Big Bakery-Style Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
These aren't just any ordinary chocolate chip cookies. This recipe has been tested and optimized to get you big, perfectly chewy cookies with crisp edges, plenty of chocolate chips, and loads of that toasty brown butter flavor. We're using a special ingredient to amplify the brown butter flavor and making a couple of key changes for the best texture.You can absolutely make smaller cookies if you want (one batch makes about 24), but if you're craving big, expensive cookies from the bakery, these will taste just as good, if not better!
Equipment
- dough whisk recommended for hand mixing
- medium mixing bowl
- kitchen scale handy for getting the exact amount of flour
Ingredients
For the brown butter
- 7/8 cup browned butter (starting with two sticks of salted butter, this is the exact amount I use after browning); 199g
- 2 tbsp dry milk powder for browning; optional but highly recommended
Wet Ingredients
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 egg yolk room temperature
- 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
Dry Ingredients
- 2 cups bread flour (250g); spoon and level into measuring cup
- 2 tbsp cornstarch for extra chewy cookies
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp kosher salt or 1/2 tsp regular salt
- 1 1/4 cup chocolate chips or chunks I like to use half semi-sweet chips and half dark chocolate chunks.
For topping
- 1/4 cup chocolate chips or chunks optional
- 1 tsp flaky sea salt optional
Instructions
- In a medium mixing bowl, add your brown sugar and white sugar and set aside until ready. In a separate container, measure out your dry ingredients and have those whisked together and ready for later.1 cup light brown sugar, 1/3 cup granulated sugar, 2 cups bread flour, 2 tbsp cornstarch, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp kosher salt
- In a medium saucepan, place two sticks (one cup) of salted butter and heat over medium low on your stovetop. As the butter melts, add the dry milk powder, if using.7/8 cup browned butter, 2 tbsp dry milk powder
- While browning, the butter should be stirred often to help knock the milk solids to the bottom of the pan. If you're using the milk powder, it will look much thicker and creamier than you may be used to, but just keep stirring and making the browned butter like normal.I always go until you get the smell - that bold, toasted grilled cheese, nutty aroma that only happens when the brown butter reaches a certain point. You can stop before that when the butter bits turn tan or golden brown, but I always go to this point. It will burn shortly after.
- Once the browned butter is ready, pour it into your measuring cup to make sure you have precisely the right amount. Scrape as many little bits out of the pan as possible. Let the butter cool until warm. If you're in a hurry, you can place the measuring cup into a bowl of cold water and stir to help reduce the temperature.*Some brands of butter will produce more or less browned butter. In my testing, I found that I consistently got 7/8 cup brown butter using my regular butter brand and the milk powder.
- Use a dough whisk or spoon to stir the butter into the sugars. It will look grainy and kind of clumpy at this point, which is totally okay.
- Then, whisk in your vanilla extract and the room temperature eggs until glossy and creamy.1 large egg, 1 egg yolk, 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
- Add the dry ingredients - the bread flour, cornstarch, baking soda, salt, and the chocolate chips - and mix in until just combined. Adding the chips at this point helps reduce the overall mixing to give you the best texture.1 1/4 cup chocolate chips or chunks
- Portion out the dough into 4 oz scoops onto a half sheet pan lined with parchment paper. You can use a scoop or a kitchen scale to weigh out the dough balls. Shape into an egg or cone (see my photos) for tall, thick cookies. Top with extra chocolate chips and a sprinkle of flaky sea salt.1/4 cup chocolate chips or chunks, 1 tsp flaky sea salt
- Refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour or until the dough is firm. Once firm, transfer the cookie dough balls to an airtight container to avoid drying out. Store for at least 1.5 hours, but ideally between 6-48 hours until ready to bake. The flavors will improve the longer the dough rests.
- When ready to bake, prep your baking sheets with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 350F. When baking big cookies, you can usually bake about 6 on a half sheet pan at a time. Be sure to space them well.
- Bake for 14-15 minutes in a fully preheated oven. The cookies may still look slightly soft or wet at this point, but that is fine. Remove from the oven and let the cookies set up completely on the baking sheets.
Notes
This recipe is written this way specifically after numerous rounds of testing. You can still get great cookies by adjusting the individual ingredients, but I recommend following it to the letter to get the results shown in this post.
After browning, the actual amount of brown butter will vary depending on the brand and how much water cooks off.
In my testing, I found that browning 2 sticks of butter with 2 tbs of milk powder gave me 7/8 cup ( 199g) of melted brown butter every time.
Some brands may produce more, which can affect your cookies. At least the first time, I recommend measuring out the browned butter to have just the right amount at least until you get used to the quantity.
If you do not have bread flour, you can use all purpose flour. Please be sure to scoop and level the flour into your measuring cup or even better, use a kitchen scale to weigh out 250g.
Milk powder is optional, but is the way to get even more browned butter bits into the cookie dough. Without it, the cookies will still be delicious, but they won't have as many of those little specks and the flavor will be slightly different.
No need to bother with a stand mixer or even a hand mixer here. I use a Brod & Taylor dough whisk for this recipe every time and it has just the right spacing to help me stir everything evenly by hand without the dough getting stuck in the whisk itself. My favorite kitchen tool!
Make a double batch. If you want to make lots of cookie dough at once, you can absolutely double. To do so, please be sure to use weighted measurements for the flour and brown butter to get exactly the right amount! A double batch got me exactly 20 4-oz cookies.
Nutrition
Calories: 604kcal | Carbohydrates: 70g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 33g | Saturated Fat: 20g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 96mg | Sodium: 508mg | Potassium: 276mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 43g | Vitamin A: 735IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 76mg | Iron: 2mg
Servings: 9 big 4 oz cookies (or 24 smaller cookies)
Calories: 604kcal