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These Browned Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies are about to be the BEST cookies you’ve ever tried.
This Browned Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe has gone completely viral. It’s been featured on Good Morning America, and TikTok videos of people making this recipe have gotten millions of views.
I originally published this recipe in 2014 but just had to update it with recipe improvements and new photos. These cookies deserved it!
In fact, my recipe photographer Ashley, who shot all 50 recipes in my cookie cookbook, said this may just be my BEST COOKIE RECIPE yet. People have been known to fight over these cookies. Yes, they’re that good.
This Browned Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe is kind of a mouthful to say. But when you actually have a mouthful of one of these cookies, I think you’re going to love me.
These are one of the most flavorful chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever tasted, and the texture is absolutely perfect. You NEED to try this recipe. If your friends and family are anything like mine, they plead and beg you to make it again and again.
Yes, this recipe is a little extra work. But the best things in life usually are.
You may even want to make a double batch so you have plenty of dough to freeze when the craving hits. Trust me… it WILL hit!
How to Make Browned Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies
How to Brown Butter:
- Use a stainless steel sauté pan for best results.
- Nonstick prevents the butter from browning completely and prevents you from being able to visually see how browned it’s getting. Same with the dark color of cast iron.
- Something with a wider surface area, like a sauté pan over a saucepan, encourages browning more quickly.
- Don’t step away from butter that’s browning after it’s melted. It can go from browned to burnt quickly.
- At the same time, don’t be afraid of letting that color develop. It should become a rich and fragrant amber.
- Scrape all the brown bits into the mixing bowl – that’s where the flavor lives!
- I highly recommend using unsalted butter – learn why here.
Do I Really Need to Use Bread Flour?
You don’t absolutely have to use bread flour, but it adds a ton of chewy texture to these Browned Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies that’s worth the extra trip to the store. If you don’t have bread flour, then use a total of 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour in the recipe. Make sure to weigh your flour accurately. If you add too much flour, your cookies may end up dry, dense, or crumbly and barely spread.
Granulated Sugar + Dark Brown Sugar
- To make these Browned Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies extra delicious, we’re using a combination of granulated white sugar and dark brown sugar.
- This combination brings sweetness, a fantastic texture, and a butterscotch flavor that’s so rich and delicious.
- The molasses in the brown sugar draws in more moisture, making the cookies thicker, softer, and chewier.
- You can use light brown sugar instead, but you may lose some of the additional flavor.
- Whatever you do, don’t lower the sugar in this recipe. Find out why here.
Eggs + an Extra Yolk
Eggs are essential to forming a beautifully pliable dough and cookies that stay soft for days – and we’re adding an extra yolk for extra richness and added chewiness. Eggs should be at room temperature when beginning your dough, but separate the one yolk from its white while cold for best results (yolks are more fragile and tend to break more easily when warmer).
Why is There Espresso Powder in This Recipe?
I really like the way the bitter espresso plays off the sweetness of the toffee and the nuttiness of the browned butter. It’s totally optional, if you don’t have it or don’t want to use it, feel free to simply omit it.
What Kind of Chocolate for Browned Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies?
I like to use semisweet Ghirardelli baking bars and chop them up coarsely for this recipe. Feel free to use chocolate chips, but note that you won’t have the same delicious marbled result you get from chopping your own chocolate.
Where to Find Toffee Bits?
You can find them at many grocery stores in the Heath brand with the other chips in the baking aisle. If you can’t find them, I have a super easy recipe to DIY Homemade Toffee Bits which I used for these cookies here. It takes just 15 minutes and tastes so much better than store-bought!
Do I Really Have to Chill the Cookie Dough?
I know, it’s annoying, but I promise you it’s SO worth it, especially for this recipe which uses melted brown butter. Both the taste and texture of the cookie improve during this time. Think of it as a marinating time where everything just gets better and better!! Freezing does not work the same as chilling, so there are no shortcuts here. Learn more about this process, and why it’s so important, in this article here.
Can I Make Smaller Cookies?
