Bakery-Style Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Browned butter and bittersweet chocolate make these generous bakery-style cookies deeply flavored rather than overly sweet, with crisp edges and chewy centers.

102 min

18 cookies

A stack of craggy brown butter chocolate chip cookies with melted bittersweet chocolate and flakes of sea salt.

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter

1 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs, room temperature

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp fine sea salt

10 oz chopped bittersweet chocolate, about 60% cacao

Flaky sea salt, for finishing

Equipment

Light-colored saucepan · Heatproof mixing bowl · Whisk · Rubber spatula · Two baking sheets · Parchment paper · Cookie scoop

Is chilling necessary?

No, but 60 minutes firms browned butter and hydrates flour, helping the cookies bake thicker with crisp edges and chewy centers.

Avoid overbaking

Trust the edges, not the center: pull cookies while the middle looks pale and soft, then let the hot pan finish setting it.

Brown and cool

01. Cook butter over medium heat until its milk solids turn deep amber and smell nutty, then transfer it promptly so it cannot burn.

02. Cool the browned butter for 15 minutes; it should be warm and fluid, not hot enough to scramble the eggs.

Make the dough

03. Whisk both sugars, eggs, and vanilla into the browned butter until glossy and thickened.

04. Fold flour, baking soda, and fine sea salt into the wet mixture only until a few flour streaks remain.

05. Fold in chopped bittersweet chocolate just until evenly distributed and the last flour streak disappears.

Chill and portion

06. Chill the covered dough for 60 minutes for the cleanest scoops and a thicker, chewier bake; it is optional if you need cookies sooner.

07. Heat the oven to 375 F and line two baking sheets with parchment while the dough firms.

08. Scoop 18 mounds, about 2 tablespoons each, with 6 mounds per sheet so their edges can crisp.

Bake and finish

09. Bake one sheet at a time for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove it when the edges are deep golden but the center is still pale and puffed; browned centers mean overbaked cookies.

10. Add flaky sea salt while hot, then leave cookies on the sheet for 10 minutes so carryover heat sets the middle gently.