Description
Deliciously rich and chewy brown butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies with a perfect balance of nutty brown butter, hearty oats, and intense dark chocolate chunks. These cookies offer a delightful texture contrast and deep flavor, baked to a golden finish, perfect for any cookie lover.
Ingredients
Scale
Butter Mixture
- 150g (10 tbsp) unsalted butter, cut into 1cm / 1/2″ cubes
- 1 cup brown sugar, tightly packed
- 1 large egg, at room temperature (~55g/2oz)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Dry Ingredients
- 1 cup plain/all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups rolled oats (not quick or steel cut)
- 1 tsp baking soda (bicarbonate), sifted if lumpy
- 1/8 tsp cooking/kosher salt
Chocolate
- 200g (7 oz) 70% dark chocolate block (Lindt recommended), chopped into 1cm / 1/4″ pieces (or substitute with 1 cup / 200g chocolate chips)
Instructions
- Preheat Oven and Prepare Trays: Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan). Lightly grease three baking trays and line them with baking paper to prevent sticking.
- Brown the Butter: Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Let it simmer for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until you see golden-brown specks forming as the milk solids caramelize. Immediately pour the browned butter and its flavorful bits into a large mixing bowl and allow it to cool for 5 minutes.
- Chop Chocolate: Cut the dark chocolate into roughly 1cm (1/4″) pieces. Place the chunks into a bowl, leaving behind any fine chocolate dust to use elsewhere if desired.
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In a separate large bowl, whisk together the plain flour, rolled oats, baking soda, and salt until fully combined and aerated.
- Combine Butter and Sugar Mixture: Add the brown sugar to the cooled browned butter and whisk together, even if it does not fully dissolve. Next, add the egg and vanilla extract, whisking until the mixture is smooth and well incorporated.
- Form the Dough: Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until the flour is almost fully mixed in. Fold in the chopped chocolate pieces thoroughly until the flour disappears. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes to firm up slightly.
- Shape Cookies: Use a heaping tablespoon or size 40 cookie scoop to drop mounds of dough onto the prepared trays, spacing them 5cm (2″) apart. Press each mound lightly to about 8mm (1/3″) thick, reshaping the edges if they crack or become uneven.
- Bake the Cookies: Bake two trays at once for 11 minutes, rotating the trays and switching their positions at the 7-minute mark to ensure even baking. If baking one tray only, bake for 10 minutes, rotating at 6 minutes. The cookies should be lightly golden on the surface when done.
- Cool the Cookies: Allow the cookies to cool on the trays for 10 minutes to set. Then transfer them onto a wire rack to cool completely. Optionally, sprinkle with salt flakes to enhance the flavor.
Notes
- Use rolled oats rather than quick or steel-cut oats for the ideal chewy texture.
- The browning of the butter adds a nutty, rich depth of flavor to the cookies that cannot be substituted by just melted butter.
- Leaving the chocolate dust behind helps the cookies have visually appealing chocolate chunks rather than melted chocolate spread evenly.
- If you want to add a finishing touch, sprinkling flaky sea salt on the warm cookies enhances their sweetness and balance.
- Make sure the egg is at room temperature to ensure proper emulsification and texture.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 11 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: brown butter cookies, oatmeal cookies, chocolate chip cookies, chewy cookies, homemade cookies, dark chocolate cookies
