Brown butter chocolate chip cookies really step up the game of a classic cookie! Brown butter gives the cookie nutty flavor tones, and just makes it so delicious!

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So what exactly is brown butter, and how do I make it?

Brown butter is a French staple. It is melted butter, and you cook it slowly in order to bring about the bolder nutty, caramel flavor,which in turn makes the butter turn brown. It can be used in many dishes! You can use it for pasta, other baked goods, with meat, or veggies, or in this case, chocolate chip cookies.

Browning butter is an easy process and doesn’t take long at all. You will need: butter (duh!), a pan or shallow pot, and a whisk.

First, cut the butter into squares. It will melt quicker and more even this way. Put the butter into your pan or shallow pot and put it over medium heat.

Keep stirring the butter as it is melting. You don’t have to vigorously stir it but want to keep it moving around. It’s going to melt completely and start bubbling. Keep stirring and watch it carefully.

When the bubbling turns to foaming, keep a close eye on it, because you are almost there. You will see the butter start to turn golden in color. What you are looking for is a light brown color. You may need to push some of the foam away to see the butter underneath it. Once it has gotten to that light brown, take it off the heat, and transfer it to a heat safe container. I used a mason jar to store my brown butter. Refrigerate it untilyou are ready to use it.

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Making the COOKIES

Now for the main event- making the brown butter chocolate chip cookies! Are you excited? You should be. If I struggle to not eat the entire batch of cookies, then you will struggle too.

Start off by softening the butter slightly, just enough to get it out of the jar. Put the jar in the microwave for 10 second intervals untilyou can get it out. Do not melt the butter!!

Take that beautiful brown butter and beat it in your mixer (or with a hand mixer) until it is smooth and lightens up a little in color. It will turn almost white in color. Then, add the brown sugar and the regular white sugar. Allow this all to mix for 2 minutes. It will lighten up more in color and look fluffy.

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Slowly add the egg, egg yolk, milk, and vanilla. Let it mix in completely.

Then, add all the dry ingredients. This is your flour, baking soda, baking soda, and salt. Mix it until it just combines.

Hand mix in your chocolate chips. You can use any kind of chip you want, or you can use chocolate chunks, or cut up a chocolate bar! There’s no wrong chocolate in this case. I also strongly believe in not measuring chocolate. You measure that with your heart.

Use a cookie scoop to portion out the dough. Put it on a plate or sheet tray because the dough will need to go into the refrigerator to chill. After you have all the dough scooped out, press them down slightly, just so it no longer rounded on top.

Let the dough chill for at least a couple of hours. When it’s time to bake them, bake them for 7-9 minutes at 350 degrees. If you’d like, once they are done, sprinkle some sea salt on top.

Enjoy!

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