Chewy & Fabulous Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

The most delicious, one-bowl Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies! These cookies have mega flavor and mega chew! The combination of brown butter and muscovado makes this cookie loaded with toffee and caramel flavors. Feel free to sub in brown sugar (ideally dark, but light works too!) for the muscovado. These will become your new favorite chocolate chip cookie!
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The original impetus for these Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies was these Gluten-Free Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. I loved them so much that I wanted to create a pro-gluten version. You don’t hear about recipes being adapted in the reverse like this, but that’s how we roll around here.

For those of you that can’t be bothered with muscovado sugar, use regular brown sugar (light or dark). And if you can’t be bothered with bread flour, use more all-purpose flour in its place (1:1).

Oh, and if you need a refresher on browning butter, check out my How to Make Perfect Brown Butter tutorial.

Fore more Brown Butter x Chocolate Chip Cookie fun, check out these recipes: Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars, Small Batch Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies and these Damn Delicious Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (Gluten Free!).

The Baker’s Guide to Measuring Flour

One of the biggest (and most common) mistakes in baking is how we measure flour. If you find yourself without a scale, see my top tips on how to properly measure flour for the perfect amount every time!

This Recipe Has Been Updated!

One of my favorite bakers on Instagram is Thida Bevington. She loves the Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies from The Cookie Book. She makes them often and links to this recipe for those that don’t have my book (and I love her for it, thank you!).

Since this is one of the most popular recipes on my site, and I’ve created literally hundreds of cookie recipes since I wrote this one 🤯, I knew I could give it some tweaks to make it even better than it already was.

For those of you that love the original recipe, FEAR NOT. Here are the changes so you can continue to make the cookie as its always been:

Original RecipeUpdated Recipe
8 tbsp (113 g) unsalted butter10 tbsp (141 g) unsalted butter
1/3 cup (75 g) sunflower or grapeseed oil 1/2 cup (112 g) sunflower or grapeseed oil 
2 tbsp (30 g) milk2 tbsp (26 g) water
1 tbsp (13 g) real vanilla extract2 tbsp (26 g) real vanilla extract
1/4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder2 teaspoons baking powder
2 1/2 cups (425 g) dark chocolate1 1/2 cups (255 g) dark chocolate

Additionally, the recipe is now one bowl — YAY!

Check out How to Make Perfect Brown Butter in case you’re new to brown butter or just looking for a refresher!

I used to be very into chilling my cookie dough. It really draws out some delicious caramel flavor and it makes for a cookie with more girth (as I like to say) ;). The flour has had time to absorb any excess moisture and it gives us a cookie with more structure.

I moved away from this because typically, when I want a cookie, I want a cookie right now. As soon as possible.

This cookie, however, needs a very short rest in the fridge. This is because we’re using brown butter which is liquid (along with some water + vanilla extract) in the cookie dough that results in a softer cookie dough base.

A short 20 minutes in the fridge really firms up this dough making it easier to scoop, as well as hold its shape while baking. Don’t skip this step!

Tools for Making These Brown Butter
Chocolate Chip Cookies Fabulous

These are pretty fuss-free cookies to bake, these are my favorite tools:

I love this small, light-colored Williams-Sonoma sauce pan for browning butter.

These spoonulas from GIR are my absolute favorites right now (I love the soft blue). 

My favorite nested, heat-safe bowls for any baking occasion! I love them so.

That beautiful Williams-Sonoma whisk with the wooden handle that’s in my videos. It’s so pretty. But when I’m being practical (and not making videos), this Material whisk is THE BOMB. I love their stuff!

Don’t forget my favorite scale. I wrote both of my books with this one, it will serve you well on your baking journey!

This 2-TBSP Cookie Scoop for easy portioning! 

brown butter chocolate chip cookies | Recipe via DisplacedHousewife | *This version is made with dark muscovado sugar; can also be made with dark/light brown sugar! xo

Choosing Chocolate For Your Cookies

For really delicious chocolate chips that you can get at the grocery store, you can’t go wrong with Ghirardelli. This particular Ghirardelli chocolate melts surprisingly well and tastes just delicious.