Yes, though I much prefer the crisp edges, chewy texture, and soft center 3-tablespoon-sized Browned Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies. If you want to bake smaller cookies, scoop into 1 1/2 tablespoon-sized balls and bake for 10 to 12 minutes.
Portioning the Cookie Dough Before vs. After Chilling
- I recommend following the directions in the recipe for chilling the dough in one big mass, and then portioning the dough because it prevents the dough from drying out while chilling.
- However, if you’re finding it too challenging to scoop the Browned Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookie dough at this point, feel free to scoop before chilling.
- There’s a bit more risk that your dough will dry out in the fridge this way, so just be sure to store the cookie dough balls in an airtight container or good quality ziptop bag, to prevent them from drying out.
- Then simply bake the pre-portioned Browned Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies straight from the fridge after the 24-72 hour chill time!
Can I Freeze This Cookie Dough?
Yes! Freeze the portioned Browned Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookie dough balls after letting the dough marinate in the fridge for at least 24 hours. Place dough balls on a baking sheet and freeze until solid. Remove frozen balls of dough to an airtight container and store for up to 6 weeks. Click here for my full guide on how to freeze and bake frozen dough.
Tessa’s Favorite Tools for This Recipe
More Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes:
Visit my Chocolate Chip Cookie headquarters for more recipes, tips, and insights into the science of cookie baking!
-
2
sticks (227 grams) unsalted butter
-
1/2
(100 grams) cup granulated sugar
-
1
cup
(200 grams) lightly packed dark brown sugar
-
1 1/2
cups
(190 grams) all-purpose flour
-
1
cup
(127 grams) bread flour
-
1
teaspoon
baking soda
-
1
teaspoon
fine sea salt
-
1
teaspoon
instant espresso powder,
optional
-
1/2
teaspoon
baking powder
-
2
large eggs plus 1 egg yolk,
at room temperature
-
2
teaspoons
vanilla
-
10
ounces
(283 grams) semisweet chocolate,
chopped
-
1
cup
toffee bits,
homemade or Heath
-
Flaky sea salt,
for finishing
-
In a medium stainless sauté pan set over medium heat, melt the butter. Swirling the pan occasionally, continue to cook the butter. It should become foamy with audible cracking and popping noises. Once the crackling becomes quieter, continue to swirl the pan or stir until the butter develops a nutty aroma and brown bits start to form at the bottom. Once the bits are amber in color, remove from heat and pour into a mixing bowl. Be sure to keep the brown bits at the bottom of the pan as well, they hold so much flavor!
-
Add the granulated sugar and brown sugar to the hot butter, stirring to combine. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
-
In a medium bowl, combine the flours, baking soda, salt, espresso powder, and baking powder.
-
To the cooled butter mixture, whisk in the eggs, yolk, and vanilla until combined. Gradually stir in the flour mixture with a rubber spatula. Stir in the chocolate chunks and toffee bits. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 24 hours but no more than 72 hours.
-
Let dough sit at room temperature just until it is soft enough to scoop, about 1 hour.
-
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
-
Divide the dough into 3-tablespoon sized balls using a large cookie scoop and drop onto prepared baking sheets. Dough may be slightly challenging to scoop.
-
At this point, you can portion the dough, place it on a baking sheet, and freeze just until solid. Remove frozen balls of dough to an airtight container and store for up to 6 weeks.
-
Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and sprinkle flaky sea salt on top of the cookies, if desired. Let cookies cool for 2 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
-
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
This post was originally published in 2014 and updated with recipe improvements, more tips, and new photos. Photos by Ashley McLaughlin.
November 2022 Baking Challenge
This recipe was one of two November 2022 chocolate chip cookie selections for our monthly baking challenge! Every month you can join the challenge by baking the recipe and snapping a photo for a chance to win prizes! Learn more about my monthly baking challenges here. Check out everyone’s cookies:
Have not made these Cookies yet as I’m not sure they will be thick enough as I’m trying to get to. If the Butter is melted down and then let turn a dark brown I’m thinking that the air won’t get trapped around the sugar as the sugar is incorporated. If this is the case will these Cookies be thick with a bit of chew in the middle or more flat like a biscuit? Could anyone suggest the end results?
