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Brown Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are everything a cookie should be—rich, chewy, and just a little bit crisp around the edges. The combination of nutty flavor from browned butter, buttery toffee, and indulgent dark chocolate is indescribably perfect. I come back to this recipe again and again.
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Prep Time:45 minutes
Cook Time:15 minutes
Total Time:1 hour
Servings: 18 Cookies

Ingredients

Toffee

  • 113 grams unsalted butter
  • 2 grams salt (approx. 1 tsp)
  • 100 grams granulated sugar
  • 30 grams water
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Cookie Dough

  • 170 grams unsalted butter (125 grams brown butter)
  • 1 tsp milk powder
  • 213 grams all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp espresso powder
  • 160 grams light brown sugar
  • 55 grams granulated sugar
  • 50 grams whole egg (approx. 1 egg)
  • 15 grams egg yolk (approx. 1 egg yolk)
  • 2 tsp vanilla bean paste
  • 175 grams toffee, roughly chopped
  • 150 grams dark or semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped, plus ~50 grams reserve
  • Flaky salt

Instructions

Toffee

  1. Prepare a half sheet pan with a silpat and set aside.
  2. Add butter, salt, granulated sugar, and water to a medium pot and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, until an instant read thermometer reads 310°F. Toffee will be a golden brown color.
  3. Once temperature is reached, stir in vanilla extract off heat. Quickly pour toffee onto prepared silpat and spread thin.
  4. Allow toffee to cool completely, at least 30 minutes, and then break into small pieces.

Cookies

  1. Brown the butter: Add butter to a light-colored medium pot and melt over medium heat. Using a rubber spatula, stir constantly as the butter melts and begins to foam. As the butter begins to foam, add milk powder and continue stirring until nutty in aroma and brown specks form at the bottom of the pan. Once golden brown, remove from heat and pour brown butter into a heat-proof bowl. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes.
  2. In a small bowl, combine all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, and espresso powder, and whisk to combine. Set aside.
  3. Add light brown sugar and granulated sugar to a large bowl. Add slightly cooled brown butter and whisk to combine. Then, add egg, egg yolk, and vanilla bean paste and continue whisking until incorporated and slightly lightened in color.
  4. Add dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated. Switch to a wooden spoon or rigid spatula, add toffee and chopped chocolate (except for reserve chocolate), and stir together until evenly distributed.
  5. Chill dough in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour, or up to overnight. Towards the end of your chill time, preheat the oven to 375°F.
  6. Scoop dough into 1-ounce portions and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. No need to roll into perfect balls. For a half sheet pan, you should be able to fit 6 cookies, arranged 2-1-2-1. Press reserve chocolate pieces into the top of the dough balls (this gives you those beautiful pools of melted chocolate when they come out of the oven).
  7. Bake until golden brown around the outside and still soft in the middle, ~12 minutes. If desired, immediately after removing, use a cookie cutter or bowl to round any misshapen cookies into perfect circles.
  8. Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
  9. Sprinkle generously with flaky sea salt to finish.

Notes

* Cookies stay fresh for up to 5 days at room temperature if kept covered or in an airtight container.
* If you don't want to make your own toffee, chopped up Skor candy bars are a good substitute.
* You can make the dough ahead, scoop it into balls, and freeze for future use. The frozen dough will last for approximately 3 months. You can bake frozen cookie dough without thawing, just adjust baking time up ~2 minutes. Cookies may simply spread less.