butter — it goes from perfect to burned in under 30 seconds.
- Cool the brown butter completely before mixing — hot butter partially cooks the egg and breaks the dough.
- Include every browned bit from the bottom of the bowl — those are the most flavorful compounds.
- Measure flour by spooning into the cup, not scooping — packed flour produces dry, cakey cookies.
- Chill for minimum 30 minutes — overnight produces the best flavor and thickest cookies.
- Pull from the oven when the center still looks slightly underdone — it sets during the 5-minute pan rest.
- For unsalted butter, double the salt to 1/2 tsp in the dough.
- Dough balls can be frozen for up to 3 months — bake from frozen adding 2 to 3 extra minutes.
- Baked cookies keep at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 5 days.