Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

What makes the perfect chocolate chip cookie? Everyone has an opinion on that. For some it may be lots of chocolate chips, for others it may be a chewy texture, and there are even those who say it’s a cookie with no walnuts. While that’s crazy to me, I guess we are all entitled to our opinion, even if it’s wrong. Walnuts are the perfect addition to a a chocolate chip cookie, a necessity even.

After casually eating chocolate chips for my whole life, I found myself wondering what exactly it is that makes the perfect chocolate chip cookie to me. So, I decided to test the five most famous chocolate chip cookies on the internet to see which I liked best. You can read about my experience here.

My research lead me to create a cookie with all of my favorite elements into the ultimate chocolate chip cookie. My cookie creation includes brown butter, rolled oats, bread four, cinnamon, and walnuts in addition to the traditional ingredients. The result is a chewy, rich, and golden cookie that you just have to try!

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe Walkthrough

Typically the recipe for a chocolate chip cookie is pretty standard. You may find variation in the amount of chocolate chips that are added or the type of flour, but for the most part, most are pretty similar. While my recipe here isn’t all that different from a traditional chocolate chip cookie recipe, it does include some techniques and ingredients that really elevate the cookie.

The first technique that will make this cookie that much better is browning the butter. It’s a simple technique that really pays off in terms of the flavor profile. I loved it so much in this recipe, I made sure to add it to my espresso cake with brown butter frosting recipe.

The seconds technique that I use in this recipe is chilling the dough before baking. This helps the dough hold it’s shape better during baking and prevents the cookie from spreading out too much.

The ingredient changes that I made is the incorporation of bread flour, rolled oats, cinnamon, and chopped walnuts. The addition of these ingredients helps with a more intense flavor profile and a more satisfying cookie texture.

Keep reading the recipe notes below to see how each of these elements work together to create a simple but elevated chocolate chip cookie. I’ve included a visual tutorial via process shots so you can see what each stage of the bake looks like, in addition, to the recipe directions at the bottom of the post.

Step 1: Brown the butter in a small sauce pan.

Cook one stick of butter over medium heat. Be sure to stir constantly and scrape the bottom of the pan with a heatproof rubber spatula to prevent the butter from sticking and burning.

Step 2: Stir continuously until the butter stops bubbling and brown particles begin to form.

After a few minutes, the butter will start to foam. This is the liquid being cooked off and releasing. Once the butter starts to foam, you will notice brown particles begin to form. Once you see the brown particles throughout the butter, remove the butter from the heat and transfer to another bowl to cool for one minute.

Be sure to remove the butter from the heat and transfer to a different bowl to prevent the butter from continuing to cook in the pan and become burned. The brown butter will go from a nice caramel flavor to burnt pretty quickly.

Step 3: Add the remaining butter to the brown butter.

While the browned butter is cooling, cut the remaining ½ stick of butter into small pieces before adding to the browned butter. You want the butter to start melting, but not foam or sizzle when added. Try adding one piece of butter first before adding the rest of the butter.

Step 4: Add the granulated sugar and brown sugar to the browned butter.

The butter and sugar will come together into an almost paste like mixture. The sugar will also help cool down the butter before adding the eggs and prevents the eggs from scrambling when added.

Step 5: Whisk in the whole egg and egg yolks.

Whisk the eggs into the butter and sugar mixture until the mixture becomes lighter and smooth. This will take about a minute of whisking to achieve.

Step 6: Add the vanilla extract.

Step 7: In a separate bowl, mix the all-purpose flour, bread flour, rolled oats, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon together.

The addition of bread flour creates a chewier cookie. This is due to the extra protein that is found in bread flour which creates more gluten in the dough and the result is a chewier cookie.

I also added rolled oats and cinnamon to the dry ingredients of this recipe. I learned about the power of these two ingredients in cookies when making our Traeger Smoked Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe. So, I just knew they would make a great addition to my ultimate cookie recipe!

Step 8: Add the flour mixture to the liquid ingredients and gently fold to incorporate.

You only need to mix the dry ingredients until just combined. You can even leave the dough a little shaggy before adding the next ingredients because it will get mixed even more when those are added.

Step 9: Fold in the chopped chocolate chops and chopped walnut pieces before leaving to chill in the refrigerator.

Personally, I think most chocolate chip cookie recipes have too much chocolate chips. The result is an overly sweet cookie that is 75% chocolate and only 25% cookie. I wanted the cookie to shine a little brighter in this recipe, so I reduced the amount of chocolate added.

The result is equal parts chocolate to walnuts, which helps the actual cookie stand out while still having the sweetness from the chocolate and the texture and bitterness from the walnuts. It’s a perfect flavor combination.

Step 10: Once the dough has chilled, scoop into 1.5 ounce balls of dough and bake for 12-14 minutes, or until golden brown.

Chilling the dough before baking helps the dough keep its shape better during baking and prevents the cookies from spreading out too much. If you were to chill the dough overnight, it would also help enhance the flavor profile by giving the wet ingredients more time to hydrate the flour in the dough. This helps to create more impact in the flavor department.

Be sure to space the dough balls out on the baking sheet. As you can see, I have only added six cookie to a baking sheet. This is to prevent the cookies from running into each other as they expand in the oven.

Side note: This chocolate chip cookie dough also works great as a skillet cookie.

And there you have the ultimate Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe! By compiling all of my favorite cookie recipe techniques that I have learned over the years, I was able to create a simple but decadent chocolate chip cookie. A cookie that is so good, I made it into a buttercream for my chocolate chip cupcakes!

Try it for yourself and let me know what you think down in the comments below!