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Brown butter chocolate chip cookies deliver a soft, chewy texture with deep nutty browned butter flavor. Cream cheese keeps them tender, while two chocolates create rich, melty layers in every bite!
A Quick Look At The Recipe
This is a brief summary of the recipe. Jump to the recipe to get the full details.
Jump to RecipePrep Time
20 minutes
Cook Time
12 minutes
Chill Time
2 hours
Total Time
2 hours 32 minutes
Servings
36 cookies
Difficulty
Intermediate but very manageable
Calories *
216 kcal per serving
Technique
Brown the butter, cool and resolidify, then cream with sugars and cream cheese before mixing and baking.
Flavor Profile
Rich, buttery with a subtle hazelnut note and gooey chocolate pockets
* Based on nutrition panel
I followed your note about letting the butter resolidify and it made all the difference. The cookies stayed thick and chewy and didn’t spread at all. The mix of chocolates was perfect! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Lauren
Why This Recipe Works
- Brown butter builds flavor. Those toasted milk solids give a subtle hazelnut note that makes these cookies stand out.
- Cream cheese keeps them chewy. It adds moisture and structure without making them cakey.
- Balanced sweetness. Two sugars and bittersweet chocolate prevent these from tasting overly sweet.
- Professional method, simplified. Measuring butter before browning keeps this approachable without sacrificing results.
Table of Contents
These are easily in my top chocolate chip cookie recipes. If you love a soft, chewy texture, you’ll also love my thick chocolate chip cookies or my bakery style chocolate chip cookies.
The brown butter gives just enough nuttiness to make people pause after the first bite. It’s subtle, but unmistakable. These are everything you want from classic chewy chocolate chip cookies, just with more depth!
Ingredients & Substitutions
- All-purpose flour & cake flour: The combination gives structure and tenderness. Cake flour brings softness from its lower protein content. I recommend measuring in grams to avoid adding too much flour, which can make cookies dry.
- Cornstarch: Helps create thick, chewy cookies with a soft interior.
- Unsalted butter: Browning it develops that nutty flavor. Measure before browning to keep ratios correct.
- Cream cheese: Adds chewiness and a slight tang that balances sweetness, just like it does in my cream cheese chocolate chip cookies!
- Light brown sugar: Adds moisture and a deeper flavor from molasses. If you don’t have brown sugar you can make my chocolate chip cookies without brown sugar!
- Granulated sugar: Provides structure and spread.
- Eggs: Add richness and help emulsify the dough.
- Vanilla extract: Enhances all the flavors.
- Semi-sweet & bittersweet chocolate chips: Creates depth and that melty texture.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Variations for Brown Butter Cookies
- Add crunch: Fold in toasted walnuts, pecans, or hazelnuts to lean into the brown butter flavor.
- Switch the chocolate: Use chopped chocolate or all bittersweet for a richer cookie.
- Try a fall version: You might also love pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.
Professional Tips
- Brown slowly. Cook butter over medium heat and stir occasionally so the milk solids brown evenly without burning.
- Cool completely. The butter should be room temperature or resolidified before mixing.
- Chill the dough. Even if the butter has resolidified, chilling improves texture and prevents spreading.
- Watch the edges. The cookies are done when the edges are set and lightly browned, even if the centers look soft.
How to Make Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Use these instructions to make perfect cookies every time. Further details and measurements can be found in the recipe card below.
Step 1: Brown the butter. Melt butter over medium heat, swirling and stirring occasionally for 5–8 minutes until golden brown with nutty aroma and brown bits on the bottom. Transfer to a bowl and cool completely.
The butter will foam, then clear, and finally deepen to a deep amber color; use a spatula to scrape the bottom of the pan so the milk solids brown evenly. One of my favorite tricks is to stop the butter when it smells like caramel and toasted nuts.
Step 2: Mix dry ingredients. In a large bowl whisk together both flours, baking soda, baking powder, cornstarch, and salt. Set aside.
