TikTok's Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies Are Chewy, Gooey, and Delicious

Dating all the way back to my elementary school days, I have been called "the cookie monster" because nearly every playdate I'd have would end in me begging to make homemade chocolate chip cookies. All these years later, there is still something about a golden, brown-bottomed chocolate chip cookie with crisp edges and a chewy and gooey centre that can always change my mood for the better. But you see, no two chocolate chip cookie recipes are the same; the ingredients you add or omit, though few in numbers, ultimately determine the final texture of your cookie, which makes it that much more important to get it right. I have tried many variations of the classic chocolate chip cookie, and none compare to this amazing, chewy brown butter chocolate chip cookie recipe shared by TikTok user @audreysaurus.

Though it may seem like a superfluous step, browning the butter before adding it to the dough not only gives the standard chocolate chip cookie a richer, more caramelized flavour, but it also adds a certain extra gooeyness when the cookies are warm that I have not been able to replicate in any other chocolate chip dough. When cooled, the cookies somewhat resemble the texture of a less-crumbly Tate's Bake Shop chocolate chip cookie. So while it may seem like an additional, unnecessary step, I cannot stress enough that browning the butter before building your dough will give your cookies that special oomph that will have everyone reaching for more.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter and bring to a light boil, swirling the pot consistently to make sure none of the bits at the bottom burn. Heating the butter like this causes the milk fats to solidify and caramelize, which is what makes up the delicious, amber-coloured sediment that sinks to the bottom of the butter (pictured below).

Add sugars and cream together using an electric mixer.

When the butter and sugar mixture resembles wet sand, beat in the egg and vanilla extract.

Sift in the flour and bicarbonate of soda, making sure to fold these ingredients into the wet mixture gently as to not overmix the dough (aka: swap your electric mixer with a rubber spatula and start incorporating the ingredients manually into a smooth, cohesive dough).

Add most of the chocolate chunks to the dough, reserving a few tablespoons on the side to roll the prepared cookie dough balls in before they go into the oven.

Cover the dough, and allow it to chill in the fridge for half an hour.

My go-to cookie measurement, especially for cookies with a lot of butter, is one rounded tablespoon of cookie dough per serving, and the dough balls must be two inches apart on the cookie tray in order to avoid them fusing together in the oven.