Brown Butter Milk Chocolate Chip Toffee Cookies

If you're in need of the perfect sweet and salty cookie recipe, this one is for you! You'll get a nuttiness overload in each bite from the brown butter and toffee pieces, perfectly balanced by the sweet milk chocolate chunks and the flaky sea salt finish. Plus, it's the perfect make-ahead recipe–store the dough in your fridge or freezer and bake off a few cookies when you're craving them. It's truly hard to eat just one!

For more chocolate chip cookie recipes, try Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies, Soft Double Chocolate Chip Cookies, Chocolate Chip Molasses Cookies, and Espresso Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Why you'll love these brown butter milk chocolate chip toffee cookies

• Soft & Thick Texture: A soft & thick texture is exactly what you should sink your teeth into when you're craving a warm, chewy homemade cookie!
• Sweet & Salty Flavor: These cookies are the perfect mixture of sweet and salty, from the melty pools of chocolate and nutty toffee to the flaky sea salt topping!
• Great Make Ahead Recipe: These cookies need at least an hour of chill time, and are perfect to make in large batches to bake off later!

Ingredient Notes

• Chocolate: Use your favorite milk chocolate chips or baking chocolate! Alternatively, you can use semi-sweet chocolate chips, or even dark chocolate chips.
• Brown Sugar: You can use dark or light brown sugar, but I prefer dark.
• Eggs: Bring your egg to room temperature quickly by placing it in a bowl of warm water for 10 minutes.
• Unsalted Butter: Use high quality European-style butter for best overall flavor.
• Flour: Use high quality unbleached all-purpose flour best results.
• Vanilla: Add a high quality vanilla extract for optimal flavor.

See recipe card for full information on ingredients and individual quantities.

Step by Step Instructions

Here are step by step photos and instructions on how to make this brown butter chocolate chip toffee cookie recipe! For the full ingredient list and method, see the recipe card at the end of this post.

STEP 1: Melt the toffee. In a small saucepan, add the butter and brown sugar. Place over medium heat and stir frequently until it reaches 300 degrees F. 

STEP 2: Cool and break. Immediately pour the hot toffee onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Allow to set until solid and cool. Break the toffee into small pieces with your hands. Reserve a small amount for topping the cookie dough.

STEP 3: Mix dry ingredients. In a medium or large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

STEP 4: Mix wet ingredients. Brown your butter, then whisk in the sugars, then the egg and vanilla until fully combined. 

STEP 5: Whisk wet and dry. Add the dry ingredients and fold until mostly combined.

STEP 6: Fold. Lastly, fold in the milk chocolate chunks and toffee bits, scraping the sides of the bowl to fully combine.

STEP 7: Scoop and chill. Using a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop, portion the dough onto a small parchment lined baking sheet. Chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour or overnight. 

STEP 8: Bake. Place the chilled cookie dough balls on the baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Top each of them with more milk chocolate and toffee pieces, if desired. Bake the cookies for about 12 minutes until golden on the edges. Scoot the cookies immediately after baking, allow them to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet, then sprinkle with flaky sea salt and enjoy!

Expert Baking Tips

• A note on browning butter... Start with a few extra tablespoons of unsalted butter, since water evaporates as it browns. Also, keep in mind that European-style butter has less water content, so if you're using American-style butter you might want to start with even more butter.
• Use a cookie scoop. Use a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop to portion the cookie dough into equally sized cookies!
• Chill the portioned cookie dough. To ensure the flour absorbs the brown butter properly and the cookies bake up thick, don't skip the chill time!
• Scoot the cookies. Immediately after the cookies come out of the oven, use a large round cookie cutter or glass to scoot the edges and form a perfectly round cookie.

All of the recipes on this blog are carefully developed with gram measurements so you can easily recreate them in your own kitchen with success. Volume measurements are extremely inaccurate and leave room for significant errors. Not all measuring cups are made equally, so your one cup of flour will be different from my one cup of flour. By providing precise measurements in grams (aside from minor ingredients, which are given in tsp/tbsp), you can make these recipes accurately and with less cleanup! All you need is this kitchen scale. 

If this still isn't enough to convince you, I have provided volume measurements in the recipe card. If you are interested in understanding the conversions, this is the best conversion chart.

But trust me, once you try baking in grams you'll never turn back!

Happy baking! x