Best Ever Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Name: Best Ever Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 1 cup (2 sticks or 16 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted until browned and brought back to room temperature (see post for more on this); 2 and 1/3 cups all-purpose flour (plus more ONLY if the dough seems to need it; adding one tablespoon at a time); 1 teaspoon baking soda; 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt; 1 cup + 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar, packed; 1/2 cup granulated sugar; 1 tablespoon vanilla extract; 2 large eggs, at room temperature; 12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, roughly chopped

April 3, 2019 by Ashley Manila 158 Comments

The Best Ever Chocolate Chunk Cookies are made with brown butter, plenty of vanilla, and tons of gooey chocolate! You can chill the dough for up to 2 days, or freeze it! This is a great recipe!

Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies

So last week I realized the craziest thing… I’ve never shared my favorite chocolate chunk cookie recipe with you. I seriously had to check the archives to make sure I wasn’t mistaken. But nope… no chocolate chunk cookies to be found. So I busted into the kitchen and baked them for you AT ONCE!

Is that love or what?

Ingredients for Chocolate Chunk Cookies:

butter: unsalted or salted will work! but if you’re using salted, reduce the salt called for in the dry ingredients by 1/4 teaspoon.
sugar: you’ll use a combination of brown sugar and granulated sugar (also known as white sugar). light brown sugar or dark brown sugar may be used.
eggs: two large ones, at room temperature!
vanilla extract: just a dash will enhance all the other flavors in this recipe.
flour: all-purpose!
salt: to balance out the flavors.
baking soda: helps leaven the cookie dough, which in turn gives us soft and chewy cookies.
and finally, chocolate chunks! you know i’m a lindt lover, so i their 70% chocolate bars. but use your favorite brand! and yes, you can even use chocolate chips, instead.

Tips and Tricks for Recipe Success:

If you’ve never browned butter before, don’t sweat it! It’s so darn easy. You’ll need a saute pan, 2 sticks of butter, and a touch of patience – that’s it! You’ll start off melting the butter; once the butter has completely melted, you’ll continue to cook the butter, on medium heat (or medium-low if your stove top runs hot), until it’s turned a golden brown and smells slightly nutty. Just be sure you stay stove side once the butter has melted; brown butter can turn into burnt butter very fast.
You will need to bring your browned butter back to room temperature before incorporating it into the recipe. To do this, simply pour the butter into a heatproof bowl and place it in the fridge for about 1 hour. You want it solid, but soft enough that when you gently press it with your finger it leaves an indentation. Be sure your butter is at the proper temperature before you begin baking. If it’s too warm, you’ll cookies will spread all over the pan 🙁
I recommend using high-quality chocolate chunks for this recipe. If you can find them at your local grocery store (they’re usually right next to the chocolate chips), you can buy bars of chocolate and chop them into chunks. I prefer this method because it allows me to control the size of the chunks. I like to chop 80% of them small then leave 20% really big so they get all gooey and dramatic. I used Lindt 70% chocolate, but use any brand you know and trust. Of course, in a pinch, you could also use an equal amount of chocolate chips. As far as variety, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, or semi-sweet chocolate all work well, but we love this recipe with dark chocolate!
Don’t over bake! Your cookies should be set at the edges but still soft in the center.
Be sure to allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a full 10 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. They need the 10 minutes to firm up so they don’t fall apart as your transfer them.
If you’d like your cookies to look like the ones you see in my photos, press a few chocolate chunks on top of each cookie right after they come out of the oven. You can also sprinkle them with flaky sea salt! I love Maldon sea salt because it’s flaky and delish.

I speak truth when I tell you these are some of the best cookies I’ve ever made – or tasted! ← And I’ve done a lot of both in my life. Bake a batch for yourself and you’ll ~~see~~ taste exactly why.

If you try this recipe for Best Ever Chocolate Chunk Cookies, let me know what you think! Leave a comment below, and don’t forget to snap a pic and tag it #bakerbynature on instagram! Seeing your creations makes my day ♥

More Chocolate Chunk Cookie Recipes: