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Stack of Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies on a white plate, one cookie split in half to show the gooey interior texture.

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies are extra large, extra gooey-in-the-middle, with an extra toasty, extra brown buttery flavor and a texture I can only describe as lush. This small batch recipe makes 6 extra-large cookies (equivalent to 12 normal sized ones).
Yield: 6 extra-large cookies
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 16 minutes
2 hours
Total Time: 3 hours

Ingredients

  • ½ cup / 113 g salted butter, ideally European-style
  • 2 teaspoons / 9 g dry milk powder, optional
  • ½ cup / 106 g dark brown sugar
  • ¼ cup / 50 g granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg, at room temperature
  • 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons / 10 g milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 ½ cups / 190 g all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon / 3 g cornstarch
  • ¾ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, increase to 3/4 teaspoon if using unsalted butter
  • ½ teaspoon instant espresso powder, optional
  • ¾ cup / 125 g chocolate chips or coarsely chopped chocolate, I use a mix of 70% dark and 50% semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions

  • To brown butter, combine butter and dry milk powder in a small saucepan over medium heat, until butter melts and starts to simmer and sputter (it will foam up quite a bit). Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the sputtering ceases and the butter solids on the bottom start to turn golden brown. Remove from heat and immediately pour into a heat-proof mixing bowl, scraping all the browned bits from the pan, and set aside to cool slightly (below 100 degrees F).
  • Add brown sugar and sugar to the mixing bowl with the lukewarm butter and stir until evenly moistened.
  • Add egg and egg yolk and mix well with a whisk or spatula until smooth and emulsified. Mix in vanilla and milk.
  • In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt and espresso powder until evenly incorporated. Add to the wet ingredients and gently mix just nearly incorporated, with just a few streaks of dry flour remaining. Fold in chocolate chips until evenly distributed.
  • At this point the dough will be very soft. I recommend chilling for 15 minutes first to make it easier to handle, but I like to shape the dough while it's still fairly soft.
  • Scoop dough into 100 grams balls (a heaping large scoop or two medium scoops) and roll into a smooth ball. Split ball into two balls, one slightly smaller then the other, then stack it on top of the other one to form a snowman. I find this unique shape helps keep the cookies tall.
  • Optionally, press a few extra chocolate chips into the top of the dough (these will melt into perfect puddles on top of your cookie). Repeat with remaining dough to form 6 total cookies, then cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line your baking sheets with parchment paper.
  • Arrange chilled cookie dough balls on prepared cookie sheet, leaving about 2 inches of of space between cookies. I baked 4 cookies per sheet, but you should be ok baking all 6 at once.
  • Bake for 15 to 16 minutes (slightly more or less depending on the size of your dough balls) or until tops are puffed, center is no longer raw-looking, and the bottom is slightly darkened to a golden brown.
  • Let cool on cookie sheet for 15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Cookies will keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days, refrigerated for up to 5, or in a zip-top bag in the freezer for up to 2 months.