Sweet, soft cookies packed with toffee pieces and just slightly salted. These Brown Butter Toffee Cookies are flavored with vanilla and a generous amount of perfectly browned butter. Recipe includes easy steps for browning butter!
The inspiration for these Brown Butter Toffee Cookies came to me via the cafeteria of the hospital where I work.
After taking our lunch together last week (I think I’ve mentioned that Zach and I work at the same hospital, just in different departments), Zach went to buy himself a drink. As we went through the checkout, I saw small, clear-wrapped package labeled “Butter Toffee Cookies” and immediately threw them at him.
I need these — for research!
He bought them and the graceless mouth-stuffing research commenced, but I was honestly a little disappointed.
They were almost too sweet– there was too much artificial flavor somewhere in there. Faux vanilla, maybe? Some sort of preservative?
They weren’t exactly crunchy, but still somehow seemed a little too dry for me. And for a cookie that touted the word “Butter” right in its name, I expected a much… butterier flavor.
I had some good starting points, thanks to an underwhelming cafeteria cookie.
These Brown Butter Toffee Cookies live up to the “butter” part of their name.
For the best, butteriest flavor, you’re going to use browned butter in this recipe. You may have spied this ingredient in several of my other cookie recipes, or maybe in my recent brown butter blondies (just… yum).
I absolutely adore browned butter because of its nearly nutty, toffee-like (what better complement to the toffee add-ins) flavor.
Brown butter used to seem intimidating to me — you have to get out a saucepan and turn on the stove and, yes, watch it very carefully for a few minutes, but it’s really a simple process. The recipe below includes step-by-step instructions on how to perfectly brown butter.
Make sure to cool the browned butter for 25-30 minutes before adding your other ingredients, otherwise you run the risk of melting your sugars, and could end up with some seriously runny, unusable dough.
This recipe does not require any chilling (I know, a lot of my recent cookie recipes have required fridge time). However, it may be covered and chilled, if you would like, and this would likely give the cookies an even richer, more buttery flavor.
Keep in mind that that the dough gets a bit crumbly when chilled and will need to warm back up to room temperature in order to scoop and bake.
I have a serious cookie obsession and each time I make a new version I sincerely believe that it’s my new favorite, and these are no exception. They are so good — slightly crisped exteriors, crunchy toffee bits accented with milk chocolate, and a nutty, buttery flavor in every bite (especially in those soft centers!).
Make sure to top everything off with a small shower of sea salt, which really intensifies all of the already robust flavors of these brown butter toffee cookies.
I also cannot recommend strongly enough that you re-heat these briefly in the microwave before eating (about 9-seconds per cookie, in my microwave).
Warm cookies are the best cookies.
Enjoy!
Brown Butter Toffee Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup brown sugar (200g) (light or dark is fine, I like to use a blend of the two)
- ⅔ cup white sugar (135g)
- 2 eggs room temperature preferred
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour (350g)
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch cornflour in UK
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup milk chocolate toffee pieces (Like Heath Milk Chocolate Toffee Pieces) (170g)
- sea salt for sprinkling on top of the cookies (fine or coarse, your preference)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (177C) and line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Cut your butter into Tablespoon-sized pieces and place in a medium-sized saucepan. Melt over medium-low heat.
To Brown the Butter (It's easy, I promise!)
- Once butter has melted, increase heat to just above medium heat.
- Swirl and scrape the sides of the pan frequently with a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula - the butter will bubble and pop. Once the bubbling/popping slows, the butter will begin to turn brown, it will look like this once it's finished:
- Watch the butter very carefully at this point, and once it begins to brown and you smell the nutty aroma of browned butter, remove from heat quickly and pour into a large, heatproof bowl.
- Allow butter to cool for 25-30 minutes before proceeding with the recipe.
Cookie Dough
- Add sugars into cooled browned butter, stir well.
- Stir in eggs, one at a time, stirring well after each addition.
- Add vanilla extract and stir.
- In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, stirring until ingredients are nearly completely combined.
- Add milk chocolate toffee bits and stir until ingredients are well-incorporated.
- Drop by heaping, rounded 1 ½ Tbsp scoops onto prepared cookie sheets, placing at least 2" apart.
- Bake on 350F (177C) for 10-12 minutes or until edges are just beginning to turn golden brown (cookies should still be quite soft when you remove them from the oven, and may even appear slightly underbaked in center).
- Sprinkle lightly with sea salt.
- Allow cookies to cool on baking pan for about 3 minutes and then use a spatula to gently scoop beneath them and carefully wiggle them free from the parchment paper, as the toffee tends to stick.
- Allow to cool several more minutes and then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
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Sahira
I’ve made this a few times and they have to be the best cookies I’ve ever had! My family and friends love them too 🙂
Mary S.
This sounds great, and I happen to have all of the ingredients at hand. Wondering, though, if these would fare okay as a bar cookie in a 15 x 9 pan? I’ve done it with my Toll House recipe, but not sure how it will work with this. I think parchment would be crucial for success, but it might be a good time saver if we want cookies fast…and we do!
Sam
Hi Mary! I haven’t personally tried it, but I think this could work as a cookie bar. 🙂
Maria Alejandra
Hi! Can I make the brown butter in advance? If so should I take it out of the fridge and use it at room temperature? Thanks!
Sam
Hi Maria! You can make it in advance. I would probably melt it so things combine easily, but make sure it’s not too hot when adding it in. 🙂
Donna Sharp
I usually make toffee shortbread cookies (slice and bake), but I found yours in a Google search and the browned butter drew me in. I am making these for my Christmas cookie haul. Your instructions for browning the butter is foolproof! I made some for my Doubletree chocolate chip cookies and have the dough chilling as I write this. I used a stainless steel skillet so I could see it happening clearly. This is one of the next batches of cookies I am making and I can’t wait to try them. My Maldon finishing flakey sea salt is waiting to be used. Thanks for sharing this recipe and it will, most likely be on my regular holiday cookie rotation and I can finally give my shortbread a break.
Melissa
Another awesome cookie recipe! I’ve never made browned butter before & was surprised how easy it is. It really adds a nice flavour to the dough, it would put edible cookie dough over the top… anyhow, these cookies are great. I didn’t have chocolate toffee, so used half milk chips & toffee bits. I think I cooked mine a little more than you, as they are slightly more brown than yours & a little crisp, but still very tasty. Thank you for another great recipe. Since discovering your site, I’ve been baking like crazy and am going to have the best Christmas cookie trays ever. I can’t wait to try your peppermint bark cookies next. 🙂
Melissa
I just had to reply to let you know that my husband has proclaimed these the best cookies I’ve ever made (and I’ve made a lot of cookies in my life) and I have to agree. Definitely my go-to cookie now, I’ve made these twice since Christmas already.
Sam
That’s so awesome! Thank you for letting me know! I love hearing things like this. 🙂
Lenny
Is the 1 cup of brown sugar packed or not packed?
Sam
Hi Lenny! Sorry for the confusion! Firmly packed here. 🙂
Lauren G
OH MY GOD this is the best cookie recipe ever. Everyone I know says this is the best cookie they’ve ever tasted