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Browned butter is what separates these chocolate chip cookies from an ordinary batch. They’re based on a Binging with Babish recipe, leveled up with a little cinnamon, a lot of brown sugar, and a full 24-hour chill. The dough needs a day to rest in the fridge, but once it’s ready, these are less than 15 minutes from scoop to cooling rack.
Browned Butter Changes Everything About This Cookie
You already have a go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe, we all do. But most of them skip the one thing this one leans on hardest: browning the butter first. It gives you a nutty, caramelized flavor plain butter can’t touch, and a little cinnamon in the dough rounds that flavor out even more.
If you’ve never browned butter before, it’s simple, just watch for brown flecks and a nutty smell, then pull it off the heat right away so it doesn’t burn. These are the only pure chocolate chip cookies I’ve made since I first tried this method.
How a Binging With Babish Video Turned Into Our Go-To Cookie
I didn’t invent this cookie. My daughter and I watched a Binging with Babish video one Easter break, then spent the rest of the week testing batch after batch until we landed on our own version, more cinnamon here, less there, until it finally tasted right. When I want mix-ins like nuts or toffee, I reach for Laura Bush chocolate chip cookies instead, this one stays purely chocolate chip.
Chewy Centers, Crisp Edges, Waves of Flavor
These cookies are chewy and thick in the center, with just enough crisp at the edges, and the flavor comes at you in waves: sweet first, then a little salty, then a warm caramelized nuttiness regular butter can’t give you. Use whatever chocolate you love here, semi-sweet, milk chocolate, or a mix of both.
If you love what browned butter does here, my brown butter snickerdoodles use the same technique in a completely different cookie. Or if you want to go further with mix-ins instead, try toffee or pretzels the way I do in my peanut butter pretzel cookies.
A Few Notes Before You Start Baking
The exact amounts are in the recipe card below.
Butter. This gets browned, not just melted or softened, browning it first is what gives these cookies their nutty, caramelized flavor. Use a light-colored pan so you can see the color change, and pull it off the heat the moment you see brown flecks and smell that nutty aroma, it goes from browned to burnt fast.
Salt. The full tablespoon isn’t a typo. It’s there to balance the amount of brown sugar, not to make the cookies taste salty.
How to Make Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
1. Brown the butter
Use a light-colored pan so you can see when it turns golden. Pour it into a heat-safe bowl, don’t let it hang out in the pan or it will burn.
3. Make the dough
4. Add chocolate and chill
Let the dough rest in the fridge for 24 hours if you can. I’ve done shorter chills in a pinch, but the full day really does make a difference.
5. Scoop and bake
Let the dough sit out until it’s soft enough to scoop. I use a big ice cream scoop for bakery-sized cookies. Bake and let them cool on the pan for a few minutes before diving in.
Tips for the Perfect Binging With Babish Chocolate Chip Cookies
- If you skip the chill, the cookies will spread more and be flatter. Still tasty, just a different vibe.
- Want smaller cookies? Go for it. Just watch the bake time.
- These freeze beautifully. Bake, cool, then pop them in a zip-top bag. Or freeze the dough balls and bake fresh anytime.
If you love a cookie with a little bit of everything, kitchen sink cookies mix in pretzels, chocolate, and toffee for a completely different bite.
Whether you’re baking for a crowd, mailing a care package, or just want to upgrade your chocolate chip cookie game, these brown butter beauties are worth every extra step. Just don’t forget to hide a few for yourself. It’s one of the recipes in our full lineup of cookies and bars.
Don’t Forget!
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Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 ½ cups brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 ¼ cups flour
- 1 tablespoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
- 12 ounces chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a saucepan, cook butter over medium heat until it begins to turn brown. Remove from heat and pour into a bowl. Refrigerate until solid.
- Add butter and both sugars together in the bowl of an electric mixer and mix until combined, not light and fluffy. Add eggs and mix to combine.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon. Add to butter mixture in 2 batches and mix until just combined. Add chocolate chips and mix to combine.
- Refrigerate for at least an hour but preferably 24 hours. Remove and let warm up enough so that you can scoop it out with an ice cream scoop.
- Preheat oven to 350º and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Scoop out dough with an ice cream scoop and form into balls. Don’t press down.
- Bake for 12 minutes until starting to turn brown.
Notes
- Pour the browned butter into a heat-safe bowl the moment it turns golden. It keeps cooking in the hot pan and can burn fast.
- Give the butter 30 to 60 minutes to solidify in the fridge before mixing the dough.
- If the dough is too cold to scoop, let it sit out for up to an hour until it softens.