Step 3: Cream butter and sugars. Once butter has cooled and resolidified (room temperature), beat with cream cheese and sugars on medium-high speed for 3–4 minutes until light and creamy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing between each, then add vanilla with the second egg. Scrape the bowl as needed.
Step 4: Add flour mixture. Reduce the mixer to low and add dry ingredients in 4–5 additions, mixing just until incorporated and scraping the bowl as needed.
Step 5: Add chocolate chips. Mix in semi-sweet and bittersweet chocolate chips until evenly distributed.
Step 6: Chill the dough. Refrigerate at least 2 hours, ideally overnight. This helps the cookies stay thick and chewy.
Step 7: Bake the cookies. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line the baking sheets. Scoop dough into golf ball-sized portions, place 2 inches apart, and bake 10–12 minutes until edges are set and lightly browned. Centers will still look soft.
Step 8: Cool completely. Let cookies cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack. They will firm up as they cool.
A sprinkle of flaky sea salt right after baking enhances all the flavors.
Chef Lindsey’s Recipe Tip
I sometimes press extra chocolate chips on top before baking for a bakery-style finish.
Recipe FAQs
Brown butter adds a deep, nutty, toasted flavor that makes these brown butter chocolate chip cookies taste richer and more complex. It also slightly reduces moisture, which helps create chewy centers and crisp edges.
Yes. Chilling brown butter chocolate chip cookie dough is essential because browned butter behaves like melted butter. Refrigerating for at least 2 hours (or overnight) prevents spreading and creates thick, chewy cookies.
Melt butter over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it turns golden brown and smells nutty, about 5–8 minutes. Watch closely at the end and scrape up the browned milk solids, since they carry the flavor.
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If you tried this recipe and loved it please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the comments below. I love hearing from you; your comments make my day!
Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup cake flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ¼ cups unsalted butter
- ¼ cup cream cheese not whipped, preferably not light
- 1 ½ cups light brown sugar packed
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 whole eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips I love Ghirardelli
- ½ cup bittersweet chocolate chips 60% I love Ghirardelli
Instructions
- Brown butter over medium heat until golden and nutty. Cool completely.
- Whisk together dry ingredients.
- Cream butter, cream cheese, and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla.
- Add dry ingredients gradually.
- Fold in chocolate chips.
- Chill dough for at least 2 hours.
- Bake at 350°F for 10–12 minutes.
- Cool on rack.
Video
Notes
- Yield – 36 cookies
- Technique – Brown butter over medium heat, cool until resolidified before mixing; chill dough for at least 2 hours.
- Variations – Add toasted walnuts or hazelnuts; swap in chopped dark chocolate for deeper flavor.
- Storage – Airtight container 3 days room temp, 10 days refrigerated, or freeze baked cookies 1 month; freeze dough up to 3 months and bake from frozen (+3–7 minutes).
Nutrition
Before You Go
I hope you enjoyed these soft, chewy cookies with that rich, nutty flavor. If you’re baking more cookie recipes, try red velvet cookies or these New York Times chocolate chip cookies next!
I tried making these last night and they turned out nothing like your picture 🙁 The batter was extremely dry and very crumbly even before I put it in the fridge. Needless to say it was a ball of cement the next morning and shaping them into balls required an ice pick. The only 2 wet ingredients in this recipe were the 2 eggs and the butter for all these dry ingredients. As it was I added a splash of water after mixing because it was just SO DRY. (And I even left out a 1/4 cup brown sugar by accident!). What went wrong? The flour was measured very accurately (all the ingredients were) so it seems I was lacking in liquids somewhere. Is it possible I cooked my butter too long? There was a thick foam on the surface the whole time and I couldn’t really judge how brown it was getting so I probably had it over the medium flame for at least 15 minutes. Did I reduce it too much? My eggs were large but maybe I needed even larger eggs? Either way, I put them in the oven as golf balls and they came out as golf balls. Had to squish them down with a spatula, they didn’t flatten at all. What happened?
