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Small Batch Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Small batch baking recipes have become a specialty of mine over the years; I've even written an entire small batch baking cookbook. So you can trust me when I say I know a thing or two about scaling down recipes yet keeping them big on flavor; like these: the BEST small batch brown butter chocolate chip cookies you will ever eat.
It's no secret that I think brown butter makes everything taste better. From cinnamon rolls to snack cakes, I try to squeeze this magical ingredient in whenever possible. That's why it was a no-brainer to develop this scaled-down recipe. This small batch recipe makes just 8 cookies, which is perfect if you have a small household and not enough people to share a full batch of cookies with! (Or if you're like me and lack self-control!)
Now I'm not one to go around and call my recipes the "best" often because, obviously, it's all subjective. But I'm willing to stand my ground regarding this recipe... these are hands down the best brown butter chocolate chip cookies ever (thanks to a secret ingredient!). Try them and see for yourself! 🙂
Why You'll Love This Recipe:
- Flavor. These cookies have the most intense brown butter flavor you will ever taste, thanks to the addition of dry nonfat milk powder. (More on this below!)
- Texture. I use *mostly* brown sugar, which helps to keep the cookies softer and chewier in the middle, yet still allows for crispy, delicious edges.
- Easy to Make. This is a one-bowl recipe that doesn't require any sort of mixer.
- Yield. This small batch recipe yields exactly 8 perfect cookies.
Ingredients & Substitutions
You probably have most of what you need to make these small batch brown butter chocolate chip cookies already sitting in your kitchen. Here's what you'll need:
- Butter: I prefer using unsalted butter in my baked goods, but salted is just fine too... you'll just want to reduce the salt the recipe calls for to 1/8 teaspoon.
- Nonfat dry milk powder: This is a trick I picked up from Bon Appétit. Nonfat milk powder is essentially pure milk solids. The very same milk solids responsible for brown butter's toasty, nutty taste. This means all you have to do is add a scoop of milk powder to melting butter, and you’ll go from brown butter to the most brownest butter.
- Brown sugar: The color, moisture, and flavor you get from the molasses in brown sugar can't be beaten. You can use either light or dark brown sugar!
- Granulated sugar: It's nice to have a bit of balance as far as sweeteners are concerned.
- Egg: Only 1 large egg is needed here, which helps deliver a chewy final result!
- Vanilla: It enhances all the other flavors. I like to use vanilla bean paste; however, vanilla extract will work fine too!
- Dark chocolate: Opt for your favorite chocolate bar here! I love using dark chocolate Lindt bars, especially in cookies, because they make perfect chocolate puddles.
- Bread flour: Bread flour has a higher protein content which helps add extra chewiness to these cookies. If you don't have any bread flour on hand, you can replace it with an equal amount of all-purpose flour!
- Baking soda: This provides a little leavening action and also helps the cookies to brown nicely while baking.
- Salt: Cookies made without salt taste a little plain, so don’t skip it.
How to Make Small Batch Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Not only are these the best brown butter chocolate chip cookies you will ever have, but they come together SO easily! Here's how you make them.
How to Get Perfectly Round Cookies
Cookies with mix-ins tend to spread a little more and can look a little wonky when they first come out of the oven, but there's an easy trick to get perfectly round cookies: use a cookie cutter! By swirling a large round cookie cutter (or any circular object really; a small bowl also works) around the freshly baked cookie, you can tuck in the uneven bits and reshape it before it cools and sets, creating a picture-perfect round cookie. To take advantage of this trick with this recipe, I recommend baking only 4 cookies at a time, leaving ample space between the cookies and the edges of the cookie sheet (so you have room to swirl).
Recipe Troubleshooting & FAQ
Why is my milk powder clumpy once I add it to the melted butter?
This is totally normal, don't worry! You can use your spatula or whisk to break up the clumps as much as you can while you're browning the butter. Once you whisk in the sugars and egg though, any remaining clumps will break down and disappear on their own!
Do I have to chill the cookie dough?
Yes, you MUST chill the cookie dough for at least 30 minutes. If you bake the un-chilled dough, the cookies won't hold their shape at all and may even meld together during the baking process. This cookie dough is a bit on the oily side before chilling due to the brown butter, and it becomes less oily as it chills. Trust the process!
How can you tell when the cookies are done baking?
Remove these cookies from the oven while they still look ever so slightly underdone in the center. The residual heat of the pan will continue to finish cooking them to soft perfection and cause them to set. I recommend checking at the 10 minute mark.
