Brown Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. Homemade chocolate chip cookies made with browned butter, sweet brown sugar, and oats.

Rundown: Brown butter oatmeal choc chip cookies

  • Taste: Nutty buttery-ness from the brown butter with big melty chunks of chocolate
  • Texture: Crispy on the edges and base, and chewy inside from the oatmeal.
  • Difficulty: Effortless. No creaming butter. No appliances. Easy to handle dough.
  • Speed: Faster than usual cookie recipes. No chilling dough. No waiting for butter to soften.
  • Return for effort: Extremely high. Punches way above its weight!!

Ingredients in brown butter choc chip cookies

When I’m making to impress, I prefer to chop up good dark chocolate myself. Lindt is my choice – not cheap, so I stock up when discounted! 

  • Chocolate or chocolate chips – See notes above photo.
  • Unsalted butter – This recipe calls for the butter to be browned which intensifies the buttery flavour. It’s really easy – just melt the butter then simmer for a few minutes until it turns brown and smells beautifully nutty. That’s it!
  • Oats – Just ordinary rolled oats. This is what gives these cookies a great chewiness! Recipe should work with quick oats, but not sure about steel cut oats.
  • Sugar – Brown sugar for caramely flavour and to make the cookies a bit chewy rather than crisp.
  • Flour – Just plain / all-purpose flour. Please don’t substitute with self raising flour as it doesn’t have enough rising agent in it.
  • Baking soda (bi-carb) – This is the leavening agent used in these cookies (ie to make them rise a bit). It is stronger than baking powder and has slightly different leavening effect depending on what you are making. Baking powder makes these cookies dome slightly whereas baking soda makes them rise more evenly which is better.
  • Vanilla – Just a bit, for flavour.
  • Salt – It’s generally good practice to add a bit of salt into sweet baking recipes as it brings out the flavours in other ingredients. It doesn’t make these cookies salty. But there’s certainly the option to finish them with a sprinkle of salt flakes!

How to make brown butter chocolate chip cookies

1. BROWN THE BUTTER

Browning butter is as simple as melting butter then letting it simmer until it changes from yellow to golden brown which only takes a few minutes. This intensifies the buttery flavour and adds nuttiness. Both good things!

  1. Melt butter in a silver or other non-black saucepan or small pan. Why does the colour of the cooking vessel matter? Because it’s impossible to see when the butter changes from yellow to golden in a black pan. You’ll need to rely on your smell or using a spoon to scoop the butter up to check the colour!
  2. Brown butter! Simmer the melted butter on medium to medium high for 3 to 5 minutes or until you see little golden bits (which are the dairy bits that go toasty) and you can smell the nuttiness. The butter will also change from yellow to golden brown in colour.Remove from the stove immediately to prevent it from going too brown / burnt. Pour the browned butter into a large mixing bowl (including all the little brown bits – extra flavour!). Then let it cool for 5 minutes.

2. COOKIE DOUGH – JUST MIX BY HAND

  1. Whisk dry ingredients in a bowl – the flour, oatmeal, salt and baking soda.
  2. Whisk wet – Add sugar into the still warm brown butter and whisk. It will look a bit split, that’s ok, it will come together when you add the egg. Add egg and vanilla then whisk.
  3. Combine wet and dry – Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Mix with a wooden spoon until the flour is mostly incorporated.Then add the chocolate chips and mix through until you can no longer see flour.
  4. 5 minutes rest – Set the cookie dough aside for 5 minutes to let it firm up slightly so it’s scoop able into mounds.
  1. Scoop mounds of cookie dough onto lined trays, 5 cm / 2″ apart. I use a size 40 cookie scoop which is 1 1/2 tablespoons (a heaped tablespoon measure). You should get 22 cookies.I use 3 trays – 8 cookies on 2 trays and 6 cookies on a 3rd tray.
  2. Press the mounds down to 0.8 cm / 1/3″ thick rounds, reshaping as needed if they split or go wonky.

4. BAKE 11 MINUTES

  1. Bake – Bake 2 trays for 11 minutes, switching and rotating the trays at the the 7 minute mark until light golden. Remove, then bake the 3rd tray for 10 minutes, rotating at the 6 minute mark.
  2. Cool cookies on the tray for 10 minutes – they will continue to cook and go a bit more golden. Then transfer to a cooling rack to fully cool. They will crisp up on the edges and base, but be chewy in the middle – best of both worlds!

Ingredients

CupsMetric

  • ▢150g/10 tbsp unsalted butter , cut into 1cm / 1/2″ cubes
  • ▢1 cup flour , plain/all-purpose
  • ▢1 1/2 cups rolled oats (not quick or steel cut)
  • ▢1 tsp baking soda (bi-carb) , sifted if lumpy
  • ▢1/8 tsp cooking/kosher salt
  • ▢1 cup brown sugar (tightly packed)
  • ▢1 large egg , at room temperature (~55g/2oz)
  • ▢1 tsp vanilla extract
  • ▢200g/ 7 oz 70% dark chocolate block, I use Lindt (Note 1, sub 1 cup / 200g chips)

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan). Lightly grease then line three baking trays with paper.
  • Brown butter – Melt butter in a small silver pan or saucepan over medium heat (Note 2). Leave to simmer on medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring every now and then, until (when you push foam aside) you see little golden-brown bits. Immediately pour the butter and all the brown bits into a large mixing bowl (large enough to mix the cookie dough) and set aside to cool for 5 minutes.
  • Chop choc – Cut the chocolate into 1cm /1/4″ pieces. Transfer the chunks into a bowl and leave the fine chocolate dust behind for another purpose (makes cookies speckled, Note 1).
  • Mix dry ingredients – Whisk flour, oats, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
  • Back to the butter – Add sugar to the brown butter and whisk (it might not combine fully). Add egg and vanilla, whisk until smooth.
  • Finish dough – Add dry ingredients into the egg-butter mixture. Mix with a wooden spoon until the flour is almost mixed in. Add chocolate, and stir until mixed through and you can no longer see flour. Set aside for 5 minutes to let the mixture firm up a bit.
  • Cookies – Scoop a heaped tablespoon of dough onto the tray, 5 cm / 2 ” apart. (I use a size 40 cookie scoop, makes 22 cookies) Flatten to 8 mm / 1/3″ thick, reshaping sides if needed if they split/go wonky.
  • Bake – Bake 2 trays for 11 minutes, switching shelves and rotating the tray at the 7 minute mark, or until the surface is light golden. For 1 tray, bake 10 minutes, rotating the tray at the 6 minute mark.
  • Cool on the tray for 10 minutes, then transfer onto a cooling rack to fully cool. (A sprinkle of salt flakes wouldn’t go astray!)

Recipe Notes:

1. Choc dust – When you chop your own chocolate, you’ll end up with “dust”. I prefer not to use the chocolate dust as it leaves speckles on the cookie. It’s just a visual thing! I reserve for cappuccinos.

Lindt is my preferred, I stock up when it goes on sale! Else any dark eating chocolate is fine.

Substitute with 1 cup / 200g dark choc chips / semi sweet chips.

2. Browning butter – Easier to use silver or other light colour pan when browning butter so you can see the golden brown bits (can’t see against black base). Don’t forget to scrape in all the golden bits – it’s free flavour!

3. Baking – For 2 trays, bake 11 minutes, rotating the tray and switching shelves at the 7 minute mark. For 1 tray, bake 10 minutes, rotating at the 6 minute mark.

4. Keeps 5 days in an airtight container, they start softening on day 3+. Keep in fridge if it’s super hot where you are.

Nutrition per cookie, assuming 22 cookies.