If I want to spend a little more on my chocolate I’ll opt for these Callebaut callets or this huge Callebaut block for chunks. These both melt beautifully and are so delicious in cookies!

More Cookie Fun!

Grab My Favorite Cookies Tips for Perfect Cookies, make these Crinkly, Fudgy Brownie Cookies (they’re so good!) or try my favorite, S’more Cookie Bars!

Don’t forget all of my other favorite chocolate chip cookie recipes (in addition to these!): Salted Olive Oil Chocolate Chip, Small Batch Mega Vanilla Chocolate Chip CookiesEspresso Chocolate Chip Cookies ☕️, DO NOT sleep on these Brown Butter Muscovado Bar Cookies and/or get all of the cookie recipes right here!

If you have a hankering for a quickie, Small Batch Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, click here friends!

This post will be updated soon with new photos + video, stay tuned!

Rebecca Firth

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

The most delicious, one-bowl Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies! These cookies have mega flavor and mega chew! The combination of brown butter and muscovado makes this cookie loaded with toffee and caramel flavors. Feel free to sub in brown sugar (ideally dark, but light works too!) for the muscovado. These will become your new favorite chocolate chip cookie!
5 from 2 reviews
Print Save Rate
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 11 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: chocolate chip cookies
Keyword: Chocolate Chip, Cookies, Muscovado, Brown Butter
Servings: 35 Cookies

Ingredients

  • 109 grams unsalted brown butter (10 tablespoons (141 g) unsalted butter before browning)
  • 1/2 cup (112 g) sunflower or grapeseed oil (or other neutral oil)
  • 2 tablespoons (26 g) water, (room temperature)
  • 2 tablespoons (26 g) real vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs, (room temperature)
  • 1 1/4 cup (275 g) dark muscovado sugar or brown sugar (dark or light)
  • 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons (10 g) baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon (5 g) baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon (6 g) sea salt
  • 1 1/2 cups (203 g) bread flour (how to measure flour)
  • 1 1/2 cups (203 g) all-purpose flour (how to measure flour)
  • 1 1/2 cups (255 g) dark chocolate, (chopped)
  • Sea salt flakes for dusting on top (optional)

Instructions

For the Brown Butter

  • Place 10 tablespoons (141 g) butter in a small sauce pan and melt over medium heat. Once melted, crank up the heat to medium high. Stand by, continuously stirring and watching. Small golden bits will start to settle on the bottom of the pan. Once this happens, take it off the heat and pour into a medium, heat-safe bowl to cool until closer to room temperature, but still liquid. 
    (For more details on browning butter, check out my How to Perfectly Brown Butter tutorial)

For the Cookie

  • Once the butter has cooled a bit, add the oil, water, vanilla and eggs and whisk until completely combined and the color has lightened, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add in the muscovado (or brown sugar), sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt, whisking to combine, about 2 minutes more.
    Sprinkle the bread and all-purpose flours over the top and fold in the flours until just combined and you still see small streaks of flour. Lastly, add in the chocolate chips and fold into the dough until evenly distributed. Lay a piece of plastic wrap over the top of the dough and stash in the fridge for 20 minutes.
  • Preheat your oven to 350°F (177°C). Cover your baking sheets with either parchment paper. Place 2 tablespoons of dough on the prepared baking sheet leaving about 2-inches (5-cm) between dough balls.
  • Bake in the center of the oven for 11 to 12 minutes or until golden around the edges and slightly underbaked in the center. Sprinkle with sea salt flakes (optional) and let cool completely on the baking sheet before serving.

Notes

*Made different test batches using dark muscovado, light brown sugar and dark brown sugar. I preferred the dark muscovado, but I wouldn’t kick any of them out of bed. 
*You can use all-purpose flour for all of the cookie; it may result in a thinner cookie with a little less chew, but it will still be fabulous!
Thanks for baking with me! Please rate + comment this recipe and tag me on social @displacedhousewife #displacedhousewife so I can see your beautiful treats! xo

Comments

Leave a Comment & Rate this Recipe

I love your comments, reviews and questions! If you love this recipe, please rate it when you leave a comment. Star ratings 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 help people discover my recipes. Your support means a lot, I look forward to chatting with you!

