This Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe has the easiest hack to make a bag of cookie mix taste homemade. It’s as simple as combining 4 basic ingredients with a pre-measured mix to make a dough that bakes into the best batch of rich and nutty sweet treats.
Best Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies With A Shortcut
Baking Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies is an easy way to elevate your next batch because browning the butter adds a delicious depth, richness, and an irresistible nutty flavor that makes them stand out from the classic cookie.
What makes this recipe so simple? It uses a bag of cookie mix, with all of the dry ingredients already measured and mixed in, so all you have to do is quickly brown the butter and add it with the remaining wet ingredients. The result is an intensely toasty toffee taste that makes these brag-worthy cookies better than the traditional chocolate chip treat.
With all of my holiday baking and Christmas cooking, I was tired of making the same old overly crispy, flat cookies but couldn’t find a quick recipe that I could tweak without ruining it and rendering it inedible. That’s why I created this version of a chewy chocolate chip cookie, made with browned butter and roughly chopped chocolate, so it’s perfectly crunchy along the edges and soft, and thick in the center.
Sweetly salty, brown butter is the best way to make any baked good taste gourmet and even kind of grown-up!
Why We Love This Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
- Quick and easy to make.
- Only uses 4 ingredients combined with a bag of cookie mix.
- Crisp on the edges, thick and chewy in the center, and bursting with the nutty brown butter flavor.
- Tastes homemade even though the recipe has a hack.
- Perfect for a cookie exchange, dessert platter, holiday party, or as a snack with a cold glass of milk.
Ingredients
- Salted butter: You can substitute unsalted butter but the flavor of the brown butter will be stronger if you use salted butter instead.
- Bag of chocolate chip cookie mix
- Dry milk: You can omit this if you don’t have it. It provides a nice chewy cookie with a crispy edge.
- Egg
- Blue Symphony chocolate bar, roughly chopped: This is a chocolate bar with toffee and almond pieces in it. It adds a delicious compliment to the brown butter flavor. However, you can substitute additional chocolate chips, toffee bits or even omit it entirely if you prefer.
Substitutions and Additions
- Change The Chocolate: You can omit the chocolate bar and add additional chocolate chips to this recipe. Try a combination of milk chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate or if you like dark chocolate, combine it with semi-sweet chocolate chips.
- Nuts: Feel free to add chopped nuts, like pecans or walnuts.
Recommended Tools to Make this Recipe
- Skillet or saucepan
- Baking sheet
- Parchment paper or silicone baking mat
- Mixing bowls and tools
- Measuring tools
SEE FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD BELOW
How to Make the Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
This cookie recipe is so easy because it combines 4 basic ingredients with a bag of cookie mix. Adding freshly browned butter gives these cookies a deliciously decadent flavor and texture that truly makes them stand out from their traditional cookie competition.
- Melt the butter, stirring often, until browned.
Pro Tip: It should be a golden color with little specks of brown in it. You don’t want to burn it. Once you see the brown specks, it is browned and should be removed from the heat. This will take about 5-10 minutes. - Scrape the melted butter into a shallow bowl and cool at room temperature for 5 minutes.
- Cover the bowl and place it in the refrigerator for 20-25 minutes.
Pro Tip: The butter should be soft but no longer a liquid. - In a separate bowl, combine cookie mix and dry milk.
- Mix in the browned butter and egg.
Pro Tip: Do not overmix! The mixture will be crumbly but form a dough if pressed together. - Mix in the chopped chocolate bar.
Pro Tip: Knead the dough slightly to evenly distribute the chocolate. - Scoop out dough with a 2 Tablespoon cookie scoop and place on baking sheet.
Pro-Tip: You can make larger cookies by using an ice cream scoop (⅓ cup) and baking them for 10-12 minutes. - Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 7-10 minutes or until the edges just begin to brown and the top is set.
- Cool the cookies for 5 minutes before removing from the cookie sheet.
- Serve warm or cooled. Enjoy!
Tips
- Don’t brown your butter over high heat! It may seem like it takes too long to brown the butter over medium or medium low heat but it is better to take your time than to burn your butter. Burnt butter does not taste nearly as delicious as brown butter. Be patient and use a medium low or medium heat.
- Keep stirring while browning the butter. Once the butter has melted it will start to foam slightly and it may make it difficult for you to see if the butter has browned or not. By stirring the melted butter you will be able to see when the color has changed and avoid burning your butter. It will also even out the temperature so that you don’t burn the bottom of the butter before the rest has browned.
- Pay attention to the smell of your butter while you are cooking it. Browned butter smells buttery and nutty and very different from regular butter. However, you will notice if it starts to burn because it will begin to smell bitter. Once it smells nutty and has brown bits on the bottom with a golden color to the liquid, it is browned and should be removed from the heat.
