Salted Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies are THE BEST chocolate chip cookies ever! I’m sharing all my tips on how to make the prettiest bakery-style cookies that require NO MIXER and NO CHILL TIME. This is my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe…it’s absolutely the best.
These Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies Are My Most Made Cookies Of All Time!
So today’s recipe, my Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies is by far my most MADE (and most requested) cookie recipe: a) because it’s seriously delicious , and b) you don’t need a mixer and c) there is no chill time necessary. Plus, this recipe has browned butter, and it does, indeed, make a HUGE difference. Honestly I haven’t met a person yet who doesn’t absolutely love these cookies. They are THAT cookie.
- If you love bakery-style cookies but don’t want to wait around for dough to chill, these no chill brown butter chocolate chip cookies are about to be your new favorite.
- They’re thick, chewy, loaded with chocolate, and have that deep, nutty flavor that only browned butter can give — but without any complicated steps or special equipment. No mixer, no chill time, no stress.
- This is the kind of recipe that gives you big results with simple techniques — and I’m sharing all my tips so yours turn out perfect every time.
Why This Recipe Works
- Browned butter = insane flavor. Taking a few extra minutes to brown the butter adds a rich, nutty depth that makes these cookies stand out.
- No chill time needed. The dough is designed to bake right away, so you get thick, chewy cookies without waiting hours.
- No mixer required. Everything comes together easily by hand which means fewer dishes, same amazing results.
- Slightly melted chocolate = bakery-style look. Pressing extra chocolate chips into the tops right after baking gives you that soft, melty finish you see in bakery cookies.
NOTE: This recipe is actually the cover recipe from my book, and by far one of the most popular recipes from the book…So I decided I needed to share the recipe here on my site as well for everyone who doesn’t own The Cookies and Cups Cookbook!
What Makes These Different From Other Brown Butter Cookies?
A lot of brown butter cookie recipes require chilling the dough for hours — which is great, but not always practical. This recipe is designed to:
- Bake immediately
- Stay thick without chilling
- Deliver that same rich brown butter flavor
So you get the best of both worlds: convenience + bakery-quality cookies.
But Why Brown the Butter?
Browning butter is a simple way to add a real depth of flavor without much effort at all. The fat solids in the butter become a deep amber color and intensify the richness and nuttiness of the butter.
You want it to cool enough that your chocolate chips don’t melt, but you don’t want it to become a solid again, since you won’t be using a mixer. If your butter cools too much and it does firm up, no problem just reheat it a little bit! Or, if it cools completely and instead of reheating it you can simply make this recipe in the mixer using the paddle attachment. You have flexibility.
How Do You Brown Butter?
Browning butter is so easy! All you do is:
- Melt your butter over medium-low heat.
- Bring the butter to a boil and swirl the pan continuously (or stir continuously) until the butter foams up and becomes a deep amber color.
- It will take a few minutes to start to brown, but once the butter begins to brown it will happen quick so don’t walk away!
- Once the color is a deep amber, remove it immediately from the heat and allow it to cool.
Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Ingredients:
- Salted Butter. I prefer salted butter in all my cookie recipes, but especially this one, as the saltiness of the butter combined with the addition of coarse sea salt makes these truly a balanced sweet/salty cookie experience.
- Sugars: I use a combination of light brown sugar and granulated sugar in this recipe.
- Large eggs. Pull the eggs out of the refrigerator before you brown your butter. This will give them a chance to come up to room temperature. Since the butter will still be a little warm when you add the eggs, it’s better to try to keep all the ingredients close to the same temperature.
- Vanilla extract. Always and forever use your vanilla extract in your chocolate chip cookies.
- Dry Ingredients: Baking soda, coarse sea salt, and all purpose flour
- Chocolate chips. You can use just about any type or brand of chocolate chips in these cookies, but I will hit on my favorite below.
What Kind Of Chocolate Do You Use In Chocolate Chip Cookies?
I like to use semi-sweet chocolate in my chocolate chip cookies! Milk chocolate can make things pretty sweet, but you can always use a combo or milk and dark (semi-sweet).