Hi Cynnthia, I’m sorry that happened! I’ve never had that problem with this recipe; if anything they spread more than I want my ccc’s to spread. I have a feeling that you over-reduced your butter. When you are browning butter that foam does obstruct your view of what is going on underneath, but you just need to swirl the pan to get it to move and it will eventually clear. It should take 5 minutes over medium heat once the butter melts. The butter solids burn very fast. You want it to smell nutty but not burned. If it is black, it’s too done. That can happen in 30 seconds.
The cream cheese also acts as a liquid because you are creaming into the butter /sugar mixture. And I know this sounds odd, but sugar helps cookies spread and develop that crispy edge. The sugar melts in the oven and that causes the cookie to spread out, so forgetting 1/4 cup definitely added to the ball cookie situation. I use large eggs unless other wise specified. Large eggs weigh between 48-52 g. It is not unusual for chocolate chip cookies to have no additional liquid. The dough will harden in the fridge. You can scoop it the night before and then chill the pre-scooped balls or you can let the dough sit a little at room temperature before scooping. Or you can chisel it out with a spoon and then shape balls, which I have totally done. I hope all of that answered your question. Good luck and happy baking!
Could you maybe make a video, of your process, making these cookies? Because my batch came out like Cynnthia’s.
hi Loni! I would love to make a video and I will certainly add this recipe to my list of videos to make!!!
These look delish! About the brown butter.. When you say to cool it down- do you mean to cool it down to room temp liquid or solidified again? I hope I’m getting my question across lol. Thank!
Hi Jenn! Great question! I do mean cool it down so it’s warm and not hot. You definitely want it to be a liquid: It won’t incorporate correctly if it is solid. I’ll update the recipe because I am sure others will have the same question!
Could you use bread flour instead of cake flour? Or just plain white flour? Do you think it would change the texture and taste of the cookie?
Hi Amanda! You cannot substitute any other flour for the cake flour and expect the same results because each type of flour has a different protein content. If you must substitute for the cake, use pastry flour or All purpose flour and be very careful about not over mixing the dough or it will develop or too much gluten and become tough instead of soft and chewy. Bread flour has more than double the protein content of cake and should rarely be used in cookies. Also cake flour is lighter and ground finer than the others so a cup will not be equal to a cup of any other flour. There is also a little bit of cornstarch in cake flour also changing the texture. I hope that helps! Sorry if that was too much info!
Thank you. I am very ignorant when it comes to different types of flour. I don’t bake that often and when I do, it is just cookies. I am on the search of the best cookie ever and this recipe caught my eye. I will have to go to the store to buy the ingredients now to try it. I am so excited! Thank you!
No worries, Amanda! I had to go to culinary school to wrap my head around all that. I’m so glad you asked! If you can’t find cake, use All Purpose. And if you have extra cake flour my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe calls for it too! Happy baking!
Thanks!
Welcome!
Hi! These look amazing! Any chance I could leave out the corn starch? I’ve got a corn sensitivity and it would probably be ok, but I like to avoid it if I can. Thanks!
You can, Leah! They won’t be as chewy or thick but they will still taste just as yummy!
Thanks!
You know me so well 😀
YEPP obsessed. NEED
You do need!!! Not wedding fairy approved, though. But the brown butter is calling your name, I know it is!
These cookies are gorgeous, Lindsey! Haha and love that you get your inspiration while you’re on the treadmill – I usually get mine when I’m doing yoga or working out too 🙂 I love the sound of brown butter with cream cheese in here and soft and chewy CCC are my favorite!
I’m so glad I’m in good company! I swear if other people could see what I was think in the gym, they would all vote me out of the club!
After reading your description and looking at your gorgeous pics, I am fully convinced these cookies are amazing! So buttery and soft and with all those gooey pieces of chocolate – heaven!
Thanks, Jessica!