Chewy Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (Video)

Chewy brown butter chocolate chip cookies with crisp golden edges, soft middles, and a shiny, crackly top. I’ve made this recipe for years, and it is still the only chocolate chip cookie I make. That shiny, crackly top is my favorite part, and it starts before the egg ever goes in.

Want them thinner and softer? Try my soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies. In the mood for something fudgy? Go for chocolate crinkle cookies. The video is at the bottom of the post.

Ingredients for Chewy Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are pantry basics, and each one has a job in the flavor or the chew. Amounts are in the recipe card below.

Brown Butter

• Unsalted butter: most of it gets browned for a nutty, toffee flavor, and the rest goes in cold to cool it down. If you only have salted butter, cut the kosher salt in half.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

• All-purpose flour: it gives the cookies their structure. Bread flour makes them even chewier and can be swapped in 1:1.
• Baking soda: it reacts with the molasses in the brown sugar and helps the cookies brown deeper. Baking powder is not a swap here; it makes a puffier, paler, cakier cookie.
• Dark brown sugar: the molasses keeps the middles moist and chewy for days and adds a caramel flavor. Light brown sugar works, with a little less color and flavor.
• Granulated sugar: it crisps the edges and lets the cookies spread just enough. Keep the full amount, because less sugar bakes up drier and cakier.
• Kosher salt: it balances the sugar and brings out the chocolate. I use Morton, and the amount in the card is measured for it.
• Vanilla extract: pure vanilla rounds out the brown butter.
• Egg plus an extra yolk: the yolk adds fat without extra water, so the middle bakes chewy, not cakey, and the brown sugar flavor comes through. I love eggs with deep orange yolks.

Chocolate Chips and Nuts

• Semisweet chocolate chips or chunks: chips hold their shape, and a chopped bar melts into pools. My favorite is Valrhona callets; two pressed on top of each cookie melt into the prettiest pools.
• Pecans or walnuts: optional. I leave them out, but toasted nuts add a nice crunch.

How to Make Chewy Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

This method is adapted from a recipe I found years ago in America’s Test Kitchen magazine. Each stage has a look to watch for, so you always know you are on track. The recipe card has the times and amounts.

How to Brown the Butter

This is where the toffee flavor comes from, and it takes about 3 minutes.

1. Heat the oven to 375°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
   
   My baking sheets are dark nonstick. Is that OK?

   Yes, with one change. Dark sheets soak up more heat than light aluminum ones, so the cookie bottoms can burn before the middles are done. Drop the oven to 350°F, or nest the sheet inside a second one.
   Why such a hot oven?

   At 375°F, the edges set crisp and golden and the sugar browns into that toffee flavor, while the middles stay soft. For the most even cookies, bake one sheet at a time.
2. Brown the butter in a light-colored skillet. It foams up, and once the foam starts to settle, watch it like a hawk, because it is almost done.
   
   How do I know it’s browned, not burnt?

   When the little bits on the bottom turn golden, and it smells nutty, like toffee, take it off the heat right then. Dark brown or black bits and a bitter smell mean it went too far, and the cookies will taste burnt.
   Why a light-colored pan?

   You can see the color change. In a dark pan, you cannot tell golden from burnt until it is too late.

   

3. Whisk in the cold butter until it melts into the brown butter.
   
   Why add cold butter?

   It cools the hot brown butter fast, so you can keep going.
   Why melted butter instead of creamed?

   Melted butter makes a chewier cookie. Creaming beats air into the butter, and that air bakes into a lighter, cakier cookie.

How to Make the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

While the butter browns, measure out the remaining ingredients. This part makes the chew and the shiny top, so watch how the batter changes.

1. Dry ingredients: In a bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda, then set aside.
2. Whisk in the sugars: to the brown butter, add the sugars, salt, and vanilla, and mix until it is no longer hot.
   By hand: whisk for a couple of minutes.
   With a mixer: mix on high for a couple of minutes, just to cool it, not to whip it.
   It still looks grainy. Is that right?

