Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies Recipe
The ultimate chocolate chip cookie! Nutty, velvety brown butter makes for a perfect cookie with crisp edges, chewy centers, and rich chocolate chunks in each bite.
How to Make the Best Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies
The Art of Brown Butter Cookies
Brown butter is the secret ingredient that elevates these chocolate chunk cookies from good to absolutely extraordinary. By slowly cooking the butter until its milk solids turn a rich, nutty brown, you create a depth of flavor that standard butter simply can’t match. The result is a cookie with a sophisticated, toasted complexity that pairs beautifully with the decadent chocolate chunks.
Why These Cookies Stand Out
What makes these cookies truly special is the perfect balance of textures and flavors. The brown butter creates cookies with crispy, lacy edges while maintaining a gloriously chewy center—the holy grail of cookie baking. The generous chocolate chunks add bursts of richness in every bite, making it impossible to stop at just one. The optional sea salt flakes provide a subtle contrast that amplifies the chocolate flavor and keeps your taste buds interested.
Baking Tips for Success
The key to perfect brown butter chocolate chunk cookies is patience with the brown butter step and attention to oven timing. Don’t rush the browning process—those milk solids need time to develop their full nutty flavor. When baking, keep a close eye on your cookies after the 12-minute mark. You want them golden at the edges but still slightly underdone in the centers; they’ll continue cooking as they cool and set up perfectly. If you have time, chilling the dough before baking will give you even better results with less spreading.
Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies
The ultimate chocolate chip cookie! Nutty, velvety brown butter makes for a perfect cookie with crisp edges, chewy centers, and rich chocolate chunks in each bite.
Ingredients
Cookies
Instructions
Make the Brown Butter
- In a saucepan or medium sauté pan, melt the butter over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Once melted, the milk fats will start to darken, which takes about 3 to 5 minutes.
- The butter will start to foam and rise—this is a sign it's almost done. Use a rubber spatula to stir and move the foam to check the color of the milk fats.
- Once the butter is a toasted brown color, transfer to a bowl.
Chill the Butter
- Place the bowl of butter in the freezer for 15-20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. The butter should be chilled and just starting to solidify once the time is up.
- About halfway through chilling the butter, preheat the oven to 350°F.
Mix the Dough
- In the bowl of a standing mixer or in a medium mixing bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar on medium speed for 5 minutes.
- Add in the eggs and vanilla and mix for another minute on medium speed, scraping down the side and bottom of the bowl halfway.
- In a small bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the batter and mix, increasing the speed to medium as the flour incorporates.
- Beat for about 1 minute until everything is combined. Lower the speed and mix in the chocolate chunks. Reserve about 1/4 cup of chocolate chunks for the top of the cookies if you want visible chocolate chunks on top like in the photos.
Bake
- Scoop about 2 tablespoons of dough and lightly roll into a ball. Place on a silicone mat-lined baking sheet.
- Top each cookie with 2 or 3 extra chocolate chunks. Bake for 12 to 13 minutes, just until the centers are cooked and the edges have just started to turn golden brown.
- Optional: sprinkle with flaked sea salt right after baking. Let cool for 3 to 4 minutes before transferring to a wire baking rack to cool completely.
Notes
- If using silicone baking mats, the cookie dough does not need to be chilled after mixing.
- If using parchment paper or baking directly on the baking sheet, chilling the cookie dough for 3 hours is highly recommended to prevent the cookies from spreading thin.