These Brown Butter Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies have a flavor trifecta! Nutty brown butter, smooth cream cheese in a brown sugar cookie base, packed with semisweet and bittersweet chocolate chips.
It’s been 2 whole months since I posted a chocolate chip cookie recipe! Practically an eternity. I actually made these Brown Butter Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies MONTHS ago and have been tap, tap, tapping my finger in impatience waiting until it would be “appropriate” to post another CCC recipe.
Seriously I have a problem.
Gahhh! Nutty brown butter and smooth cream cheese mixed in a brown sugar cookies base all surrounding semisweet and bittersweet chocolate chips. I can hardly breathe I’m so in love with these cookies! Soft, chewy, flavorful, and oh, so chocolaty!!!
I took a very professional taste-test bite of the dough, and then I Could. Not. Stop. It’s a miracle that any actually made it into the oven!
I think these brown butter beauties would make my girl, Kayle, the Brown Butter Baking Champion herself, proud. In fact, I think that she and y’all should drop whatever it is that you are doing and run to the kitchen, get that butter in a saucepan, and make these cookies!
Why Brown Butter Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip?
It may come as a shock to you, but I actually created this recipe on the treadmill. #foodbloggerirony
I do most of my creative thinking on the treadmill. Running allows my mind to wander and daydream in a way that I don’t allow it to in everyday life. Working out is my time. It is my reset button. It’s not optional.
Neither is making these cookies. Bake cookies, take one bite, emphatically sigh in happiness.
I’ve already expressed my new found love of cream cheese chocolate chip cookies but the brown butter makes these magical. I have been dying to share them with you!!!
Consequently, why are you still reading? You should be baking!!
Brown Butter Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup cake flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ¼ cups butter (unsalted, browned and cooled (directions for browning below))
- ¼ cup cream cheese (not whipped, not light)
- 1 ½ cups brown sugar (packed)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I use Ghirardelli)
- ½ cup bittersweet chocolate chips 60% (…also Ghirardelli)
Instructions
- Brown your Butter: In a saucepan melt the butter over medium heat and continue to cook and swirl until it turns brown, brown bits stick to the bottom of the pan and smells delightfully nutty. Transfer to a bowl to cool (make sure you get all those yummy brown bits too!)
- In a large bowl combine flours, baking soda, baking powder, cornstarch, and salt. Whisk together and set aside.
- Combine butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until creamy and lighter, 3-4 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating between each addition. Add the vanilla with the second egg. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture. I usually do 4-5 additions, scraping down the bowl as necessary. Make sure you add the next addition as soon as most of the flour has been incorporated from the last one.
- Add the chocolate chips either with the mixer or with a wooden spoon.
- Refrigerate overnight. I know, I know. Patience, grasshopper. The melted butter makes this step critical. At the very least refrigerate them 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 350° and line several baking sheets with parchment or silpat.
- Roll dough into balls approximately the size of a golf ball. Place on a cookie sheet 2 inches apart and bake for 10-12 minutes or until the sides begin to brown and the edges are set. The centers will still look underdone.
- Let cool 5 minutes on the baking sheet and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. If you are impatient and you eat a cookie too soon, it will seem way underdone. This is how I like them. You do you!
You May Also Like:
My Favorite Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies
Quadruple Chocolate Pudding Cookies
Silver Dollar Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies (and one of the most pinned posts on the site)
Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies
Helena says
what is the cake flour you use
Lindsey says
I use Swans Down 🙂
Marcy Ceranek says
Hi there. Can't wait to try these. Can you share your method for measuring flour - so you scoup and level or do you spoon it in? I usually prefer recipes with measurements this one looks too good to pass up
Thanks!
Marcy
Lindsey says
Hi Marcy, I spoon in and level. But when I am converting a recipe by volume to one by weight, then I use 62g = 1/2 cup All purpose flour. I have actually already converted this one. I'll copy it below for you
226 g Butter, RT
106 g Cream Cheese
338 g Light brown sugar
116 g Sugar
2 ea Eggs
16 g Vanilla
562 g AP Flour
12 g Baking soda
16 g Cornstarch
2 g Salt
520 g Chocolate Chips [semi sweet or bittersweet]
Anette says
Hi! My son and I tried these and they are absolutely the best cookies ever! However, we are Norwegian and have some trouble with finding Norwegian equivalents to some of the ingredients. As I said, the cookies were great, but we would like to have them as close to the original as possible and wonder what you mean with "vanilla" ? Is it vanilla extract or vanilla powder?