Rebecca xox

Recipe Rating




39 Comments

  • Charissa September 13, 2023 at 4:24 AM

    Very excited to make these now! If I’m planning to bake 12 hours after making the dough, do you suggest freezing the dough or rolling into balls & freezing?

    Reply
    • Rebecca Firth September 13, 2023 at 9:13 AM

      Hi Charissa!
      I would probably just put the dough, wrapped tightly, in the fridge if it’s for such a short time.

      If you’d prefer the freezer, I would portion them into balls and freeze. For less puffy cookies, let the dough come closer to room temp before baking.

      Let me know if you have any other questions! xx

      Reply
  • Rosemary June 11, 2023 at 11:09 AM

    5 stars
    These are absolutely delicious! I used more (non-browned) butter instead of the oil (oil tastes terrible to me after covid!) and they turned out fantastic. Nice and thick and malty and just perfect. Thank you for the recpie!

    Reply
    • Rebecca Firth June 13, 2023 at 10:56 AM

      I love this note re: using more brown butter — that’s so helpful for others that don’t have oil or just don’t want to use it, so thank you! Enjoy your cookies (and sorry about c@vid ). Take care! xox

      Reply
  • Lyn Heideman September 25, 2022 at 2:12 AM

    Hi, I love the idea of using muscovado sugar in CCCs! Question about flour: Many recipe developers use either Gold Medal AP (10.5% protein) or King Arthur AP (11.7% protein), so I stock both. King Arthur bread flour is 12.7% protein. Would it work to use King Arthur AP flour seems a happy medium between AP and bread flour. Could I use King Arther AP flour in place of the bread flour and AP flour, or is there something else about bread flour that is needed here? Thank you! Lyn

    Reply
    • Rebecca Firth October 18, 2022 at 2:27 PM

      Hi Lyn! I use King Arthur all-purpose for all of my recipe testing — I love it! You can make the recipe with all ap flour and it will still work great. Bread flour gives cookies some chew — I LOVE IT!!! But you can absolutely omit. Let me know how it goes!! xo

      Reply
  • Leonore Johnston September 15, 2022 at 11:34 AM

    These are the best cookies ever!!! I usually double the recipe and freeze dough balls for when I need some. My go-to recipe!

    Reply
    • Rebecca Firth October 18, 2022 at 2:31 PM

      Thank you so much Leonore!!! That means the world to me!!! Love that you’re keeping a freezer stash!! xo

      Reply
  • Mariam November 27, 2018 at 7:35 PM

    These are really good! I made them 4x now and I only received The Cookie Book last week :) I followed the recipe the first time. 2nd time I used the same amount of bread flour then halved the APF with whole what flour! Turned out great. 3rd and 4th time I reduced the oil to 80ml and it’s still good. I always freeze my cookies after shaping and keep them in the freezer ziplocked until I’m ready to go bake. Thanks for this recipe. Can’t wait to try the others xoxo

    Reply
  • Jennifer McCrickerd December 1, 2017 at 12:06 AM

    I am a very good (potentially obsessive) recipe follower. I’ve made these once (they are amazing) and my question is whether it’s important that the time in the freezer happen while on the parchment paper on the cookie sheet or can I just put the balls o’ dough in the freezer and then put them on the room temperature parchment paper on cookie sheet.

    I know just enough about chemistry to think that maybe it matters that the pan is cold too.

    thanks!!

    Reply
    • Rebecca Firth December 2, 2017 at 5:15 AM

      Hi Jennifer! Thank you for your kind words and your question — I love it!!! It is important for the dough to be chilled, not necessarily the baking sheet. A chilled dough ball takes longer to spread, thus keeping flat cookies at bay. Too much spreading drives me bonkers…I like my cookies to have some girth. I would imagine that the chilled baking sheet would only assist in this, but I’ve found it not necessary. Sometimes I’ll chill a bunch of balls on one sheet, but then bake them on a room temperature sheet…they still rock. Does this answer your question? Happy baking!! xoxo

      Reply
      • Jennifer McCrickerd December 7, 2017 at 12:44 AM

        many thanks! I had a hunch that this was the answer, but wanted to make sure.

