Made with toasty brown butter, crunchy toffee bits, espresso powder, and pools of dark chocolate topped with flaky salt, these chewy brown butter toffee chocolate chip cookies are full of flavor and truly one of the best (if not THE absolute best) cookies you’ll ever eat.
If you love brown butter in your baked goods like I do, try my Brown Butter Maple Pecan Cookies, my Pumpkin Brown Butter Snickerdoodles and my Brown Butter Cake.
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Why You Will Love These Cookies
- Crisp edges with chewy, gooey centers.
- Nutty, golden, brown butter, caramel-ly brown sugar and espresso powder goes so well with dark, bittersweet chocolate. Toffee bits add a bit of crunch and sweetness to the deeply flavored cookies. Topped with flaky salt, and all the individual flavors just pop. An absolute perfect cookie.
- This dough can be made in advance, stored in the fridge for a few days, or frozen and baked off when a craving hits.
- Easy to follow recipe with step-by-step photo instructions for perfect brown butter toffee chocolate chip cookies every time.
Recipe Ingredient Notes
(See recipe card for full list of ingredients and amounts.)
Brown butter – Brown butter gives baked goods a depth of flavor that just makes a good cookie an incredible cookie. Brown butter provides richness, and a roasted nutty flavor that just can’t be beat.
Instant espresso powder – Provides a mild coffee flavor and enhances the chocolate. It also cuts through the sweetness of the cookie.
Brown sugar – Keeps the cookies moist and gives them a caramel-like flavor.
Chocolate – Bittersweet chocolate is my preference for these cookies, but semi-sweet also works well. You can absolutely use chips, but I recommend coarsely chopped chocolate bars to get those melty chocolate pools.
Toffee – Crunch, sweetness and a toasty flavor
Flaky salt – Salt helps to identify and balance flavors. I especially like to use it on baked goods that tend to be pretty sweet to break up the sweetness.
Recipe Instructions
(Full recipe instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the page.)
- Brown half of the butter until golden brown.
- Whisk together the flour, espresso powder, salt and baking soda.
- Beat together the remaining butter with the brown sugar and granulated sugar until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the vanilla and cooled brown butter, followed by the egg and egg yolk.
- Beat in the flour mixture.
- Fold in the chopped chocolate and toffee bits.
- Scoop the dough and top with flaky salt.
- Bake for 13-15 minutes.
Baking Tips
- As soon as the cookies come right out of the oven, scoot a large round cookie or biscuit cutter around them in circular motion. This shapes the cookies into a perfect round shape.
- Don't over bake. The tops of the cookies should be just set and the edges golden brown. Don't be tempted to leave them in the oven longer as they will continue to bake from the residual heat once they're removed. Err on the side of under baking slightly for the best texture.
Storage
Baked cookies should be stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Cookie dough can be chilled in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Dough balls can be frozen for up to 3 months. Store frozen cookie dough balls in a double layer of zip top bags.
Recipe FAQs
Yes. Without chilling the dough the cookies will spread. Refrigerating dough allows the flavors to meld together and some of the water content to evaporate, concentrating the flavors, as well as re-solidifying the butter for less spread. Less spread=thicker, gooey-er cookies. Even 30 minutes in the refrigerator can make a difference. I have baked these cookies right after mixing and they're still amazing but they bake up flatter and crispier. If you have some time to optimize the flavor and refrigerate, you'll be happy you did so.
Make sure the butter is room temperature before using. Warm butter can make the mixture too soft and causing them to spread while baking.
An oven that is holding irregular temperatures, or too low temperatures can also cause spreading. Keeping an oven thermometer in your oven ensures that your oven is hovering at the right temperature.
Over mixing can also cause spreading. If you notice cookies spreading in the oven, use a spoon or spatula to reshape them, or use the scoot method mentioned under Baking Tips, and then continue baking.
Did you make this recipe? Share it with us! Tag @littlevintagebaking on Instagram and leave a star rating below if you LOVED this recipe. For more baking and decorating ideas follow me on Pinterest.
More Cookies to Try
Recipe
Brown Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
- Electric Stand Mixer (or handheld electric mixer)
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter
- 2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ cup butter, room temperature
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1½ cups bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped Chocolate chips will also work.
- ¾ cup toffee bits
- flaky salt, for sprinkling
Instructions
- Place ½ of the butter into a medium saucepan over medium heat. Let the butter cook while occasionally stirring to ensure the butter is cooking evenly.1 cup butter
- Cook the butter until it is a deep golden brown color and smells nutty and toasted, about 5 -7 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat. Let the butter cool to room temperature.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, instant espresso, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.2 ¼ cups all purpose flour, 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder, 1 teaspoon fine sea salt, 1 teaspoon baking soda
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the remaining ½ cup of butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.½ cup butter, room temperature, 1 cup light brown sugar, ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- Beat in the vanilla and the cooled brown butter until light and creamy about 2 minutes.2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- Beat in the egg and the egg yolk and beat for another minute.1 large egg, 1 large egg yolk
- On low speed, add the flour mixture, beating just until incorporated.
- Remove the bowl from the mixer. Give the dough one final stir to ensure the flour is incorporated. Use a spatula to fold in the chocolate and toffee.1½ cups bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped, ¾ cup toffee bits
- Scoop the dough with a medium size/2 tablespoon cookie scoop onto two lined cookie sheets. Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes but overnight is better.
- While the cookie dough chills, preheat the oven to 350F.
- Sprinkle the cookie dough scoops with a pinch of flaky salt. Bake 14-16 minutes, or until the cookies begin to brown around the edges, and the centers look set. Don't over bake.flaky salt, for sprinkling
- Let the cookies cool 10 minutes on the parchment before placing the cookies on a cooling rack to cool completely.
Kim says
Question: is the total amount of butter needed 1 cup? Because the ingredients list says 1/2 cup of butter, but the measurements under step 1 and step 4 each say 1/2 cup butter. Thanks!
Ashley says
Yes! Thank you for catching that. All fixed.
Autumn Jones says
these are wonderful! my favorite cookie to make by far!
Charis says
Best chocolate chip cookie recipe I’ve made by far. The edge gets perfectly crisp while the inside stays nice and chewy, and the cookie isn’t too tall or too flat when baked. The brown butter and espresso powder add complexity to the toffee and chocolate, making for a much more enjoyable cookie than your run-of-the-mill choc chip cookie recipe. I like to bake a few and freeze the rest for days when I am in need of a sweet treat.
Sue says
these came out great! I had espresso chocolate chips, so I used those - yum! These are so crunchy, just how I love my cookies!!!
Malini says
Hi, Ashley!
Would it work with this recipe to use dairy free butter, which doesn’t re-solidify after it browns? Or does the browned butter need to solidify after it comes to room temperature?
Ashley says
Hi Malini! The butter doesn't need to be solid when adding it to the dough, it just needs to be room temperature. I think it's definitely worth a shot!