Brown Butter Caramel Dark Chocolate Cookies
Crispy on the outer edges and chewy in the middle, these big Brown Butter Caramel Dark Chocolate Cookies are a sweet and salty perfect cookie! You’ll want a big glass of milk with these cookies!
If you’re looking for more cookie recipes, be sure to check out some of my other favorites like my Vegan Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies, Coconut Milk Chocolate Chunk Cookies, Soft Baked Pumpkin Spice Cranberry Sandwich Cookies, or Eggless Chocolate Strawberry Cookies.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: Brown Butter Caramel Dark Chocolate Cookies
- Ready In: 1 hour 27 minutes
- Makes: 12 cookies
- Main Ingredients: salted butter, cane sugar, all purpose flour, chocolate bars
- Flavor Profile: sweet, salty, nutty, caramel
- Dietary Info: no seed oils
- Difficulty: Medium
- Why You’ll Love It: best cookie recipe with brown butter and caramel
Summarize & Save This Content On
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Big Cookies: Well, I guess a plus for these is that they are big! But you can make these any size you like as long as you adjust your baking time accordingly (more on that in the tips section).
- Brown Butter: Brown butter is the star of these cookies! I love making brown butter cookies as it provides a slightly nutty and sweet flavor that pairs so well with dark chocolate and sea salt!
- Sweet & Salty: These Brown Butter Caramel Dark Chocolate Cookies are both sweet and salty! I use Lake Champlain Organic Maple Caramel Dark Chocolate Bars in these cookies, so you get a sweet caramel and maple flavor along with dark chocolate and flaky sea salt. I used these same chocolate bars in my Maple Caramel Dark Chocolate Gingerbread Cookie Bars that were wildly popular during the holidays, so I know you’ll love them in this cookie recipe too! You can also use plain dark chocolate bars too (more on that in the tips below!).
Jump to:
- A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- What is brown butter?
- Ingredients
- Baker’s Tips for Brown Butter Caramel Dark Chocolate Cookies
- How to Make Brown Butter Caramel Dark Chocolate Cookies
- Recipe FAQ’s
- Ways to Enjoy Brown Butter Caramel Dark Chocolate Cookies
- More Brown Butter Recipes
- Brown Butter Caramel Dark Chocolate Cookies
- The Bake Shop
What is brown butter?
Brown butter is the process of cooking butter over the stovetop until the milk solids caramelize. This creates small brown specs in the butter (which are the toasted milk solids). Hence, the name brown butter. Because the milk solids are toasted and caramelized, it gives the butter a toasty, nutty and sweet flavor that in very unique. Watch the video below on how to make brown butter.
Ingredients
- Butter: I use Organic Valley Salted Butter. You can use unsalted butter, but just add a little over 1/4 teaspoon of salt to the dough if you do that. For more info on butter and how certain butters perform in cookies, check out the Best Salted Butter for Baking for even more info!
- Eggs: I use organic large eggs. If you use medium or extra-large, be sure to weigh them and use the right amount. One large egg is about 50 grams (use the extra for breakfast or pie wash). But, too little eggs can result in dry cookies and too much eggs can result in gooey cookie dough that creates a more melted thin cookie.
- Baking Powder: I use baking powder because these cookies do not have an acid to react with (such as brown sugar). For more info on the Difference Between Baking Soda and Baking Powder, read my post!
- Chocolate Bars: I use Lake Champlain Organic Maple Caramel Dark Chocolate Bars in these cookies. These chocolate bars add so much flavor to this cookie, this is where the caramel flavor comes from! If you have just plain chocolate bars, you can use that too, but it will just be a plain brown butter chocolate chip cookie if you are just using chocolate chips.
- Flaky Sea Salt: I top these with flaky salt (optional) but totally worth it if you are obsessed with sweet and salty desserts, like me!
*For a full list of ingredients and measurements, visit the recipe card below.
Baker's Tips for Brown Butter Caramel Dark Chocolate Cookies
- Weigh ingredients for the best results.
- I use brown butter in this recipe, so that makes you’ll have to brown the butter as the first step. This also means that the butter can be straight from the fridge as you will melt it anyways. So, that’s a huge bonus as you do not need soft butter for this recipe!
- When browning the butter, be sure to keep a close eye on it. Once it’s completely melted it will brown very quickly and it can easily burn. So don’t leave it! Check out my tutorial How to Make Brown Butter if you are new to browning butter.