   Yes. Sugar does not dissolve in fat, so grainy is normal at this point. It starts to dissolve once the egg goes in.
   How does the mixer cool the butter?

   The fast-spinning beaters whip air through the butter and sugar, and that moving air pulls out the heat. The bowl should feel only slightly warm before you add the egg, so the egg doesn’t cook.

   

3. Add the eggs to the mixture, beating in the egg and the extra yolk, one at a time, on low speed, just until some of the sugar melts and the batter turns glossy. You are not trying to beat in air, or the cookies will turn out cakey.
   
   What gives the cookies a shiny, crackly top?

   Dissolved sugar and well-whisked egg. Together they make a thin, shiny film on top of each cookie that dries and crackles in the oven, like a meringue. Dissolved sugar also browns more in the oven, so you get a deeper toffee flavor and chewier edges. A grainy, dull batter bakes up with a matte top, so keep whisking until it shines.
   Want an extra-shiny, crackly top?

   After the eggs go in, rest the batter 3 minutes, then whisk for 30 seconds, and repeat three times. Whisking and resting a few times lets more of the sugar dissolve, so the tops bake up glossier with more crackle.
   Why one at a time?

   Adding both at once can make the batter look greasy and split. One at a time, the fat and egg blend into one smooth batter.

   

4. Fold in the flour: stir it in just until the dry streaks disappear, then fold in half the chocolate and the nuts. Save the other half of the chocolate for the tops.
   
   Why not mix it more?

   Extra stirring builds gluten, and the cookies come out bready instead of chewy. A few dry streaks when you add the chips is fine; they disappear as you fold.

   

How to Shape and Bake Thick Cookies

The shape of the dough ball decides how thick the cookie bakes.

1. Shape the dough into balls with a cookie scoop, then squeeze each one into a tall cylinder, taller than it is wide. Scoop while the dough is still warm, because it scoops easily then. Set 8 on each sheet and press the saved chocolate into the tops.
   
   How do I get them extra thick?

   Shape them tall. A cylinder has further to spread before it sets, so it bakes up thick instead of flat.
   Can I make them bigger?

   Yes, and I love them this way. Make 12 cookies instead of 16 with a #16 cookie scoop, which holds 4 tablespoons of dough (roughly 85 g if you weigh them), and press two Valrhona callets into the top of each. Bake them at the same 375°F, just until the edges are set.

   

2. Chill the dough balls for at least an hour, for thicker, chewier cookies.
   
   Can I bake them right away?

   Yes, if you are in a hurry, and they are still great. An hour in the fridge lets the flour soak up the liquid and firms the butter, so they spread less and bake up thicker and chewier.
   How long can the dough chill?

   Up to 3 days, covered. The longer it rests, the deeper the toffee flavor. Bake straight from the fridge and add a minute or two.
3. Bake at 375°F just until the edges are set and golden. The middles should still look soft and underdone; if the middle looks set, the cookies are overbaked.
   
   They look raw in the middle. Are they done?

   If the edges are set and golden, yes. The middles finish setting on the hot sheet. If they look done in the oven, they will be dry once they cool. I bake mine for 11 minutes.
   The bottoms are burning.

   Check the oven first. Many ovens run hotter than the dial says, and an oven thermometer shows you the real number. On a dark sheet, drop the oven to 350°F.

   

4. Cool the cookies on the sheet for about 5 minutes, then move them to a wire rack.
   
   How do I get perfectly round cookies?

   Right out of the oven, set a round cookie cutter or a wide glass over each cookie, one a little wider than the cookie itself. Gently swirl it in small circles, and the rim nudges the soft edges into a neat circle. Do it while the cookies are hot, before the edges set.
   Why wait before moving them?

   Warm cookies are still soft and tear in half. A few minutes on the sheet sets them enough to lift.

Marina’s Pro Tips for theBest Chewy Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

These details decide how thick, chewy, and shiny your cookies turn out.