Why is this recipe in grams?
I post my recipes in grams as it’s the most accurate way to bake and it’s how I develop them; cups are not only inaccurate, but they vary in volume worldwide! In any event, if you look at the recipe card underneath the ingredients list, you can click “US Customary” and it’ll convert to volume measures!
Watch How to Make These Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies:
Small Batch Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 113 g unsalted butter
- 30 g nonfat dry milk powder
- 110 g light brown sugar
- 50 g granulated sugar
- 1 large egg (≈ 50g)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
- 125 g bread flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 100 g 70% cacao dark chocolate chopped
- flaky sea salt optional
Instructions
- Cube the butter and place in a light-colored skillet. (Light-colored helps you determine when the butter begins browning.) Melt the butter over medium heat, stirring constantly.
- Once melted, add the milk powder and stir until evenly incorporated (don't worry if some of the milk powder clumps together). Keep stirring. After 5-8 minutes, the butter will begin browning; you’ll notice lightly browned specks begin to form at the bottom of the pan, and you'll begin to smell a nutty aroma. Once browned, immediately remove from heat and pour into a heat-proof bowl.
- To the brown butter (which should look like dark, wet sand), add the brown sugar and granulated sugar and whisk until evenly combined. Add the egg and vanilla and whisk again until well combined.
- Add the flour, baking soda, and salt to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined; be sure not to overmix! Fold in most of the chocolate chunks (reserve some for the next step) until incorporated.
- Using a 3-tablespoon spring-loaded scoop, scoop the dough into balls and place dough balls on a lined baking sheet. Top with remaining chocolate chunks, then place in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line another baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Bake the cookies, 4 at a time, for 10-12 minutes, or until browned on the sides; the centers will look soft. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the tops with flaky salt. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Dawn
Hi Mike! Excited to make this recipe. Vanilla bean paste isn't readily available for me, how much vanilla extract should I use to substitute? Thank you.
Mike Johnson
You can use an equal amount of vanilla extract!
sheryl
wow. this recipe is amazing. ive tested over 10-15 different ccc recipes, but all of them did not yield the flavours or texture that i liked. this cookie ticked all the boxes; complex and deep flavour profile even after baking, and a chewy and dense center with extremely crisp edges. ive eaten so many chocolate chip cookies, both good and bad, but this cookie was so extremely well done that i had to write a review. i baked some for my family and friends, and everyone agreed that they were delicious. i divided the dough into 10 smaller cookies instead and baked them at a lower temperature for longer to get crisper, thinner cookies and the results were phenomenal. thank you so much for this recipe!
Charlene
This is GOLD! love love the recipe! Been making cookies forever and this is my top 1 now! Thank you!
Mike Johnson
So glad to hear that, Charlene!
Crystal Marie McDaniels
I have made three three times this week. Once for my godson, another for a friend and finally for myself. Every single time, ABSOLUTELY PERFECT. I overnighted the first batch via FedEx and they were still perfect on arrival. I just bought the small batches cookbook because it feels like the least I can do. I've never gotten so many compliments on cookies before. No notes, no changes. Well worth the effort!!!
Mike Johnson
So glad to hear this, Crystal! 😀
Pk
Hi, hny2024 & thanks for the recipe. I just made a batch today and they came out great. Never used bread flour in cookie recipe nor milk powder in browned butter before. Interesting! Tho i couldnt get a hold of non fat milk powder so i used 15g of whole milk one and 110g of butter instead. And i used mix of 52% and 70% of chocolates. They just spread a lil bit more than yours tho they taste amazing. Chewy texture and crispy on the edge. And for some reason there are a hint of coffee in my nose when i ate them! Will definitely make some again soon. Maybe cutdown 5-10% of sugar to see how they go.
Melinda rinehart
Is this the recipe to which I could add the caramels? I am not sure if I missed that recipe somewhere else. Thanks in advance 🙂
Mike Johnson
Yup, this is that same exact recipe! I roll the soft caramels into balls using my hands and place one on top of each dough ball before baking!
melinda rinehart
Oh! I’m so glad! I went ahead with them, and they are brilliant. My post today for #cookiefriday! Thank you so much.
Pamilyn J Hatfield
The beginning of the recipe is very unclear. When do you add the dry milk? I am a retired chef so I went with my gut and browned the butter first and then added the milk and whisked it in off heat. Getting ready to pop into the oven now. The dough smells divine Mike!