My most favorite brand of chocolate to use in my cookies is Callebaut. I order it in bulk on amazon. I buy the chocolate disks (callets), which a re a little more flat than a chip, but basically the same…and they melt like a dream. Seriously, if you haven’t tried it do yourself a favor and give it a shot. If I’m out of Callebaut, I’ll use Guittard or Ghirardelli.
Why Salted Butter and Coarse Sea Salt?
Well…these are Salted Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies…it’s literally the name of the recipe lol! BUT if you just aren’t into salt in your cookies no problem at all! You can use unsalted butter and leave out the coarse sea salt. If you use unsalted butter you will want to add back a little more salt though, 1/2 teaspoon is what I would recommend for anyone with a salt sensitivity.
But using salted butter and coarse sea salt really creates the magic of these cookies in my opinion.
Once, about 16 years ago, my mom was making cookies in my kitchen and couldn’t find the salt so used my coarse sea salt instead and I couldn’t believe how delicious it was! The little bits of salt throughout the cookie was an incredible combination with the sweet chocolate. Ever since then, this is how we’ve been making cookies…way before the sea salt trend started!
Common FAQs/Tips For Success
Do you have to chill brown butter cookie dough?
No! This recipe is specifically designed to be made without chilling. The ratios and method help the cookies stay thick and chewy even when baked right away.
Why did my cookies spread too much?
- Your butter may have been too hot. Make sure to cool your butter for 20 minutes before making the cookies.
- You may need a little more flour. Measuring flour is important! Use the spoon and sweep method.
- Or your baking sheet was too warm. Make sure to cool your baking sheet in between batches.
Can I use unsalted butter instead?
Yes! Just add an extra pinch of salt to balance the flavors.
What does brown butter do in cookies?
Brown butter adds a rich, nutty flavor that takes regular chocolate chip cookies to the next level. It’s a simple step that makes a big difference.
When they are golden brown at the edges and just set in the center pull them out of the oven and if you want, sprinkle with a little extra sea salt!
How Do You Make Your Cookies So Pretty?
There are few things more satisfying than making a pretty cookie…and luckily it’s pretty simple! Here are my tips!
Use A Cookie Scoop…
This is a super easy cookie making tip. This ensures that all your cookies are the exact same size, which means they will all bake evenly! Plus, using a cookie scoop is just an easier way to portion out dough.
The Crackly Tops…
Ok, I recently just learned this trick, but it is a GAME CHANGER! It really gives your cookies a bakery-style look! Here are the steps:
Scoop the dough out with your cookie scoop and then release the dough from the scoop and break it in half.
Now, turn the sides that were broken upward (so the jagged edge is on top) and press the smooth sides of the dough back together. Make sense?
The dough should still be tall, as it will flatten as it bakes, but the top should have the broken side up, so as it bakes it settles into a textured top!
Shape Them While They’re Warm!
As the cookies bake occasionally they can lose their perfectly circular shape. It’s an easy fix! Immediately when they come out of the oven take a spatula and form the cookies back into circles while still on the baking sheet.
If you wait too kong they set up and their shape can no longer be manipulated. so make sure to do do this while they are still hot!
Add A Few Extra Chocolate Chips On Top…
I do this every time I bake chocolate chip cookies! As soon as they come out of the oven place a few extra chocolate chips on top of the hot cookies. The chips will melt a little, securing them to the cookie, and give them that pretty, professional look!
Which Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe Should You Make?
If you’ve been around here for a while, you know I take my cookies seriously. Here’s how this one compares:
- This recipe → best for quick, bakery-style cookies with deep flavor
- My classic chocolate chip cookies → best for traditional, buttery cookies
- Crumbl copycat cookies → best for extra thick, oversized cookies
If you want something fast but still next-level, this brown butter version is the one.
Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 24 cookies 1x
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Dessert
Description
This is my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe. Not only do you not need to use a mixer, there is no chill time needed getting depth of flavor from the brown butter and sea salt.