1. Pull the brown butter off the heat at golden. It keeps cooking in the hot pan, and a few seconds past toffee-smelling turns it bitter.
2. Mix the eggs in until glossy, not fluffy. A glossy batter bakes up with a shiny, crackly top, and beating in air makes the cookies cakey.
3. Shape the dough tall, not round. A cylinder of dough has further to spread, so the cookie comes out thick instead of flat.
4. Save half the chocolate for the tops. Press it into the shaped dough; it melts into shiny pools of chocolate on top of each cookie.
5. Chill the dough for thicker, chewier cookies. Even one hour lets the flour soak up the liquid, so the cookies spread less and chew more.
6. If your baking sheet is dark nonstick, drop the oven to 350°F. Dark sheets burn the bottoms before the middles set; two stacked sheets fix it too.
7. Take the cookies out while the middles look underdone. Wait only for the edges to set. If the middle looks set in the oven, the cookies are already overbaked and will turn dry as they cool.
8. Trim the baking soda when you double the batch. The card multiplies every amount when you change the servings, so keep the first batch worth of soda in full and add only three-quarters of it for each extra batch. A full double makes the cookies spread more than they should.

Ways to Serve Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Warm, with a cold glass of milk, is how they go in my house.

Want more? Sandwich a scoop of vanilla ice cream between two cookies and freeze for 20 minutes so they slice cleanly. Or crumble a cookie over a bowl of ice cream.

Any left by the next day? Here is how to keep them soft.

How to Make Chocolate Chip Cookies Ahead

Shape the dough and chill it covered for up to 3 days, or freeze the dough balls on a sheet, then bag them for up to 2 months. Bake frozen dough at 375°F with no thawing, adding a few minutes to the bake time.

Still have questions? These are the ones I hear most.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Variations

Same dough, a few small changes.

• Thinner and crackly: skip the chill, roll the dough into round balls instead of tall ones, and bake at 350°F until golden all the way across. Near the end of the bake, lift the pan and drop it on the oven rack a couple of times, and the cookies spread into crinkly rings.
• Salted tops: sprinkle a little flaky sea salt over the cookies as soon as they come out of the oven.
• Different chocolate: dark, milk, or white chocolate chunks all work, or a mix. Keep the total amount of chocolate the same.

More Cookie Recipes to Try

• Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies – the thinner, softer version, made with cream cheese.
• Chocolate Crinkle Cookies – a fudgy chocolate middle under a cracked powdered sugar top.
• Almond Joy Cookies – coconut, almonds, and chocolate in one cookie.
• Plum Butter Cookies – buttery shortbread sandwiched with plum butter.
• 7 Layer Bars – chocolate, coconut, and nuts pressed into one pan.
• Chocolate Walnut Brownies – for when you want fudgy instead of chewy.

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Chewy Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

4.73 from 11 votes

Chewy brown butter chocolate chip cookies with crisp golden edges, soft middles and a shiny, crackly top. One bowl, no mixer needed.

Author: Cook's Illustrated

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: chocolate chip cookies

Calories: 329 kcal

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes

Servings: 16 cookies

Ingredients

Brown Butter

• 10 Tbsp (140 g) unsalted butter for browning
• 4 Tbsp (56 g) unsalted butter cold

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

• 1 3/4 cups (262 g) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup (165 g) dark brown sugar packed
• 1 tsp kosher salt Morton
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 (50 g) large egg
• 1 (18 g) large egg yolk

Chocolate Chips and Nuts

• 1 1/4 cups (225 g) semisweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
• 3/4 cup (85 g) pecans or walnuts chopped, optional

Equipment: The pans and tools I use are in my Amazon shop.

Instructions

How to Brown the Butter

1. Heat the oven to 375°F with a rack in the middle and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Dark nonstick sheets? See Note 1.

2. Brown the butter in a light-colored skillet: melt 10 Tbsp unsalted butter over medium-high heat, swirling, 2 to 3 minutes. It foams up, and once the foam starts to settle, watch it like a hawk. When the bits on the bottom turn golden and it smells like toffee, take it off the heat right away.

3. Whisk in the cold butter: pour the brown butter into a heatproof bowl, add 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, and whisk until melted.