        I made a batch and shared them with my students last week. Today a student noted, after class had already started, that she was craving my cookies (we then needed to spend some time talking about how much better the course would be if it was happening in a kitchen so we could talk and bake and the same time). So, yeah, these are a winner. :-)

        Reply
  • Monica July 24, 2017 at 7:20 PM

    Your cookies look amazing and we loved the olive oil ones (so chewy!) so I was happy to try these. I used light brown sugar and added some chopped hazelnuts to some of my batch. They went down very easy. : ) Thank you!

    Reply
  • Liz B. July 24, 2017 at 4:34 AM

    These are some of the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever made! I slightly decreased the white sugar as well as the vanilla (1 tbs struck me a lot, so I decreased by about .25) and upped the chocolate chips a bit. I used light brown sugar. I found they needed slightly less baking time (about 9-10 mins), and came out puffy and perfect. I’ve had the cookie dough in the fridge for a couple of days (I still freeze the dough balls prior to baking), and right now I’m freezing dough balls to store and bake off in small batches. So happy to have these for the coming weeks!

    Reply
    • Rebecca Firth July 24, 2017 at 2:57 PM

      Hi Liz!! Thank you so much for the awesome feedback — I’m so happy you liked them!!! One tablespoon is a lot of vanilla…but I love that flavor in my cookies. These notes are great…I’m going to try baking them for less next time!! xoxo

      Reply
  • vivian January 16, 2017 at 4:34 AM

    Hello,

    Just wanted to ask a quick question. My cookies turned out to be amazing but they spread out a bit. They dont look as puffy as yours. What did i do wrong? I tried to bake them for 11 minutes but they looked too undercooked so i baked them for 10 more minutes.

    Also i made my cookies with dark brown sugar and they came out more darkish brown.

    Thank you!

    Reply
    • DisplacedHousewife January 16, 2017 at 5:14 AM

      Hi Vivian! I’m so glad you made these cookies — they are one of my most favorites!!! If the cookies spread a bit, I have two questions for you… Did you use bread flour and did you chill the dough prior to baking…both are important steps that keep spreading at bay. The only other thought I have…is that I would wonder about the temperature in your oven… These cookies shouldn’t take 21 minutes to bake. Is there a chance that your oven temp might be off? If your oven couldn’t get hot enough, the cookies would take longer to set/firm up and thus more spreading would occur and they would take longer to bake. Without being there, those would be the thoughts I would have. These are generally pretty puffy cookies.

      I’m so glad you enjoyed them!! Feel free to send me a photo of them and we could talk cookies a little more. Have a great evening!! xoxo

      Reply
  • Em January 4, 2017 at 5:52 PM

    These were amazing!! I have made A LOT of chocolate chip cookies in my life, like, hundreds of batches, and these may be the best!! So soft and chewy… I live in Denver so added some flour so they wouldn’t flatten, probably an extra 1/3 cup. So good.

    Also- I wasn’t going to make cookies last night, but then I saw comments from Trump supporters “leaving” your site because of your comments, and I was like, I like this girl, I’m gonna make her cookies.

    Reply
    • DisplacedHousewife January 4, 2017 at 6:33 PM

      Hi Em — I am SO HAPPY that you loved these cookies!!! They are one of my go-to’s…and I’m already in the works for the 2017 chocolate chip cookie…because I think every year needs it’s own…at least one… Also, thanks for the high-altitude flour tip. I love when people leave info like that… Yes…I’ve had a couple of defectors. So be it…I’m ok with that. BUT your comment gave me a laugh, so thank you very much!!! Sending you all the best in Colorado!! xoxo

      Reply
  • Yasmin Pia Kintanar-Gabilan November 25, 2016 at 1:21 AM

    Question, can i just soften (cream) the butter instead of browning it? Will that be possible and will the cookie still come out fine?

    Reply
    • DisplacedHousewife November 26, 2016 at 5:50 PM

      Hi Yasmin! I have not tried it that way… My guess would be that they would come out fine…but until I’ve tested it I can’t say firmly. If you try, would you let me know? …now I want to make them that way too!! xoxo

      Reply
  • Yasmin G August 7, 2016 at 11:37 AM

    I tried it with All Purpose Flour only coz I don’t have Bread Flour at home. It still turned out very well. I used Muscovado sugar.