Mike Johnson
I’m so sorry you found it unclear!! You add the milk powder while the butter is still over the heat and is fully melted (before it begins browning), so that the milk solids in the powder can toast as well. There are step-by-step photos and a video above the recipe card that should help next time around. Hope the results still turn out delicious!
Mike Johnson
I usually just let it cool for about 15-20 minutes. Because this cookie starts off with melted butter instead of softened butter, you'll have to chill the dough in the fridge before baking! So really you're just looking to have the butter cool enough that it won't immediately scramble your eggs when you add them. Hope this helps!
X
The first time I’ve successfully made really good cookies, so much so that I ate 80% of the entire batch in 3 days.
Divinq
Do I bake directly from the fridge or do i let it thaw a bit before baking?
Michael Johnson
You can bake them directly from the fridge!
Rory
Hi Mike! Will I still get thesame batter consistency if I'll weigh my flours using a digital scale instead of using a measuring cups?
Michael Johnson
Yup! I actually recommend that everyone follow my recipes using metric ingredients instead of cup measures!
Michael Johnson
Sounds like your measurements may have been a little off! I would try making them using the metric measurements and weighing your ingredients out.
Michael Johnson
I don't weigh the dough when making the cookies for this recipe, however, the cookie scoop I use is 1.5 tablespoons. Hope this helps!
Irish
Hi Mike! It’s me again. I tried this recipe today but my sugars and browned butter mixture failed to cream. What do you think happened? Tia 🙂
Michael Johnson
Because you're starting with melted butter, the butter and sugars don't necessarily "cream" in the same way as softened butter would. It should appear like wet sand at first, and once you add the eggs, that's where you can really beat the mixture together. I'll be updating this recipe for clarification soon!
Tuts
Hey Mike !
This recipe looks delish and I would love to try it. Where I live tho all we have available is full fat milk powder and not the non fat variety .
Would that work dyu think ?
Thanks in advance !
Mike Johnson
I haven't tested it for myself so I can't say with certainty, but after a quick Google search, it seems likely that it would work out! Let me know how it turns out if you try it!
Tuts
Hey Mike !
So I made it and it was delish flavor -wise.
But I did run into some problems with the substitution.
The dough was wetter than yours and mine spread a lot in the oven ,almost to a thin Tate's style cookie .
So yea the fat in the milk powder is definitely doing somthing lol because I weighed all the ingredients.
Will be ordering some of the right type of milk powder soon so shall report back !
Mike Johnson
Ahhh, I'm so sorry to hear that! But good to know, thanks for reporting back!!
Michael Johnson
Cream of tartar isn't used in this recipe! It would prevent the sugar from crystalizing and affect the texture.
Richa
Hi,
I'm from Bangalore (India) and the breadflourcis not easily available here. So, could you plz tell the substitute for the same.
Michael Johnson
You can replace the bread flour with an equal amount of all-purpose flour!
Michael Johnson
Hi Rebecca! Sorry to hear they didn't turn out as you'd hope. I'm not sure what you mean by "the butter part made the cookie fall apart to quicky and they all became one huge cookie". If you're saying that when you baked them, they all joined together, it sounds like you might have had the cookies too close together and didn't give them enough chill time in the fridge (which is necessary!). I hope this helps! 🙂
Maggie Lacke
My whole family loved them!! Thanks for the great recipe Mike :))
Michael Johnson
Happy to hear!! 🙂
Jade Bannon
I just baked these this morning and they are absolutely delicious! I wouldn’t change a thing about them! Thanks for the great recipe! If I wanted to make them bigger would I just increase the baking time?
Michael Johnson
So glad to hear, Jade! And yes, I would just add another two minutes and keep an eye on them if you want bigger cookies! 🙂
Mira
Hii, I attempted your recipe and after baking the cookies I can still see specks of what should be the browned butter/milk powder. Is that normal ?
Mike Johnson
Hi! Those specks are totally normal! They're the milk solids from browning the butter and add tons of delicious flavor. You're spot on with how they should look! Let me know if you have any other questions! 😊
Michael Johnson
They're like my favorite cookie! And I know what you mean, I actually despise coffee too but the espresso powder is just a flavor enhancer and can be reduced or omitted completely!
Michael Johnson
Bread flour has more protein content than all-purpose and just affects the cookie’s texture. They’re interchangeable really, so you can just use 1¾ cup AP flour!