How to Make the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

1. Dry ingredients: while the butter browns, whisk together 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour and 1/2 tsp baking soda in a bowl and set it aside.

2. Whisk in the sugars: to the brown butter, add 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 3/4 cup dark brown sugar, 1 tsp kosher salt and 2 tsp vanilla extract and mix until it is no longer hot. It will look grainy.
   By hand: whisk for a couple of minutes.
   With a mixer: mix on high for a couple of minutes, just to cool it, not to whip it.

3. Add the eggs: to the mixture, beat in 1 large egg and 1 large egg yolk, one at a time, on low speed, just until the batter turns glossy. Do not beat in air, or the cookies will turn out cakey. For an extra-shiny top, see Note 4.

4. Fold in the flour: with a spatula, fold in the flour mixture just until no dry flour shows, then fold in half the chocolate chips and 3/4 cup pecans or walnuts, if using. Save the other half of the chocolate for the tops. Do not overmix.

How to Shape and Bake Thick Cookies

1. Shape the dough into 16 balls with a 3-tablespoon cookie scoop, then squeeze each one into a tall cylinder, taller than it is wide. Scoop while the dough is still warm. Set 8 on each sheet, evenly spaced, and press the saved chocolate into the tops. Bigger cookies? See Note 3.

2. Chill the dough balls for at least 1 hour, for thicker, chewier cookies (Note 2).

3. Bake at 375°F for 10 to 14 minutes, just until the edges are set and golden. Do not overbake: the middles should still look soft and underdone. If the middle looks set, the cookies are overbaked. I bake mine for 11 minutes.

4. Cool the cookies on the sheet for 5 minutes, then move them to a wire rack. For perfectly round cookies, see Note 11.

Recipe Notes

1. Dark baking sheets: dark nonstick sheets can burn the cookie bottoms. Bake at 350°F instead, or stack two sheets together.
2. Chilling: 1 hour gives thicker, chewier cookies, and up to 3 days, covered, deepens the toffee flavor. In a hurry, bake right away. From the fridge, add 1 to 2 minutes.
3. Bigger cookies: shape 12 instead of 16 with a #16 cookie scoop (1/4 cup, about 85 g of dough each) and press 2 Valrhona callets into each top. Bake at 375°F just until the edges are set.
4. Extra-shiny tops: after the eggs, rest the batter 3 minutes, then whisk 30 seconds; repeat 3 times; more of the sugar dissolves, so the tops bake up glossier.
5. Doubling: changing the servings multiplies every amount, baking soda included. Keep the first batch worth whole and add three quarters of it for each extra batch, so 1/2 tsp becomes 7/8 tsp when you double, not 1 tsp.
6. To freeze: freeze the shaped dough balls on a sheet, then move them to a zip-top bag for up to 2 months.
7. To bake from frozen: 8 per sheet at 375°F for 12 to 15 minutes, no thawing.
8. More toffee flavor: whisk 2 Tbsp dry milk powder into the butter as it browns.
9. Sourdough discard: add 50 g with the egg, plus 1/8 tsp more baking soda, and chill the dough.
10. Salted butter: use half the kosher salt.
11. Round cookies: right out of the oven, set a round cutter or glass a little wider than each cookie over it and gently swirl it in small circles to round the edges.

Nutrition Facts

Chewy Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Amount Per Serving

Calories 329 Calories from Fat 180

% Daily Value*

Fat 20g31%

Saturated Fat 10g63%

Cholesterol 50mg17%

Sodium 195mg8%

Potassium 139mg4%

Carbohydrates 35g12%

Fiber 2g8%

Sugar 22g24%

Protein 4g8%

Vitamin A 349IU7%

Vitamin C 1mg1%

Calcium 31mg3%

Iron 2mg11%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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I first shared this recipe in 2017, and it has been our family’s chocolate chip cookie ever since. In September 2026, I added what the butter, batter, and cookies should look like at each stage, a mixer option for cooling the brown butter, a shaping trick for taller cookies, a chill for extra chew, and tips for dark baking sheets.