- I use Lake Champlain Organic Maple Caramel Dark Chocolate Bars in this recipe. This gives these cookies a sweet caramel flavor and dark chocolate with just one ingredient! But, if you don’t have these, then you can use a plain dark chocolate bar, they will just taste a little different as the maple caramel flavor will be missing. You could also use any other kind of caramel filled chocolate bar for this recipe and it would work the same way.
- Be sure to refrigerate the cookie dough. This is crucial as this helps with cookie spread and also to develop the best flavor.
- If you want to keep some of the cookie dough in the fridge to bake off at a later date, you can also do that. If you choose this, be sure to store the dough balls in an airtight container. You can keep raw baked cookie in the fridge in an airtight container for about 3 days.
- I top these cookies with flaky sea salt, but this step is completely optional. There’s nothing I love more than a sweet and salty cookie!
- Make sure to store these cookies in an airtight container so they stay soft and chewy! I use a cake dome for these as they are so big! But you can use a Tupperware or zip bag as well.
- High Altitude – Bake at 375°F for 13 to 15 minutes or until they are golden brown around the edges.
How to Make Brown Butter Caramel Dark Chocolate Cookies
- In a 3-quart pot (or medium saucepan), add the butter. Put over low/medium heat and melt completely. Once melted, continue to stir the butter while it browns. This can take about 10 minutes; the butter will turn from a yellow color to a light golden brown color and small brown speckles (little brown bits) will appear. Remove from heat immediately when you see this happening, as it can easily burn.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the brown butter, cane sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract. Mix on low until combined.
- Add the flour, baking powder, and sea salt.
- Mix on low until combined.
- Add the chopped chocolate bars into the dough and mix to combine completely.
- Line 1 baking sheets with parchment paper. Using your hands (or a cookie scoop) ball the dough into 12 balls and place onto the prepared baking sheets. Refrigerate dough balls for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line another baking sheet with parchment paper and transfer half the cookie dough to the second baking sheet. Spread out the cookies so they are evenly spaced apart on each sheet (2×3). Bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until they are golden brown around the edges. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt immediately after coming out of the oven.
Recipe FAQ's
Brown butter is the process of toasting milk solids, so it creates a toasty, nutty and sweet flavor that is unmatchable! It brings much more depth of flavor to cookies and pairs really well with chocolate and caramel.
If you overbrowned the butter, it will be burnt. When the milk solids toast, they turn from a yellow color to a light golden brown color. As soon as that happens, remove from the heat immediately as it can burn easily after this stage. If it burns those solids will turn into little black specs, and the butter will taste burnt. So, if it smells burnt and the specs are black, I would toss out that butter and try again. I have a video above on how to brown butter so you can see the exact process and what it should look like, be sure to give it a watch if you are new to browning butter!
Yes, chilling the dough is essential because we don't want the cookies to spread too much. Plus, melted butter can also create thin, greasy edges on your cookies, which is not ideal for texture. Chilling the dough helps solidify that butter as well as hydrate the flour, which creates a chewier and thicker cookie.
Yes, absolutely! If you want to make these cookies smaller, you can do that, just be sure to bake them for less time so they do not over bake!
I use Lake Champlain Organic Maple Caramel Dark Chocolate Bars, which work really well in these cookies. You get bits of chocolate along with sweet caramel flavor in every bite!
Chop into pieces that are about the size of chocolate chips. It's okay if you have some that are larger and some that are smaller as well.
No, it won't burn. This caramel is tucked inside the chocolate bar. So, a small amount may be revealed when cutting, but it's not like adding caramel candies or sauce to a cookie which can has excess sugar and can cause possible burning if it leaks out. This is why I love this method as it works perfectly every time.
I use dark chocolate specifically because I am using this Lake Champlain Organic Maple Caramel Dark Chocolate Bar. And, I also love the contrast of rich dark chocolate with sweet caramel. Lake Champlain also makes an Organic Caramel Filled Milk Chocolate Bar if you want to use that instead for a sweeter option.
Yes, you can use any kind of chocolate you like! White, milk, dark… but, in this recipe I use Lake Champlain Organic Maple Caramel Dark Chocolate Bars which gives this cookie a caramel and maple flavor as well, so if you use different chocolate, it will just be a plain brown butter cookie with whatever chocolate you choose.
Yes, nuts would be delicious in this cookie! If you're going to add nuts, I recommend 85 grams (3 ounces) of whatever kind of nuts you like. Cashews, almonds, and pecans would all be great choices!