Lindsey says
Hi Anette, I am so glad you and your son loved them. I should have been more clear in my recipe! It is vanilla extract. Happy baking!
Loni Nelson says
Maybe the amount of cream cheese is off? Should it be a whole 8 oz package instead of a 1/4 cup?
Lindsey says
Hi Loni! The recipe is as written but feel free to try a whole package! Happy baking!
Cynnthia Harrington says
I tried making these last night and they turned out nothing like your picture 🙁 The batter was extremely dry and very crumbly even before I put it in the fridge. Needless to say it was a ball of cement the next morning and shaping them into balls required an ice pick. The only 2 wet ingredients in this recipe were the 2 eggs and the butter for all these dry ingredients. As it was I added a splash of water after mixing because it was just SO DRY. (And I even left out a 1/4 cup brown sugar by accident!). What went wrong? The flour was measured very accurately (all the ingredients were) so it seems I was lacking in liquids somewhere. Is it possible I cooked my butter too long? There was a thick foam on the surface the whole time and I couldn't really judge how brown it was getting so I probably had it over the medium flame for at least 15 minutes. Did I reduce it too much? My eggs were large but maybe I needed even larger eggs? Either way, I put them in the oven as golf balls and they came out as golf balls. Had to squish them down with a spatula, they didn't flatten at all. What happened?
Lindsey says
Hi Cynnthia, I'm sorry that happened! I've never had that problem with this recipe; if anything they spread more than I want my ccc's to spread. I have a feeling that you over-reduced your butter. When you are browning butter that foam does obstruct your view of what is going on underneath, but you just need to swirl the pan to get it to move and it will eventually clear. It should take 5 minutes over medium heat once the butter melts. The butter solids burn very fast. You want it to smell nutty but not burned. If it is black, it's too done. That can happen in 30 seconds.
The cream cheese also acts as a liquid because you are creaming into the butter /sugar mixture. And I know this sounds odd, but sugar helps cookies spread and develop that crispy edge. The sugar melts in the oven and that causes the cookie to spread out, so forgetting 1/4 cup definitely added to the ball cookie situation. I use large eggs unless other wise specified. Large eggs weigh between 48-52 g. It is not unusual for chocolate chip cookies to have no additional liquid. The dough will harden in the fridge. You can scoop it the night before and then chill the pre-scooped balls or you can let the dough sit a little at room temperature before scooping. Or you can chisel it out with a spoon and then shape balls, which I have totally done. I hope all of that answered your question. Good luck and happy baking!
Loni Nelson says
Could you maybe make a video, of your process, making these cookies? Because my batch came out like Cynnthia's.
Lindsey says
hi Loni! I would love to make a video and I will certainly add this recipe to my list of videos to make!!!
Jenn says
These look delish! About the brown butter.. When you say to cool it down- do you mean to cool it down to room temp liquid or solidified again? I hope I'm getting my question across lol. Thank!
Lindsey says
Hi Jenn! Great question! I do mean cool it down so it's warm and not hot. You definitely want it to be a liquid: It won't incorporate correctly if it is solid. I'll update the recipe because I am sure others will have the same question!
Amanda says
Could you use bread flour instead of cake flour? Or just plain white flour? Do you think it would change the texture and taste of the cookie?
Lindsey says
Hi Amanda! You cannot substitute any other flour for the cake flour and expect the same results because each type of flour has a different protein content. If you must substitute for the cake, use pastry flour or All purpose flour and be very careful about not over mixing the dough or it will develop or too much gluten and become tough instead of soft and chewy. Bread flour has more than double the protein content of cake and should rarely be used in cookies. Also cake flour is lighter and ground finer than the others so a cup will not be equal to a cup of any other flour. There is also a little bit of cornstarch in cake flour also changing the texture. I hope that helps! Sorry if that was too much info!