If you follow the directions exactly including chilling the cookie dough, these cookies should bake up nice and big and thick!
This cookies are a lot of work,BUT totally worth it, they are so adicting with an ice latte <3_<3
just had one problem with the cookies burning on the outside and raw on the center, any tips?
Did you bake your cookies on tinfoil or parchment paper?
I made the toffee and it’s a little more stretchy than hard. Can I still use it for this recipe or do I need to make/buy more toffee?
The toffee should still work in this recipe! The toffee should be crunchy with a slight candy chew, so it’s okay if it’s slightly stretchy. Enjoy your cookies!
Just wondering when to put on the finishing salt – before or after baking?
Thanks!
Hi Jenny, sprinkle salt on the cookies immediately after taking them out of the oven! Enjoy your cookies!
These cookies are fantastic! I made them half the size because I’m giving them out for Christmas. At 1.5 tbsp in size, 12 minutes in the oven was perfect. I will definitely make these again, whether full or half sized. 🙂 Thanks for another great recipe!
So, so happy you enjoyed these cookies!
How do you use the finishing salt? Is it sprinkled after baking or before? If after, how do you get it to stay on?
I sprinkled salt on top of the cookies immediately after taking them out of the oven!
Hello !
When you talk about bread flour, is it the one with more gluten ?
Not leaving in the US so just want to be sure I’m looking for the right ingredient…
Thank you !
Hi Armelle! Bread flour has a higher protein content than all-purpose flour. You can also use just 2 cups of all-purpose flour for this recipe. Hope that helps!
These look amazing. And thanks for the toffee bits recipe as they are not available where I live.
One question – do you know the weight of the cookie dough (I prefer to weigh out my dough to ensure that they are evenly sized)?
Are you supposed to use BOTH all purpose flour AND bread flour per the recipe ? I wasn’t sure if that was to show that there is an option or that you are supposed to use both types – Thanks.
You are supposed to use both types – you need a total of 2.5 cups of flour (as per Tessa’s note, if you don’t have bread flour, you can use 2.5 cups of all-purpose flour). The New York Times chocolate chip cookie uses the same combination of flours (possibly other cookie recipes do as well).
A total of 2.5 cups of flour. For you Canadians out there, use just all-purpose. The all-purpose flour here has a higher protein percentage, the same as bread flour, which is what gives it the chewy texture.
Happy baking!
Can I fill it with kinder chocolate.
Ive been unable to locate bread flour. Is it ok to use just all purpose flour in this recipe?
As she said. Insanely good!
So good, especially hot, but still soft and chewy after they cool. Sea salt on top might be a nice addition.
Hi, is it necessary to include bread flour or are there substitutes?
Yum I just made these. They are not going to last long.
I think these might be the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever made! They baked up perfectly soft and chewy. Cookie perfection!
Can these cookies be made gluten free?
How long can I keep the cookies at room temperature? I’m thinking of baking and sending it overseas to my family.
I’ve made this recipe every Christmas for the last few years. I add a sprinkle of French sea salt on top to finish them off, and they’re perfect. Whenever I make these, I get rave reviews. Refrigerating the dough overnight is a must. The bread flour and browned butter make a huge difference. I’ve made versions with milk chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate chips, and have come to prefer the semi-sweet. They are just the most flavorful chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever tasted. I’ve tried similar recipes that had no overnight chill or fewer ingredients and always come back to this one.
Let me tell you….MAKE THEM!! This recipe is perfect. Sooooo full of intense toffee flavors. You simply can’t go wrong. They are in my opinion the best CCC EVER
Excellent, decadent, and well worth making!
I knew the dough was “off” because it was so dry and crumbly. The ratio of flour is too high. The baking powder is also unneeded.
These cookies barely stayed together (and yes, I measured all ingredients precisely and double checked the amounts.
I had to work a good amount of moisture into the rest of the dough to salve the batch.
I’m going to try another recipe for this cookie.