Ingredients
- 1 cup salted butter
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan (7- quart) over medium heat melt the butter and bring it to a boil. Once it starts boiling swirl the pan, or stir constantly until the butter passes the foamy phase and becomes a deep amber color.
- Remove from heat and allow butter to cool for 20 minutes.
- While the butter is cooling preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Add the light brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, vanilla, baking soda, and salt into the cooled butter and stir to combine using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon.
- Stir in the flour until the dough comes together and the ingredients are evenly incorporated.
- Finally mix in the chocolate chips.
- Using a large cookie scoop (3 tablespoon sized), scoop the dough out onto the lined baking sheet, 2 inches apart. *See note in the post for my trick to pretty cookie tops!
- Bake the cookies for 10 – 12 minutes until the edges are lightly golden and the centers are just set.
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven and allow the cookie to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- If desired, sprinkle a small amount of flaked sea salt on top of the cookies as they are cooling.
Notes
Store airtight at room temperature for up to 3 days for best freshness.
Freeze for up to 30 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 263
- Sugar: 23 g
- Sodium: 186.8 mg
- Fat: 13.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 34.4 g
- Protein: 3.3 g
- Cholesterol: 35.8 mg
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What would be the weight in grams for the dry ingredients?
If the butter looks a little gritty while is cooling , did I over brown it?
Hmm… I don’t know what you mean by gritty, but the milk fats will separate and brown. You’ve only over-browned it if it gets burnt!
I just made these for the first time and they are soo good! I’ve been looking for a go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe and I think this might be the one. I’m curious if you could share the measurements by weight because my cookie dough looked a bit more moist/caramely than yours does in your photos. I’d love to know how many grams of the granulated and brown sugar specifically should go in to this recipe so I can be really precise next time (even though they still turned out delicious)!
I will get to work on that for you. But I will say that the warmer the butter, the more caramel-ish the dough will look. As it cools of it will become a bit stiffer 🙂
I use 1 cup light brown sugar and 1/2 cup granulated sugar. As far as the butter goes….I actually set an alarm for 20 mins once the butter is done and use that time to ready the ingredients in my mixer and line my cookie sheets. I wait to put the eggs & vanilla extract in when the butter is cool. I also move the pan off the stove because if I’m preheating the oven the top of the stove gets warm and keeps the pan from cooling properly. 🙂
Soooo…I’ve now made this recipe oh about…..6 times since I first commented! I’ve used eggs that weren’t as fresh as I’d like, organic all-purpose flour & regular all-purpose flour, dark brown sugar because I ran out of light, Kerrygold butter because I ran out of Land O’Lakes, and each time I got a different result. I figured I’d share my results for other people who may come across a similar situation. First, I ran out of light brown sugar and used dark….the flavor of the browned butter was greatly overwhelmed by the amount of molasses (I’m guessing that was the issue). I usually have a nice, slightly strong taste of the browned butter but with dark brown sugar I barely tasted it at all. When I tried the recipe with Kerrygold butter I didn’t get as good a taste of the browned butter as when I used Land O’Lakes. Supposedly, European butter is better than ours because it has less water but I liked our butter much better in this case. I had the best result when I used fresh..organic..cage-free..brown eggs, King Arthur..organic..all-purpose flour, and Land O’Lakes..salted butter. And for those who are having issues with browning the butter……keep it moving and on medium heat until it melts and begins to rapidly boil. Keep stirring! (Or swirling the pan) I found that right when it stops the boiling and starts to rise and becomes frothy is when the browning is done. I use a wooden spoon to constantly stir and then I know it’s done when I move the spoon around through the froth I can see the swirls of deep amber liquid underneath. As far as the chocolate chips go…only one person in my house likes chocolate chips in their cookies so I leave the chips out until I have most of my dough on the cookie sheets the fold a small amount of chips into the remaining dough:) I know it’s weird to leave the chocolate chips out of chocolate chip cookies! Ok…..I’ve talked enough! Can you tell I love this recipe?! :):)
P.S. flaked sea salt is the other thing (besides the browned butter) that really makes this recipe!
