Fork Weekly

Dessert

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

By The Fork Weekly Kitchen · Published September 4, 2026 · ★★★★★ 4.9 (512 ratings)

Prep20 min
Cook12 min
Total32 min
Serves20
DifficultyMedium
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If you only learn one baking technique this year, make it browned butter. Cooking the milk solids until they toast adds a butterscotch, almost caramel depth that ordinary cookies just don’t have — and it takes seven extra minutes.

Don’t skip the chill. Warm dough spreads into flat, greasy cookies; cold dough bakes up thick and chewy with those craggy tops everyone fights over.

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Deeply nutty, chewy-in-the-middle, crisp-at-the-edges cookies with pools of dark chocolate and flaky salt. The browned butter is non-negotiable.

Prep20 min
Cook12 min
Total32 min
Serves20

Ingredients

  • 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter
  • 1 cup (200 g) packed dark brown sugar
  • ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2¼ cups (280 g) all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • ¾ tsp fine sea salt
  • 8 oz (225 g) dark chocolate, chopped into chunks
  • Flaky sea salt, for finishing

Instructions

  1. Melt the butter in a light-colored saucepan over medium heat, swirling often. It will foam, then quiet down and smell nutty with golden-brown flecks on the bottom, about 5–7 minutes. Pour into a large bowl (scrape in the brown bits) and let cool 10 minutes.
  2. Whisk the brown sugar and granulated sugar into the warm butter, then the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla. Beat vigorously for 30 seconds until glossy.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda and fine salt. Fold into the wet ingredients until just combined, then fold in the chocolate chunks.
  4. Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes (or up to 3 days) — this concentrates the flavor and stops the cookies spreading thin.
  5. Heat the oven to 375°F (190°C) and line two sheet pans with parchment. Scoop 2-tablespoon balls, spacing them 2 inches apart.
  6. Bake 10–12 minutes, until the edges are set but the centers still look slightly underdone. Sprinkle with flaky salt and cool on the pan 5 minutes before moving.
Recipe notes & tips
  • Browning the butter drives off water, so measure it after browning — if it looks short, that's normal.
  • For bakery-style cookies, chill the dough overnight; the difference in flavor is real.
  • Freeze scooped dough balls and bake from frozen, adding 1–2 minutes.
232 kcalCalories
3 gProtein
29 gCarbs
12 gFat