- Use a spatula to scrape out ALL of the browned butter. The most flavorful part of the brown butter is the browned milk solids which tend to settle at the bottom of the pan. If you just pour the butter into a bowl you will miss out on all those delicious little solids. Be sure to scrape out your pan (carefully! It will be hot!) and get all of that flavor in your cookies.
- It’s best to brown the butter in a stainless steel pan because it’s easier to see the browned butter color. You can also use a non-stick pan, but it will be harder to see the color.
Storage Tips
- To Store: After these cookies are completely cooled, store them in an airtight container or ziploc bag for 5-7 days at room temperature.
- To Freeze: You can freeze your baked cookies too. Make sure they are well wrapped and placed in an airtight, freezer safe container or bag, for up to 2 months.
- To Reheat: Thaw frozen cookies in the refrigerator overnight and warm them for a few seconds in the microwave for a warm, “fresh from the oven” feel.
Frequently Asked Questions
Brown butter is regular butter that has been cooked to the point that the milk solids change color (and flavor). It is a process of cooking butter that brings out a nutty, rich flavor that is different from that of uncooked or even melted butter.
You can absolutely freeze your cookie dough! Simply roll the cookie dough into balls and place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Chill the dough in the freezer for 30 minutes. Once the cookie dough balls firm up, you can transfer them to a freezer-safe bag or container. Cookie dough will keep well for up to 3 months. When you are ready to serve, simply bake cookies as directed in the recipe. You’ll likely just need to add a few extra minutes of baking time.
Adding dry milk to your bag of cookie mix can make the final product chewier, and it can also add a slight crust, which helps to lock in moisture. It has a very long shelf life and doesn’t need to be refrigerated, therefore, it still has all of the fat, protein, and flavor, minus the extra liquid that could alter the outcome from baking from a bag of cookie mix.
Other Easy Cookie Recipes
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Rainbow Sprinkle Cookies
- Chickpea Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Cookies and Cream Cookies
- Secret Kiss Cookies
- Peanut Butter Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Shooters
- Tiktok Viral Blueberry Cookies
Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup (1 stick) salted butter
- 17.5 ounce bag chocolate chip cookie mix
- 1 tbsp dry milk
- 1 large egg
- 4.25 ounce blue Symphony chocolate bar roughly chopped
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a medium skillet or saucepan over medium heat. Stir often and heat until browned, about 5-10 minutes. It should be a golden color with little specks of brown in it. You don’t want to burn it. Once you see the brown specks, it is browned and should be removed from the heat.
- Scrape all of the melted butter into a shallow bowl and allow to cool at room temperature for 5 minutes.
- Cover the bowl and place it in the refrigerator for 20-25 minutes or until soft but no longer a liquid.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together the cookie mix and dry milk.
- Add in the soft browned butter and egg and mix until completely combined. Do not overmix, the mixture will be crumbly but form a dough if pressed together.
- Mix in the chopped chocolate bar, kneading the dough slightly to evenly distribute the chocolate.
- Use a 2 Tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop out cookies and place on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 7-10 minutes or until the edges just begin to brown and the top is set.
- Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes before removing from the cookie sheet.
- Serve warm or cooled.
Jenn’s Notes
- To Store: After these cookies are completely cooled, store them in an airtight container or ziploc bag for 5-7 days at room temperature.
- To Freeze: You can freeze your baked cookies too. Make sure they are well wrapped and placed in an airtight, freezer safe container or bag, for up to 2 months.
- To Reheat: Thaw frozen cookies in the refrigerator overnight and warm them for a few seconds in the microwave for a warm, “fresh from the oven” feel.
- You can make larger cookies by using an ice cream scoop (⅓ cup) and baking them for 10-12 minutes.
- Don’t brown your butter over high heat! It may seem like it takes too long to brown the butter over medium or medium low heat but it is better to take your time than to burn your butter. Burnt butter does not taste nearly as delicious as brown butter. Be patient and use a medium low or medium heat.
- Keep stirring while browning the butter. Once the butter has melted it will start to foam slightly and it may make it difficult for you to see if the butter has browned or not. By stirring the melted butter you will be able to see when the color has changed and avoid burning your butter. It will also even out the temperature so that you don’t burn the bottom of the butter before the rest has browned.
- Pay attention to the smell of your butter while you are cooking it. Browned butter smells buttery and nutty and very different from regular butter. However, you will notice if it starts to burn because it will begin to smell bitter. Once it smells nutty and has brown bits on the bottom with a golden color to the liquid, it is browned and should be removed from the heat.
- Use a spatula to scrape out ALL of the browned butter. The most flavorful part of the brown butter is the browned milk solids which tend to settle at the bottom of the pan. If you just pour the butter into a bowl you will miss out on all those delicious little solids. Be sure to scrape out your pan (carefully! It will be hot!) and get all of that flavor in your cookies.
- It’s best to brown the butter in a stainless steel pan because it’s easier to see the browned butter color. You can also use a non-stick pan, but it will be harder to see the color.
Recipe looks delicious but what if you don’t have the dry milk ?