Hi! I started a chocolate cake, but my butter was too cold (cold kitchen). It wouldn’t fluff even after I added eggs & brown sugar. So I adapted recipe and made these cookies. I browned the second stick of butter, added a scant tablespoon of espresso powder. There was 1/2 cup extra brown sugar already in the mix so my final cookie sample (I couldn’t wait 24 hour!) was extra crispy. Also added a pecan half on top. Oh! So good!! I plan to bake off rest today & will shave off 2 minutes cooking time for another trial run to keep more moisture in the middle. I have some grandchildren coming to judge. Sure to be fun!
Can the recipe be halved?
Just made my third batch of these! Everyone that has tried these cookies RAVES about how delicious they are. Thanks for the tips and tricks your provide throughout the recipe. It was clearly written and easy to follow.
Can these be made even larger or will they spread too much?
This is one perfect cookie. I’ve chilled the dough for about 4 hours and still they turned out amazing. Rich flavour, caramel aroma, wonderful texture. I’ll definitely keep a supply of them in my freezer.
Made the cookie dough during the week to bring up to Lake Tahoe for a snow trip this weekend and everyone loved it! Amazing flavor and warmed us up with a glass of milk! Not to mention the whole house smelled heavenly! I used a mix of semisweet and milk chocolate chips, perfect combination!
How wonderful, Sabrina! Thanks for sharing xo
I was wondering if I could put the fresh made cookie dough in balls and just freeze until i use them or do they have to set in fridge first
Hi there,
Obsessed with your blog! Do you sift your flour for cookies or do you find that it makes a difference?
Thanks!
Nope, I don’t find it’s worth the hassle!
when browning butter, do u use those brown bits that are formed during cooking? I have always strained those out but that does loose a lot of butter. Please help me on this. BTW, you are causing me to loose a lot of time during the day cause all I want to do is read everything you write, often more than once, and I’m not getting the laundry, dusting, and vacuuming done! lol. jk. Then the rest of the day, I’m baking according to your tips and recipes! And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Haha!! Too funny, Patricia. Yes, using everything from the browned butter. Those bits are where all of the wonderful flavor is 🙂
Hi, can you help me with substitution from dark and white sugar to raw honey only. Thank you.
Hi Lana, unfortunately that won’t work. This recipe is best made as written!
Need oC the F word disappeared in the 70’s which was last century. Sticks and cups I can live with.
Celsius or Centigrade is modern please use alongside the vintage F word.
Thanks.
This is my first time visiting your site, and I love it! I have a question for you though, do you have any chocolate chip cookie recipes that can help me use up my bag of Rolos?
Yes! This is the perfect recipe for you: https://handletheheat.com/butterscotch-browned-butter-chocolate-chip-cookies/
Delicious. I just made these (but only had all purpose flour), the chai tea sugar cookies, and your oatmeal cookie (I love raisins so used that instead of chocolate). Every single recipe turned out beautifully. Thank you for posting these recipes.
Where do you find bread flour? All I have seen are “mixes” which is bread flour already mixed with baking soda/powder
How many inches apart do you place the cookie balls on the baking sheet
How many inches apart do you place the cookie balls on the baking sheet
Hello, I was wondering what I have to do to the recipe if I wanted to add oatmeal into the mix?
To be honest, I wouldn’t even try that. Oatmeal sucks so much moisture that I think you’d be better off just finding an oatmeal cookie recipe. This one might fit the bill: https://handletheheat.com/biscoff-browned-butter-oatmeal-chocolate-chip-cookies/
To save time, could I scoop the dough into balls and then chill, instead of chilling first and then having to wait an hour before scooping?
.
How would sifting the dry ingredients affect the recipe? I know some recipes require that to be done. I hope to make these soon! Thanks!
These taste really really good!
The only hard part is letting them sit in the fridge for a day.
So I made 5 and ate them all in about 20 seconds, then put the rest of the dough in the fridge.
Do you have to form the individual cookie balls before freezing? I have a small freezer and would prefer to freeze the whole plastic wrapped dough together as it takes up less space than a large plastic container. Then thaw and shape for later use. Will this change the texture and final bake result?