Amanda says
Thank you. I am very ignorant when it comes to different types of flour. I don't bake that often and when I do, it is just cookies. I am on the search of the best cookie ever and this recipe caught my eye. I will have to go to the store to buy the ingredients now to try it. I am so excited! Thank you!
Lindsey says
No worries, Amanda! I had to go to culinary school to wrap my head around all that. I'm so glad you asked! If you can't find cake, use All Purpose. And if you have extra cake flour my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe calls for it too! Happy baking!
Leah says
Thanks!
Lindsey says
Welcome!
Leah says
Hi! These look amazing! Any chance I could leave out the corn starch? I've got a corn sensitivity and it would probably be ok, but I like to avoid it if I can. Thanks!
Lindsey says
You can, Leah! They won't be as chewy or thick but they will still taste just as yummy!
Leah says
Thanks!
Kayle (The Cooking Actress) says
You know me so well 😀
YEPP obsessed. NEED
Lindsey says
You do need!!! Not wedding fairy approved, though. But the brown butter is calling your name, I know it is!
Kelly says
These cookies are gorgeous, Lindsey! Haha and love that you get your inspiration while you're on the treadmill - I usually get mine when I'm doing yoga or working out too 🙂 I love the sound of brown butter with cream cheese in here and soft and chewy CCC are my favorite!
Lindsey says
I'm so glad I'm in good company! I swear if other people could see what I was think in the gym, they would all vote me out of the club!
Jessica @ Sweet Menu says
After reading your description and looking at your gorgeous pics, I am fully convinced these cookies are amazing! So buttery and soft and with all those gooey pieces of chocolate - heaven!
Lindsey says
Thanks, Jessica!
marcie says
I only have one chocolate chip cookie on my blog…I'm such a slacker! I'm being completely inspired by you, however -- you have so many delicious ones, including these! I love brown butter, and the cream cheese sounds delicious. I do my creative food thinking when I exercise too, because I exercise so I can eat more! haha Pinning. 🙂
Lindsey says
BAHAHA! That is the #1 reason why I exercise. Closely followed by I love it. You definitely need to up you CCC game starting with these 😉
Christin@SpicySouthernKitchen says
Seriously, these look like the most wonderful cookies ever. Love that you do your creative thinking on the treadmill. Unfortunately all I can think of to do on the treadmill is to count to 100 over and over again!
David @ Spiced says
C is for cookies...that's good enough for me! Seriously, though, these look delicious. You do some pretty awesome thinking on that treadmill! 🙂
Lindsey says
Haha! If anyone is the real life Cookie Monster, it'd be me! 🙂 If only I thought less about cookies and more about running...
Gayle @ Pumpkin 'N Spice says
These cookies sound amazing, Lindsey! I've never tried baking with brown butter before, so I'm definitely trying these out! And I love that you added cream cheese in these beauties, too! Pinned!
Lindsey says
Thanks, Gayle, and thanks for the pin! You must, you must, you must bake with brown butter!!! Preferably today but tomorrow would be okay too!
cristina says
The brown butter and cream cheese in the title had me sold on these chocolate chip cookies. A must try to satisfy my chocolate cravings and love for cookies. 🙂 Lovely blog!
Lindsey says
Thank you, Cristina! You must!!!
Thalia @ butter and brioche says
you can never go wrong with a good chocolate chip cookie recipe! im always on the hunt for new cookie ideas.. love that you used cream cheese, the cookies look so soft and chewy. just how i like them!
Lindsey says
Thanks, Thalia! I would make ccc's every week if I could!
Melody says
Where does the cream cheese go in this recipe?
Lindsey says
With the butter & sugar!! Sorry! I'll update the recipe now 🙂
M & M says
The name alone sold me (Brown Butter Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies) Well I have to say these are the best cookies ever..... and I don't bake but I did bake these for the first time baking!!! This does motivate me to continue to bake. My husband is happy:)
Lindsey says
Thanks! I'm glad you and your husband liked them!
Josephine says
Oh Lindsey, you are tempting me again!! These look divine! I will try them this week. Thank you!
Lindsey says
Thanks, Josephine! You should! I wish I were in town and then I could stop by and snag one! Mine are all gone 🙁