Salted Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

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These are the ultimate Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. They're crispy and chewy, sweet and salty, and just the best.

Close up view, angled view of a cluster of salted, chocolate chip cookies.

If you're looking for an elevated take on the chocolate chip cookie, you're in the right place. It's both crispy and chewy. We use brown butter, dark brown sugar, flakey salt, chocolate chunks and chips, and some bread flour for an unforgettable flavor and texture combo.

Cookie ingredients including flour, sugar, brown sugar, butter, chocolate, eggs, salt, vanilla and baking soda.

Ingredient Notes

Bread Flour: For a chewier cookie, add bread flour to the mix! It might sound crazy, but it provides such great texture from the extra gluten.

I got inspiration for using bread flour from Tasty's Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe.

Dark Brown Sugar: Again if you're going for a chewy cookie, use more dark brown sugar than white sugar. It's all about that molasses.

Combo of chocolate chips and chunks: For a fun textural contrast, use a combo of chocolate chips and chopped dark chocolate.

Add milk: When you brown butter, water evaporates. Butter is actually 80% fat, 20% water. To make up for the moisture loss, add a couple tablespoons of milk or water to the dough. I like using milk to make the dough a little richer.

Add a yolk: An extra egg yolks adds to the chewy texture of these cookies.

Steps to make cookies including mixing dry ingredients, making brown butter and combining wet ingredients.

Recipe Steps

To make brown butter chocolate chip cookies, first whisk together the dry ingredients (1). Then, brown the butter over the stove (2). Cool the browned butter until the texture of softened butter (3). Beat the brown butter with the granulated and dark brown sugars in a mixer over medium speed for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy (4).

Add whole egg and egg yolk and beat to combine. Mix in vanilla extract and milk (5). Add the flours in 2-3 additions. Stir in chocolate chips and chunks (6). Chill dough at least 2 hours but preferably overnight.

Preheat oven to 350F. Scoop 1 ½ tablespoon sized dough balls onto a sheet tray. Top with 2-3 chocolate chips (7). Bake for 10-14 minutes or until golden brown. Sprinkle with maldon salt (8).

Steps of making cookies including combining the wet and dry ingredients, adding chocolate chips and baking cookies.

Recipe Tips and FAQs

The temp of your brown butter matters: In this recipe, I chose to cool my browned butter in the fridge and let it sit out at room temperature so it's a similar texture to regular softened butter. Melted butter creates a flatter, crispier cookie while softened butter creates a thicker yet still crispy cookie. I prefer a thicker, chewier cookie, but go for the melted butter if you're looking for an extra crisp texture.

Chill your dough: Make sure your dough is cold and firm before you bake. If the dough is warmer and looser, it won't hold it's shape as well. The result will be a flatter cookie.

If you chill your dough overnight, the cookies will be even more flavorful. The dough can be made and refrigerated up to 2-3 days before baking.

Add chips on top: Before baking, add a few chocolate chips on top for that bakery look.

Add salt and do it after baking: Chunky maldon salt adds an amazing salty contrast to the sweet cookies. Maldon definitely works better than the finer Fleur de Sel. I tested adding the salt before and after baking, and find that it melts too much in the oven. Make sure to sprinkle with maldon immediately after the cookies are removed from the oven, and I promise they'll be hot enough for the salt to slightly melt and stick to the surface of the cookies.

How do you store chocolate chip cookies?

Store chocolate chip cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.

Can chocolate chip cookies be frozen?

You can freeze either the raw cookie dough or the baked cookies in a freezer bag for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the fridge.

Why are my chocolate chip cookies flat and crispy?

If you're chocolate chip cookies are flat and crispy, most likely the dough was not chilled before baking. If the butter in the dough is warm, the cookies spread more and get crispier. Chill the dough until firm if you prefer thicker, chewier cookies.

Overhead view of a cluster of salted chocolate chip cookies with one broken in half showing melted chocolate.

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