Salted Brown Butter Chocolate Cookies

If you love easy cookies that are soft and fudgy in the middle and full of rich, chocolate and nutty flavor, these brown butter cookies will be your new obsession. These cookies use simple pantry ingredients of butter, sugar, eggs, flour, and cocoa powder but the browned butter technique transforms them into something amazing. They come together quickly, and freeze beautifully for holiday cookie trays, gifting, or chocolate emergencies.

Why Brown Butter Makes the Best Cookies

Browning butter enhances cookies in three important ways :

• Caramelized flavor: When butter browns, the milk solids toast through the Maillard reaction creating a deep, nutty aromas that enhances chocolate. It enhances all flavors without overpowering.
• Crispy edges and Chewier centers: Browning cooks off some water, creating a more concentrated dough and chewier texture on the inside and crispy on the outside.
• It’s a simple technique that upgrades any cookie, especially chocolate cookies, into something richer, toastier, and more decadent.

Why Lyuba’s Chocolate Brown Butter Cookies So Good!

Perfectly soft + gooey texture. The brown butter technique, baking soda, and baking method keeps them beautifully chewy in the center with lightly crisp edges.

A mixer-free recipe. These cookies come together in one bowl, no creaming butter needed. Just whisk and fold. (I even call them lazy cookies because of minimal effort.)

No chill time! No need to wait to chill the dough, it comes together very well and cools enough to roll the cookies and bake right away.

White chocolate chips add contrast. They melt into sweet pockets that balance the dark cocoa beautifully.

A pinch of coarse salt. The sprinkle of coarse salt on top enhances flavor of the cookie by bringing in a salty component to a sweet cookie. It’s a perfect sweet/salty flavor balance.

Important Ingredient Notes and Tips

Unsalted Butter – Using unsalted butter lets you control the salt level perfectly.

Brown Sugar + White Sugar – The combination of both sugars gives you the best of both worlds – the moisture and chewiness from brown sugar and the crisp edges from white sugar.

Eggs (room temp) – Room temperature eggs incorporate much more smoothly into the brown butter mixture. Take them out of the fridge about 30 minutes before baking.

All-Purpose Flour – Standard all-purpose flour works perfectly here. Spoon it into your measuring cup and level it off, don’t pack it down.

Baking Cocoa Powder – I prefer to use Dutch-Processed cocoa powder. Dutch-processed cocoa powder gives cookies a darker, deeper, smoother flavor. Natural cocoa provides a more intense, slightly tangy taste. I prefer to use Dutch for fudgy results but natural works well if that’s all you have. Just make sure to use unsweetened (not cocoa mix).

Baking Soda – Baking soda is the best choice here because it reacts quickly with acids already in the dough and gives the cookies their perfect texture: soft and chewy in the middle. It keeps everything tasting rich and chocolatey without turning cakey.

Vanilla Extract – Always use pure vanilla extract, not imitation. The flavor difference is absolutely worth it, especially with brown butter.

White Chocolate Chips – The creamy sweetness of white chocolate pairs beautifully with the dark chocolate cookie base. Substitution: You can substitute semi-sweet chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, or dark chocolate chips if you prefer!

Coarse Salt – The coarse salt on top creates that perfect sweet-salty balance. I use Maldon salt (flaky sea salt) or coarse kosher salt. Substitution: don’t like sweet and salty? Simply omit.

How to Make Brown Butter Chocolate Cookies

Step 1: Prepare and Brown the Butter. Heat 12 tablespoons of butter in a light-colored pan (easier to see the color change) over medium heat. Once melted, continue cooking while stirring constantly until it turns golden brown with a nutty aroma, 1-3 minutes. The butter will foam as it cooks – this is normal!

Expert Tip: Watch it closely; brown butter can burn in seconds. Transfer immediately to a large heatproof bowl.

Step 2: Mix Wet Ingredients. Whisk both sugars and vanilla into the brown butter until fully incorporated. Now whisk in the eggs for 30 seconds until smooth, then let the mixture rest and whisk again for 30 seconds and repeat this rest-and-whisk process a couple more times.

Expert Tip: This technique dissolves the sugar completely and creates that thick, shiny texture that makes these cookies perfectly gooey.

Step 3: Add Dry Ingredients and Chocolate. Using a rubber spatula, stir in the flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda until just combined, about 1 minute. The mixture will look thin at first but thickens as you stir – don’t overmix! Fold in the white chocolate chips until evenly distributed.

Step 4: Shape and Bake. Spray your hands with non-stick spray (the dough will be a little sticky!) and roll into 1-inch balls. A cookie scoop makes this faster and ensures even sizing. (I use #40 cookie scoop.) Place 2 inches apart on the prepared sheet, sprinkle with coarse salt, and bake for 8-10 minutes at 350F.

Find your perfect timing: I prefer 9 minutes for perfectly soft and gooey centers. 8 minutes gives you a more gooey texture, while 10 minutes more set throughout, less gooey in the center but still soft.

Step 5: Cool. Cool on a wire rack. The cookies continue setting as they cool but stay wonderfully soft and gooey inside.

Tips for Perfect Brown Butter Cookies

Watch your brown butter, don’t walk away, it can turn too brown and burn easily.

Cookie Size Matters: The 1-inch ball size is key for the 8-10 minute baking time. Larger cookies need more time.

Don’t Overbake: These cookies continue cooking on the hot baking sheet after you remove them from the oven. They should look slightly underdone when you take them out.

One Batch at a Time: For best results, bake one sheet at a time on the center rack. This ensures even baking.

The Brown Butter Temperature: Let the brown butter cool slightly (about 5 minutes) before adding the sugar. If it’s too hot, it can start cooking the eggs.

Make-Ahead, Freezing, and Storing Instructions

Make Ahead: You can prepare the dough ahead and refrigerate it for up to 3 days, covered air-tight. Let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before shaping and baking. Cold dough may need an extra minute of baking time.

Freeze Unbaked Cookies: Shape the cookies into balls, place them on a baking sheet, and freeze until solid. Transfer to a freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Bake from frozen, adding 1-2 minutes to the baking time.

Freeze Baked Cookies: Cool completely, then store in an airtight container or freezer bag for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature or warm in a 300°F oven for 5 minutes.

Room Temperature: Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Tip: Place a piece of bread in the container to keep them soft (replace the bread daily). (Note that highly humid environments shorten storage time at room temperature.)

Recipe FAQs

More Cookies You Will Enjoy

If you love brown butter treats, try my brown butter snickerdoodle cookies. If you love soft and chewy cookies, try my soft sugar cookies, soft gingerbread cookies, chocolate soft gingerbread cookies and these gooey loaded peanut butter cookies, which have a similar soft, bakery-style texture.

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