You can reserve some of the chopped chocolate and add extra pieces of chopped chocolate right on top of the cookie dough after balling. This will help larger pieces melt in the oven when baking and give you the illusion of more chocolate or that the cookies are bursting with chocolate pieces.
If you didn't chill the cookie dough this can happen. If you did chill it, then it's most likely incorrect measuring, too much butter or sugars compared to flour. Be sure to use a digital food scale to measure properly!
Incorrect measuring. If you have too much flour, the cookies won't spread enough, be sure to use a digital food scale so you have the correct ratio of ingredients.
Store in an airtight container so they stay soft and chewy.
Yes, after balling the dough you can freeze the tray. Once the dough is firm, transfer to an airtight container, be sure to put parchment paper between each layer to prevent cookie dough from freezing together. When you want to bake cookies, thaw in the fridge overnight. Then they are ready to bake straight from the fridge.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature if you plan to eat in a few days. You can also freeze them so they last longer. They will keep in an airtight storage container in the freezer for up to 3 months. Then, you can just thaw and enjoy.
Ways to Enjoy Brown Butter Caramel Dark Chocolate Cookies
- Enjoy with Coconut Hot Chocolate, Chai Tea Hot Chocolate or Boozy Pumpkin Spice Hot Chocolate.
- I love as an afternoon snack with Creamy Vegan Chocolate Smoothie With Almond Butter or Iced Blueberry Latte.
- Enjoy with ice cream like Salted Caramel No Churn Ice Cream or Organic Rocky Road Ice Cream.
More Brown Butter Recipes
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Brown Butter Caramel Dark Chocolate Cookies
Equipment
- Digital Food Scale
- Stand Mixer
- Half Sheet Pan
- Parchment Paper Sheets
Ingredients
- 170 grams salted butter
- 226 grams cane sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 298 grams all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 3 Lake Champlain Maple Caramel Dark Chocolate Bars (chopped)
- Flaky sea salt (optional)
Instructions
- In a 3-quart pot (or medium saucepan), add the butter. Put over low/medium heat and melt completely. Once melted, continue to stir the butter while it browns. This can take about 10 minutes; the butter will turn from a yellow color to a light golden brown color and small brown speckles (little brown bits) will appear. Remove from heat immediately when you see this happening, as it can easily burn.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the brown butter, cane sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract. Mix on low until combined.
- Add the flour, baking powder, and sea salt and mix on low until combined.
- Add the chopped chocolate bars into the dough and mix to combine completely.
- Line 1 baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Using your hands (or a cookie scoop) ball the dough into 12 balls and place onto the prepared baking sheets. Refrigerate dough balls for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line another baking sheet with parchment paper and transfer half the cookie dough to the second baking sheet. Spread out the cookies so they are evenly spaced apart on each sheet (2×3).
- Bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until they are golden brown around the edges. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt immediately after coming out of the oven.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 7 days.
Video
Notes
- Weigh ingredients for the best results.
- I use brown butter in this recipe, so that makes you’ll have to brown the butter as the first step. This also means that the butter can be straight from the fridge as you will melt it anyways. So, that’s a huge bonus as you do not need soft butter for this recipe!
- When browning the butter, be sure to keep a close eye on it. Once it’s completely melted it will brown very quickly and it can easily burn. So don’t leave it! Check out my tutorial How to Make Brown Butter if you are new to browning butter.
- I use Lake Champlain Organic Maple Caramel Dark Chocolate Bars in this recipe. This gives these cookies a sweet caramel flavor and dark chocolate with just one ingredient! But, if you don’t have these, then you can use a plain dark chocolate bar, they will just taste a little different as the maple caramel flavor will be missing. You could also use any other kind of caramel filled chocolate bar for this recipe and it would work the same way.
- Be sure to refrigerate the cookie dough. This is crucial as this helps with cookie spread and also to develop the best flavor.
- If you want to keep some of the cookie dough in the fridge to bake off at a later date, you can also do that. If you choose this, be sure to store the dough balls in an airtight container. You can keep raw baked cookie in the fridge in an airtight container for about 3 days.
- I top these cookies with flaky sea salt, but this step is completely optional. There’s nothing I love more than a sweet and salty cookie!
- Make sure to store these cookies in an airtight container so they stay soft and chewy! I use a cake dome for these as they are so big! But you can use a Tupperware or zip bag as well.
- High Altitude – Bake at 375°F for 13 to 15 minutes or until they are golden brown around the edges.
Nutrition
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Brown butter, chocolate and caramel — these cookies have it all!