Double Chocolate Espresso Brown Butter Cookies

No stand mixer, no overnight chilling required! 🍪

Everyone has their own favorite chocolate chip cookie. The “best” recipe is highly subjective! To know which one works best for you, you have to know what kind of cookie you go for the most. Do you like it thick and gooey? All-around soft? Crispy-chewy?

If you prefer the latter, this recipe may be a contender for you. Selfish as it sounds, it is a combination of all the flavors I love most: brown butter, espresso, and a lot of quality chocolate—wrapped up in my ideal crispy-chewy cookie texture. Yum!

A low-effort, high-reward recipe—my goal was to bake up my ideal cookie with least amount of work possible. Browning the butter might not be the *easiest* step out there, but butter means everything in a cookie, and a flavorful base lays the foundation for an flavorful product overall.

Fancy-ish cookies in less time than it takes to have them delivered? Worth it. 

LMK if you try this recipe! Check it out on TikTok, too.

INGREDIENTS

• 160g all-purpose flour
• 2g baking soda
• 2g baking powder
• 113g unsalted butter
• 80g white sugar
• 80g brown sugar
• 5g espresso powder or instant coffee powder
• 5g vanilla paste/extract
• 4g salt
• 55g egg
• 80g dark chocolate
• 80g milk chocolate
• Extra chocolate & sea salt for topping

METHOD

1. SIFT. In a bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Whisk and set aside.
2. BROWN. In a stainless steel pan, melt unsalted butter over low heat, stirring occasionally with a spatula. Once it deepens to a dark golden brown with toasted milk solids on the bottom, quickly transfer to a large heat-safe mixing bowl to cool.
3. MIX. To the cooled browned butter, whisk in white sugar, brown sugar, espresso powder, vanilla, and salt until well-combined and ribbony. Add the egg and whisk.
4. FOLD. In 2-3 batches, fold in the dry ingredients until just incorporated. Do not overmix. Then, fold in the dark and milk chocolate chunks until distributed.
5. FREEZE. Transfer the cookie dough to an airtight container and freeze for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180°C.
6. PORTION. Scoop balls of frozen cookie dough onto parchment-lined baking trays, spaced at least 3 inches apart. Using a small cookie scoop, the dough yields about 12 cookies. Place extra chocolate chunks over each cookie and sprinkle flaky sea salt on top.
7. BAKE. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the edges are fully set. Halfway through, rotate the tray for even baking. (Note: Baking time may vary depending on your oven and portion sizes.)
8. COOL. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely and enjoy!

TIPS

Quality butter makes a difference.
Butter is largely responsible for the flavor and texture of your cookies. Using substitutes such as margarine may lead to a saltier, greasier cookie. I used French butter for this recipe.

Couverture chocolate is best!
Compound chocolate tends to have a sweeter, grainier texture. I prefer couverture chocolate for its silky mouthfeel and higher cacao content. I used Auro 64% Dark Chocolate and Callebaut 823 Milk Chocolate. Ghirardelli and Guittard are great, too! (Tip: Chop chocolate bars or coins to get small shards of chocolate that give extra flavor and depth to the cookie dough.)

Cookie scoops are time-savers.
I used to weigh my cookie dough balls one by one and found it messy and time-consuming. With a cookie scoop, you can still get evenly-sized portions with less clean-up involved.

No espresso powder? Try instant coffee.
Not 3-in-1, of course! Espresso powder can be hard to find (I bought mine online in the U.S.), so instant coffee powder is a welcome substitute. You can play with the quantity depending on how deep you want the flavor to be, and can dilute it in a tablespoon of water to make it easier to incorporate.

Nudge uneven edges.
I love rustic, homemade cookies! But if you want to clean up the edges of some cookies for that professional bakery look, you can use a large spatula to gently push them in. Do this once they come out of the oven, before they cool on the wire rack.Thank you for checking out my recipes! Let me know when you try them out. If you have any questions, comment below or reach me on TikTok / Instagram!