Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies with Walnuts

I crave a good gooey chocolate chip cookie almost every day. If you look in my freezer, you’ll see a whole tray of frozen cookie dough balls ready to be baked whenever I get the urge. Yes, it’s that serious. One of my favorite cookies on earth is a brown butter chocolate chip cookie with walnuts. The brown butter gets all toasty and toffee’like, boosting the overall flavor and texture of the entire cookie, making it blissful. You have to sprinkle some flaky sea salt (I used fluer de sel) on top, trust me! It brings out all the flavors. Sea salt is a major finishing touch on anything I bake, it’s become essential.

Brown Butter?

You could totally make these cookies without browning the butter. Melting it, or using it softened will give you a good cookie. But if you want a great cookie, I suggest you brown it. Browning butter takes a few minutes to do, but there’s a split second between “This is fine”, and “This aint it”. So make sure you pay attention to the browning process, because you could easily burn the butter if you’re not paying attention. Use a stainless steel pot so you can better gauge the color of the butter.

I promise that you’ll make these cookies a lot. A whole lot. They’re that good. Using chocolate chips is acceptable, but if you want photographic cookie porn, use real chocolate bars that you have to chop by hand. It’ll give you small pieces, shards, and large pieces. Those characteristics make these cookies so visually appealing. Chocolate chips are what I almost always have on hand, and I’ve done it a ton of times with chips — still delicious, just lacking chocolate puddles. 

This recipe is basically my Chocolate Chip Pizookie, just in cookie form. You’ve gotta try that one, too. It’s best served with a ton of decadent ice cream. If you’ve got something against nuts, just leave them out. I’ve been asked so many times to post this recipe in cookie form, so here you go. 

Grab a super cold glass of almond milk and receive your blessings!

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies with Walnuts

---

★★★★★

5 from 9 reviews

• Author: Chef Resha
• Total Time: 32 minutes
• Yield: 12-14 large cookies

Print Recipe

Pin Recipe

Description

Slightly adapted from Cooks Illustrated

---

Ingredients

Units USM

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 14 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cups packed dark brown sugar (SEE NOTE)
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 cups chopped semisweet chocolate (SEE NOTE)
• 1/2 to 1 cup toasted walnuts, chopped (optional)
• Fluer de sel sea salt, for finishing

---

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F, and adjust rack to the middle position. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment or a silicone baking mat. Whisk flour and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.
2. Heat 10 tablespoons butter in a stainless steel skillet or small saucepan over medium-low heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking, swirling pan constantly until butter is dark golden brown and has nutty aroma, 2 to 5 minutes. Turn off heat. Stir remaining 4 tablespoons butter into hot butter until completely melted; set aside.
3. Add both sugars, salt, and vanilla to bowl with butter and whisk until fully incorporated. Add egg and yolk and whisk until mixture is smooth with no sugar lumps remaining, about 30 seconds. Let mixture stand 3 minutes, then whisk for 60 seconds. Repeat process of resting and whisking 2 more times until mixture is thick, smooth, and shiny. Using rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture until just combined, about 1 minute. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts (if using), giving dough final stir to ensure no flour pockets remain.
4. Using a 1/4 cup scoop, divide dough into large balls. Arrange 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets, 6 dough balls per sheet. Sprinkle each cookie with a pinch of fluer de sel sea salt. You may have dough leftover, so bake a third pan after the first two are done. Let the pan cool first, of course.
5. Bake cookies 1 tray at a time until cookies are golden brown and still puffy, and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft, 10-12 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack; cool cookies completely before serving.

Notes

Light brown sugar will work if you don’t have dark. You can use chips if that’s all you have on hand, but chopped chocolate from an actual chocolate bar will give you those glorious chocolate puddles. Yum.

• Prep Time: 20
• Cook Time: 12
• Category: desserts

Keywords: chocolate chip cookies, brown butter chocolate chip cookies, desserts

Recipe Card powered by