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:
- Soft Batch Chocolate Chunk Peanut Butter Cookies
- Brown Butter Bourbon Pecan Chocolate Chunk Cookies
- Almond Amaretto Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Best Ever Chocolate Chunk Cookies
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
Instructions
For the Brown Butter:
- Place the butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat and cook for 3 to 4 minutes – stirring almost constantly – until the butter has browned. Pour the brown butter into a heatproof bowl, being sure to scrape all of the "toasted" bits into the bowl as well. Place the bowl in the refrigerator for 1 hour, or until the butter is at room temperature. You’ll know the butter is at room temperature when you press a finger into the top and it makes a slight indentation. It should be solid but soft.
- Once the butter is at room temperature, you're ready to get baking!
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees (F).
For the Best Ever Chocolate Chunk Cookies:
- In a medium-sized bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
- In a large bowl using a handheld electric mixer, or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine both sugars, vanilla, and browned butter; cream on medium-speed until light and fluffy; about 2 minutes. Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating for 15 seconds after each addition. Turn mixer off. Using a wooden spoon or sturdy rubber spatula, gently fold in the flour, stirring only until the flour begins to disappear. Fold in the chocolate chunks.
- Roll 3 tablespoon sized scoops of dough between your palms to form a ball (they should be big; almost a 1/4 cup), then place on prepared sheet (make sure to leave enough room in between each cookie for inevitable spreading). Continue this process until all the dough has been rolled. Place baking sheets in preheated oven, one at a time, and bake for 9 to 10 minutes, or until golden at the edges but still soft in the middle. Repeat with all cookie dough. Let cookies cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire wrack to cool completely.
Alf says
Hey so I’ve never ever left a comment on a baking blog but I’ve got to say, these cookies, they’re it. They’re THE cookies. I’ve been hearing a lot of talk about brown butter lately (cuz I have boring friends I guess) and I doubted the degree to which it perfects the standard chocolate chunk cookie. But this recipe – I followed it as deligently as I could, even taking an egg out of the fridge early to get it to room temperature. They came out perfect, a beautiful colour, sweet (but not overwhelmingly so, thank you dark chocolate) and soft. They’re so beautiful and tasty I might cry tears of joy. I’m only ever making this recipe from now on.
Talya says
I really liked these. I personally might add some espresso powder because I love the flavor in my cookies but otherwise they’re amazing. I like how they get taller rather than flatter and they’re not mushy. Does anyone know if you can freeze the dough to bake on the fly?
Kristi says
These were great!!! I love the nuttiness of the brown butter. I made them today for my sister’s birthday and I’ll be making them again. Also, thank you for all the tips, various option and possible substitutions. The recipe was easy to follow.
Debra Turner says
These cookies are excellent! I followed the recipe exactly. I live in Denver, no altitude adjustment.
Kat says
Definitely the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever made. Wow!
Adria says
These are great cookies. Love them!!! Browning the butter makes all the difference. Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
Kam Villas says
We’ve been making these for a
Year now. They’re sour favorite cookies. I even make them for friends for special events.
Rebecca says
My family asked for me to put this recipe in the family cookbook
Taliyah Wilson says
Made these yesterday afternoon and this will definitely become my go to chocolate chip cookie recipe! So soft they practically melt into your mouth and doesn’t hurt that they took less than an hour (excludes brown butter prep and chill time). Thank you, Ashley!
Sherri Barber says
These are the BEST i make a lot of cookies for a homeless organization and they are the best-i usually make a coupe hundred cookies at a time for the weekly dinner so i like to have a variety for them to choose from, thank for the recipe!