I’m getting ready to make these right now, but as I read through the directions I’m just a little confused. The directions state that at this point you can freeze the balls, then it continues with the directions to let them sit for 15 minutes at room temperature before baking. Is this applying to the freshly made dough or the frozen or both?
The freshly made dough would already be close to room temperature – that line is meant for frozen dough balls.
Could I freeze this cookie dough and just take out what I need whenever I feel like a cookie?
Do you prefer these or your ultimate chocolate chip cookies? Why? I have tried the ultimate chocolate chip cookies and they were excellent. I am just wondering if I should try these cookies or stick with the ultimate chocolate chip cookies.
I like these cookies when I want to switch things up a bit – they are more flavorful than the Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies. Try them out – you’ll like them!!
I used a doughmakers sheet (regular large sheet with no sides and it is NOT non-stick). No grease at all and I used parchment paper for most batches and my silpat for one batch (those were too dark on the bottom).
I made these cookies over the weekend and the flavor was outstanding! The only thing was that they baked up completely flat. I chilled them the 24 hours and even popped a batch into the freezer on the cookie sheet right before baking, the way I do with my sugar cookies. Same results. I really want them to look like YOUR cookies pictured above. These really are the best in flavor. So I’m wondering…. Could I put the browned butter in the fridge until it got hard again? I’ve never tried to solidify browned butter. What do you think?
What kind of baking sheet did you use? Did you grease the sheet at all?
This happened to me too! Amazing taste but flatter than a pancake! 🙁
Did you follow the recommended chilling time? And were your baking sheets cool and ungreased?
Yup, it could have been that my toffee bits weren’t quite right and melted.
Hi!! These look amazing! Can I use 10oz of semi sweet guittard cookie chips instead? Thanks!
When you use your frozen cookie dough do you let it thaw out first before baking?
I usually just take the dough out then preheat the oven. The colder the dough is the thicker the cookies will be.
Wow! These look like cookie perfection!
Thanks so much 🙂
Hi,
We don’t get toffee bits around here, but we do get regular chocolate bars with toffee bits inside, so I was wondering if I could chop up these bars to resemble chocolate chips and use them in place of the toffee bits and chocolate chips.
You can use whatever kind of chips or chocolate you want!
Hi, these cookies look amazing. I am plannimg to try these soon. Could I substitute the AP flour and bread flour for 100% whole wheat flour?
You could, though I would recommend using white whole wheat flour instead for a more delicate wheat taste and texture.
Thanks for this wonderful recipe!
I wanted to know if I can substitute all-purpose flour in place of bread flour.
I realize, from your Ultimate Guide to CCC, that bread flour makes cookies thick and chewy, but would the cookies still be near perfect if I use only all-purpose flour?
They definitely won’t be as thick and chewy with AP flour but you’ll still get nice cookies.
Hi! i was wondering if i could use margarine in place of the butter?! These really do look amazing!
Unfortunately you cannot use margarine – it needs to be butter!
These look phenomenal, Tessa!
yum! these look divine.. love brown butter cookies.
I need these cookies in my life…chocolate chip with toffee…wow! Thanks for sharing!
I need about a dozen of these just for me!
Holy cookie wow! Can you just box some up for me? 😉
You are only one state over! 😉
Hi Tessa!
These cookies look amazing! I love toffee flavor as well as really soft, chewy chocolate chip cookies with crisp edges. I will definitely plan on making these soon. One question, would making these cookies smaller interfere with the overall texture of these cookies? Typically, I haven’t had an issue with this as long as I decrease the baking time, but just wanted to be sure since that texture looks like one of the best parts about these cookies! I also appreciate your detailed instructions on how to brown the butter, including the cooling time! Other recipes I’ve noticed just say to brown the butter and that’s it.
Also, I love your chocolate chip cookie guide! I’ve always wanted to do that but never had enough people to consume all those cookies! Your results are really interesting though and helpful!
It might change the texture a little but it should be just fine. Thanks!! Glad you like the guide 🙂
You had me at browned butter….then you said toffee and chocolate chip cookies and my taste buds fell off my head. These look PERFECT Tess! Pinned!
Haha! Thanks!