These sweet and salty brown butter toffee chocolate chip cookies are soft and chewy in the centers with deliciously crisp edges. Brown butter is melted butter with a nutty caramelized flavor brought on by gently cooking it on the stove. And it tastes absolutely phenomenal in cookies, especially when you add toffee and sea salt. Because of these flavorful additions, these fancied-up chocolate chip cookies will fly off the serving tray!
I originally published this recipe in 2012 and have since added new photos, a video tutorial, and more success tips.
Can you make a perfect thing even better? Sometimes you just don’t mess with classic chocolate chip cookies, but in case you feel fancy and want to experiment, these brown butter toffee chocolate chip cookies are consistent crowd-pleasers. (I’m writing this nearly a decade after this recipe was originally published, so yes, I say from experience that these cookies are always a hit!) They’re a spin on my popular chewy chocolate chip cookies with the addition of brown butter, toffee chips, and sea salt.
One reader, Jordan, commented: “These cookies are HANDS DOWN phenomenal. I have friends that I made these for and everyone was asking for the recipe! These are my go-to chocolate chip cookies recipe now. JUST SO DELISH. โ โ โ โ โ ”
Another reader, Kathee, commented: “Made these cookies and they were FABULOUS! I have never used brown butter before… wow, what an incredible taste… โ โ โ โ โ ”
These Brown Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies Are:
- Loaded with a buttery caramelized flavor
- Extra soft and chewy in the centers
- Crisp on the edges
- Chock-full of sweet and salty toffee chips*
- Packed with chocolate chips
*I just use Heath bar “Bits O’ Brickle” English toffee bits found near the chocolate chips in the baking aisle. Same ones I use for salted vanilla toffee cookies.
Brown Butter
If you’ve never browned butter before, take a minute to review my How to Brown Butter guide. It’s a very quick and easy process. After you brown it, let it cool for a few minutes before working on the rest of the wet ingredients.
Unlike in my regular brown butter chocolate chip cookies, we do not have to chill the browned butter to solidify it before working on the cookie dough. That step takes extra time especially since we have to chill that cookie dough tooโbut it does promise thicker cookies since the butter has been chilled. However, I appreciate that this recipe is quicker and that it produces thinner, crispier cookies. We use the same cookie dough when making dark chocolate pecan cookies, too.
Brown Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies Success Tips
- Expect a crumbly dough: This cookie dough is very crumbly as you try to combine the wet ingredients, dry ingredients, and add-ins. It’s not nearly as crumbly if you leave out the toffee chips. They’re so small that it makes the dough break apart easily. Continue mixing until it all comes togetherโit will, I promise!
- Use a cookie scoop: Scoop and roll the cookie dough into balls after it comes together. This medium size cookie scoop is perfect because each dough ball should be around 1.5 Tablespoons of dough.
- Chill the cookie dough balls: Cover and chill the cookie dough balls in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before baking. Remember that chilling cookie dough helps guarantee that your cookies won’t overspread. Because of the melted (browned) butter in this cookie dough, the dough will spread into greasy puddles if you do not chill the dough balls prior to baking. Chilling cookie dough also enhances its flavorโthe nutty brown butter flavor seeps into every last morsel of dough.
Toffee pairs wonderfully with the caramel and butterscotch undertones in the brown butter. I added it all to the cookie dough and the result is an amazingly chewy, caramel-y, chocolate-y, buttery cookie with an incredible toffee crunch. A regular chocolate chip cookie, but elevated. You’ll love that!
Bake a double batch because these always go quickly!
Print
Brown Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Prep Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours
- Yield: 32-36 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These sweet and salty brown butter toffee chocolate chip cookies are soft and chewy in the centers with deliciously crisp edges. Brown butter is the secret to their unbeatable flavor.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter
- 1 cup (200g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2ย and 1/2 cups (313g)ย all-purpose flourย (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 and 1/4 cups (225g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup (150g) Heath Bar Bits O’ Brickle English Toffee (see Note)
- optional: coarse sea salt
Instructions
- Brown the butter: Set out a medium heat-proof bowl because youโll need it at the end of this step. Slice the butter into Tablespoon-size pieces and place in a light-colored skillet or large pot. Light colored helps you determine when the butter begins browning. (See note if using a dark skillet or pot.) Melt the butter over medium heat and stir or whisk constantly. Once melted, the butter will begin to foam. Keep stirring/whisking. After 5-7 minutes, the butter will begin browning and youโll notice lightly browned specks begin to form at the bottom of the pan. It will have a nutty aroma. Once browned, remove from heat immediately and pour into the bowl, including any solids that have formed on the bottom of the pan. (You want those solids for flavor.) Cool brown butter for 5 minutes. Don’t cool longer than that because the butter will begin to thicken and, as a result, the cookie dough will be difficult to mix and its texture will be too crumbly.