    I was happily surprised this chocolate chip was fat. I normally bake chocolate chip cookie but it turns out flat.

    Reply
    • DisplacedHousewife August 7, 2016 at 4:27 PM

      Hi Yasmin —
      I’m so happy that you liked them!! I like a cookie with some girth, so I worked really hard to create a recipe that had a bit more substance…I’m not a huge fan of flat cookies. That said…I did just post a cookie (the dark chocolate, tart cherry sea salt one…) that is thinner than just about every cookie on the blog…and I still like it. But cookie girth is important!!

      Thank you so much for adding your notes on flour — this is super helpful!! Enjoy!! xoxo

      Reply
  • Shabnam Gould July 4, 2016 at 6:46 PM

    just made these, got 20 cookies out of the recipe!
    didn’t have dark brown sugar, so used half demerera, half soft light brown.
    these are the best cookies I’ve ever made, not just because they turned out so well in terms of texture, taste, look etc but because the actual flavour of them is insanely good.
    They’ll be made many times again, thank you! X

    Reply
  • Julie May 23, 2016 at 10:01 PM

    Rebecca, can you store the dough in balls in the freezer for a few days? Can’t wait to try these!

    Reply
    • DisplacedHousewife May 24, 2016 at 1:07 AM

      Hi Julie! Absolutely a few days…and longer. I don’t have a definitive end date…but I’ve had some in for weeks and pulled them out and they’ve been mighty fine!! I hope you love them! xoxo

      Reply
  • Traci | Vanilla And Bean May 20, 2016 at 3:44 PM

    Thank you for all your notes and teasing out the mysteries of sugar for us, Rebecca! I love what brown sugar does to cookes, cakes…. well, anything baked. Then the bread flour… yesss, I get it! Happy Birthday month my dear! Wishing you all the best in the year ahead with lots more cookies and chocolate!! I hope you get all your admin work done in one big WALLOP!! (I skimmed the utterly depressing read… sigh – the Am dream is a myth for sure). MWAH to you Sunshine! xo

    Reply
    • DisplacedHousewife May 24, 2016 at 4:56 AM

      Thanks for you kind note Traci! I hope your upcoming year is filled with lots of joy + delicious food. xoxo

      Reply
  • Tessa | Salted Plains May 19, 2016 at 1:41 AM

    Ok, I love that you have photos of all 3 types of sugar. Isn’t it crazy what a difference it makes? I’m really into muscovado and can imagine how decadently delicious it would make a chocolate chip cookie. <3

    Reply
    • DisplacedHousewife May 24, 2016 at 4:57 AM

      Thank you Tessa! I totally debated on using all of the photos. It is COMPLETELY crazy how the various sugars yield different cookies…what a difference! xoxo

      Reply
  • Cathy | whatshouldimakefor.com May 17, 2016 at 8:08 PM

    reworking a recipe to make it pro-gluten when the rest of the world is de-glutening makes me so happy. i really do sympathize with my gf-intolerant friends, but dammit for the rest of us, flour is not the devil! these look and sound decadent and delicious. i will definitely be adding it to my must-bake list.

    Reply
  • Laura | Tutti Dolci May 17, 2016 at 7:06 AM

    You had me at brown butter, these are perfection!

    Reply
  • MB@Bourbon and Brown Sugar May 16, 2016 at 10:56 AM

    Belated Happy National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day! I’m going for the muscovado version… I have a little bag leftover from those amazing snickerdoodles of yours… Happy Monday Rebecca!

    Reply
    • DisplacedHousewife May 16, 2016 at 2:07 PM

      Oh good, I love them with the Muscovado!! Happy Monday MB!! xoxo

      Reply
  • Mary Ann | The Beach House Kitchen May 15, 2016 at 6:54 PM

    These look just perfect Rebecca! So fluffy and delicious! I think I’m going to give the dark muscovado a try.

    Reply
  • Frank May 15, 2016 at 4:28 AM

    Wow looks good, I can’t wait to try it!

    Reply