Broma Bakery’s brown butter chocolate chip cookies recipe has been everywhere lately, and honestly, for good reason. They promise everything people want in a bakery style chocolate chip cookie, with chewy centers, crisp edges, pools of melted chocolate, and that deep, slightly nutty flavor that only brown butter can bring. At first glance, the recipe itself doesn’t look overly complicated, but there are a few small techniques built in that make it feel a little more elevated than your standard throw-together cookie dough. Browning the butter, chilling the dough, using larger chunks of chocolate. Obviously… I had to try them. Let’s chip away at the results, shall we?

So…How Easy Are Broma Bakery’s Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies Actually?

Broma Bakery’s Cookies lean a bit more on the intermediate side than your average chocolate chip cookie. The process starts with browning the butter. It’s not difficult, but it does require attention. You’re cooking the butter until the milk solids toast and the color deepens into a rich golden brown, giving the cookies that signature nutty flavor. The biggest thing here is patience. Too little time and you won’t develop much flavor, too much and it can quickly shift from browned butter to burnt butter. On medium-low heat, mine took around 5–7 minutes. Another thing worth paying attention to is temperature. You have to cool your browned butter. If the butter is still too hot after you add the sugar, when you add the eggs, you could risk scrambling them. It can also start melting the chocolate before the dough is fully mixed. Letting the butter cool slightly before moving on makes a huge difference.

From there, the recipe becomes much more approachable, though it still has a few techniques that make it feel more intentional than a standard one-bowl cookie recipe. The flour gets added more gradually, which helps the dough come together evenly without overmixing, and the chill step is definitely worth keeping. After chilling, the dough firms up and the flavors settle in a bit more. When they hit the oven, the cookies spread just enough, the edges turn lightly golden, and the centers stay soft. You get that slightly crinkled, indulgent look without needing any complicated shaping techniques. Overall, I’d call this a solid intermediate level recipe. It’s not too hard, but it does ask you to slow down and pay attention to a few details along the way.

What Makes These Cookies Different?

This isn’t your standard chocolate chip cookie situation. The biggest standout is the brown butter base, which adds a rich, almost caramel-like depth you don’t get from regular melted butter.

Additionally, a higher ratio of sugar leans into a softer, chewier texture, while the chill step gives the dough time to hydrate and bake more evenly. Instead of standard chocolate chips, the recipe uses larger chunks of bittersweet and milk chocolate that melt into pools throughout the cookie.

My Overall Thoughts

These cookies are definitely worth it. However, they are a bit on the richer side. The brown butter comes through right away, and paired with the amount of brown sugar, they leaned a little too sweet for me. Texture-wise though, they do what they’re supposed to do. Soft centers, slightly chewy, and they spread just enough to get those golden edges. They look like a bakery counter worthy cookie without trying too hard.

For me, they were just a bit heavy. Between the butter and the overall richness, it’s one of those cookies where one is enough and you’re kind of good. Still good, just not something I’d reach for if I wanted a lighter, more balanced cookie. That said, I can see why people love them. If you’re into a richer, sweeter chocolate chip cookie, these are definitely going to hit.

Tips & Tricks

One thing I’d definitely emphasize with this recipe is letting the brown butter cool before moving on to the next step. If it’s too hot, you run the risk of scrambling the eggs, and it can also start melting the chocolate chips too early once everything comes together at the end. Neither will completely ruin the cookies, but it definitely changes the final texture.

Moreover, the browning stage can cause you to accidentally evaporate too much butter. I’d definitely encourage checking the weight with a kitchen scale if you have one, since brown butter can reduce more than expected depending on your heat level. If this happens, you can add a small splash of milk to help bring the moisture back in and keep the ratios closer to where they should be. And honestly, read through Broma Bakery’s recipe notes before starting, they’re actually helpful here.

I used a higher quality brown sugar. Since this recipe relies so heavily on sugar and brown butter for flavor, the quality of the brown sugar actually makes a noticeable difference. A darker brown sugar gives the cookies a deeper molasses flavor, richer color, and softer, chewier texture. It also pairs really well with the nuttiness of the brown butter and helps push the cookies into that more developed, almost caramel-like flavor territory. I recommend this brand of dark brown sugar. It’s not a mandatory upgrade, but it’s one of those small details that can make the final cookie taste a little more elevated.

I also swapped the standard chocolate chips and bittersweet chocolate recommendation for chopped dark and milk chocolate bars, which gave the cookies those larger melted pockets of chocolate throughout. Personally, I think it works better with the richness of the brown butter than regular chips would.

Another step that’s worth keeping is the chill time. I let the dough chill for at least 30 minutes, which helped the cookies hold their shape and bake more evenly. I also used a larger scoop, which which yielded a larger cookie.

Lastly, the technique I actually loved was smacking the baking tray on the counter right after the cookies came out of the oven. It helps create those rippled, slightly wrinkled tops you see in a lot of bakeries and gives them a softer center with crispy edges.

Have you tried them yet? And if so…were they worth the hype to you?