- Whisk the brown sugar and granulated sugar into the brown butter and then whisk in the eggs and vanilla extract. Set aside. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, add the chocolate chips and toffee, then stir together with a large spoon or silicone spatula. The dough will seem too dry at first, but keeping stirring until it comes together. Dough will be greasy, thick, and a bit crumbly.
- Scoop dough into balls, about 1 and 1/2 Tablespoons of dough each, and place on a large plate or baking sheet. I like to roll each cookie dough ball between my hands to smooth them out since they can be a little crumbly. Cover and chill the cookie dough balls in the refrigerator for 2 hours and up to 3 days before baking. (You can also freeze the dough balls, see Freezing Instructions below.)
- Towards the end of chill time, preheat oven to 350ยฐF (177ยฐC). Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Arrange cookie dough balls 3 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. If desired, lightly sprinkle coarse sea salt on top of each. Press the salt down into the cookie dough balls if it’s not sticking.
- Bake for 12-13 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. While the cookies are still warm, I like to press a few more chocolate chips or toffee pieces into the topsโthis is only for looks! Cookies are extra soft out of the oven, but become chewier as they cool.
- Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the refrigerator for 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Baked cookies freeze well up to three months. Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well up to three months. Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw. Hereโs how to freeze cookie dough.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Light-Colored Skilletย orย Stainless Steel Skillet | Whisk | Glass Mixing Bowls | Wooden Spoon or Silicone Spatula | Medium Cookie Scoop | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Cooling Rack
- Toffee: If you can’t find store-bough toffee bits, try this homemade toffee bits recipe.
- Darker skillet/pot when browning butter:ย I recommend using a light-colored skillet or large pot when browning butter so you can see when the butter is done. (It’s only a quick few seconds between browned butter and burnt butter.) Towards the end of 5-7 minutes, check for doneness by spooning some butter into a glass bowl to determine if it has browned.
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
Reader Comments and Reviews
I don’t love baking, but I’ve made these a few times now because not only are they so easy, but they’re also freaking delicious!! Love the idea from another comment about adding pretzel pieces – definitely going to try that on a future batch. Another winning recipe!!
Was looking for a brown butter cookie recipe to try for the first time, and came across this one. I trust any recipe I find on this site so I gave it a go. Very easy to follow recipe, love the added video too. Results- husband and son say itโs the best cookie theyโve ever had! ๐ thanks for sharing
I made these the other day and followed the recipe exactly. I even timed cooling the butter exactly for 5 minutes. I then added the flour mixture and the chocolate and butterscotch chips, portioned them and put them in the fridge. I baked a couple three hours later and much to my chagrin, the chocolate chips had melted so I ended up with chocolate cookies with butterscotch chips, not the result I was hoping for. Lesson learned – if I make them again I’ll let the butter cool a bit more before adding the other ingredients.
Can I combine this recipe with the caramel chocolate chip cookies recipe by putting a rolo chocolate in the center of the dough balls and then baking?
Hi D, we can’t see why not!
Sally, these are the best chocolate chip cookies! I usually just make the recipe off of the bag of Toll House chocolate chips. These are a whole new level of goodness. I made the dough balls and chilled them overnight and baked them this afternoon. I didn’t have the sea salt, so just eliminated it. Next time, I’ll make sure to sprinkle the tops with it. My new favorite cookie!
These are the best cookies ever! I get rave reviews whenever I bring these to a gathering. My dough is never crumbly though and Iโve made these at least 10 times now. I usually do 1-1/2 times the recipe because that equals one full bag of Heath Bits OโBrickle and I do 2+ cups chocolate chips. A must is making the dough balls before refrigeration. The first time I made these I refrigerated the dough before I made the cookie balls and it was almost impossible to scoop as the dough was hard. Sallyโs BA has the absolute best recipes, I always look for that site when googling a new recipe.
These are so tasty and I love the texture! They are bit chewy but also soft in the middle. I overbaked my first batch a bit but even a bit crispy they are really good!! They don’t taste too different from regular chocolate chip cookies but they are a bit more caramelly and the texture is different enough to make it worth browning the butter. I think these might be yummy with some white chocolate chips with the toffee or maybe some pretzel pieces! I will make these again for sure!
I used my stand mixer so my dough really blended together and wasn’t crumbly at all. I put the rolled dough in the fridge overnight and they didn’t spread at all.