Thank you so much for your review and experience! Yes, I’ve found the European butter in this recipe is kind of a waste…it’s not bad, but it’s not worth the extra money. Save it for toast!
My butter will not brown for the life of meeeee!!!!! It just keeps foaming and foaming and foaming! Boiled for over 5 mins and not one hint of brown!
Keep going!! It will get there!
I heat my butter straight from the fridge in a saucepan…keep it moving and on medium heat until it melts and begins to rapidly boil. Keep stirring! (Or swirling the pan) I found that right when it stops the boiling and starts to rise and becomes frothy is when the browning is done. I use a wooden spoon to constantly stir and then I know it’s done when I move the spoon around through the froth I can see the swirls of deep amber liquid underneath. I don’t do this on high heat. I start out on medium and when stirring I take the heat down a notch to brown it slowly rather than high heat and risk burning it. Comes out perfectly every time!
Hi these look so good! Do you think this recipe would work for making really big ones like 1/2 cup per cookie? Thanks!
I don’t see why not!
What would happen if you added an extra just egg yolk
I have this Half Pound Cookie recipe…https://cookiesandcups.com/half-pound-cookies/
You could use those measurements…if you’re mostly interested in the brown butter just brown the butter and then chill it until it’s cold and solid again and follow as written…
The oven was already hot after baking pizzas. I saw this recipe and decided to make a batch! They are really good! I would submit a picture but the teens and pre-teens in my house devoured them. Thanks for such a great recipe. The cookies had a great, deep flavor due to the browned butter. Usually when my butter is too warm I end up with flat cookies, but this recipe calls for just the right amount of flour so that the cookies keep their shape. We will be making these again – probably a double batch so there will be one left over!!
Thank you so much for the review! I make a double batch pretty frequently!
First off, I’m not a baker nor am I one to leave comments. As they say there is always a first for everything… I made these cookies over the weekend and they are just FAB!!!! If I can make them anyone can. Just saying…. I’ve been looking and trying different recipes for chocolate chip cookies and they have been OK. They taste like chocolate chip cookies but never left me with the – I need to make these again.. Until now!!! Melting the butter to an amber is a game changer. I love that I don’t have to make the batter and then put it in the refrigerator. When I start a recipe I prefer to finish it the same day. What can I say?? I don’t wait well and who does when they are in the mood for chocolate chip cookies??? I didn’t have the coarse sea salt but had regular sea salt. I added that to the recipe but I did NOT add the salt to the tops after baking. The next time I make this recipe I think I will add the coarse sea salt to the top of some of them and do a taste test. I think the cookies were even better the next day. They do need to be at room temperature to really enjoy them. Oh and I used a ice cream scoop for the batter..lol.. Thank you Shelly for sharing your recipe and talents!
Thank you so much for such a thoughtful review and sharing your tips!!
Are these crispy or chewy cookies?
Crispy on the edges and soft in the center 🙂
Holy Christmas these are the BEST cookies EVER! Not even just the best chocolate chip cookies….the best cookies ever! The browned butter is the key…it’s what makes the whole recipe! I’ve never used browned butter before even though I’ve seen it everywhere and WOW….it is a total game changer! Even the smell of it in the pan is heavenly! This will forever be my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe! I’m chewing as I type this! ;)) btw, I browned my butter in a small saucepan, allowed it to cool, then added the sugars, vanilla, eggs, etc. to my stand mixer fitted w/the paddle attachment, then poured in the butter. Mixed on the first setting until combined then slowly added the flour. Folded in the mini chocolate chips with a wooden spoon. Came out AMAZING!! Thanks so much for the recipe!
Oh so glad you enjoyed these! I do it that way occasionally as well in the mixer! And when my boys make them they always use the mixer because they don’t like to “stir” lolol!
Yeah the stirring is def not the fun part! I’ve passed the recipe along to 3 people already! And I’m making it again tonight!
Love hearing that so much!