All Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies is a recipe I first tried many years ago and which (for a while) was one of the most popular recipes on Cookie Madness. There's been a proliferation of chocolate chip cookie recipes without white sugar, so this "brown sugar only" recipe has more competition these days. But honestly, these are still good cookies if made right. If you have any doubts or can't get this recipe to work for some reason, I recommend going straight to the Costco Copycat Chocolate Chunk recipe, which is also good.
The photo above is from the first batch I ever made, which I took to my hairdresser back in the day when I let other people touch my head. It turned out she wasn't a fan of sweets, but she shared them with the others in the salon and the co-workers gave them a thumbs up. I think they even asked me to bring more cookies, but now it's all a blur. All I really remember is I discovered All Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies were just as good as the mixed sugar type.
Once Upon a Tart
The recipe is adapted from Once Upon a Tart, a bakery in New York City. Sadly, Once Upon a Tart is no more. I don't know the full story behind its closure, but New York City rents are steep, and I suspect the talented bakers had better prospects elsewhere. Lucky for us, their cookbook is still around. If you collect cookbooks and bake, you need this one. Trust me. All the recipes I've tried from the book have been winners, and there are more than just sweets.
All Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies
But back to the cookies. These have less sugar than most chocolate chip cookies which means they don't spread nearly as much. They're also not as chewy as some sweeter cookies, but rather kind of sandy -- not hard, but soft textured with the kind of a sandiness you feel in the bite. The edges are definitely crispy.
Here's an old photo of how big they are in relation to the baking sheet.
Here are some in a bucket. I need to add a few more photos to keep up with the times.
Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
I recently made these with the equivalent amount by weight of King Arthur's Measure for Measure. Below is a picture of the cookie. The gluten-free cookies are smoother on the outside and have a slightly different flavor and texture, but they're still very good. As mentioned, this batch was made with Measure for Measure. I plan to test it with Cup4Cup, Bob's and a homemade blend just for comparison's sake, but the KA works well.
Small Batch All Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip
I love this recipe so much that I make it just for myself and the family using small batch measurements. Here they are. 70 grams unsalted butter, 75 grams of brown sugar, 25 grams of beaten egg (about 2 tablespoons), ¼ teaspoon vanilla, ⅜ teaspoons baking soda, ⅜ teaspoons salt, 105 grams all-purpose or sometimes bread flour, big handful of Ghirardelli Bittersweet Chocolate Chips.
Troubleshooting a Bad Overly Floury Batch
- Use a light hand with the flour or weight it. Yes, the recipe calls for 3 ¼ cups which for me is about 420 grams. Without a scale and with a heavier hand measure or with heavier or dryer flour, it could be up to 460 grams. That extra 40 or so grams would be an extra ¼ to ⅓ cup. So measure lightly or better yet, use a scale.
- There is more flour in this recipe but there's also more butter, so be sure to use 2 ½ sticks or 10 oz.
- Weigh the brown sugar as well. Amount can vary from cup to cup due to how much moisture it has absorbed and how it's packed.
- Most importantly, keep these as large cookies and add all the chips. Be sure to use larger chips like Ghirardelli Bittersweet. Better yet, use chunks of chocolate. The extra flour and butter in this recipe means that any excess cocoa butter from really good chocolate will be absorbed, keeping the cookies from being too greasy.
Recipe
All Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 ½ sticks unsalted butter (slightly cool, mixer will soften) 10 oz or 280 grams
- 1 ½ cups packed light brown sugar (300 grams)
- 2 large large eggs (100 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour (15 oz or 420 grams)
- 2 ½ cups bittersweet chocolate chips or use high quality chocolate and cut it into chunks
Instructions
- In bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter with the paddle attachment until creamy. Add the brown sugar and beat butter and sugar for about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium low and add eggs one at a time beating just until combined. Beat in the vanilla, baking soda and salt (scrape sides of bowl often), then add the flour and continue mixing on low speed until it’s blended. Mix in the chocolate chips.
- Using a ¼ cup measure, scoop up about 20 mounds of dough and lay them on a non-stick foil lined cookie sheets. Chill for 2 or more hours.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 cookie sheets with non-stick foil or parchment paper. Arrange cookies 6 to a sheet and bake one sheet at a time on center rack for about 18 minutes or until cookies are nicely browned.
- Makes 20 cookies
Anna says
Hi Lucy, thanks for leaving the tips, especially about the oil. If your "almost all oil" version worked, then I'll bet the cookies would be really good with oil standing in for half the butter or maybe even just that half stick (4 tablespoons). Oil is straight fat, so if I were to try it I'd probably just use 2 sticks of butter and 3 tablespoon of oil to save a half stick of butter. Anyway, now you've got me thinking about ways to save butter. Thanks again for trying the recipe. There is also an old "all oil" recipe here. https://www.cookiemadness.net/2008/06/28/chocolate-chip-cookies-made-with-oil/ And then there is a smaller batch recipe for chocolate chip cookies made with olive oil that is REALLY good.https://www.cookiemadness.net/2022/01/24/olive-oil-chocolate-chunk-cookies/
Lucy says
I used canola oil and a pat of salt free butter because I didn't have enough butter for the recipe. It was hard creaming the oil and sugar but after adding the eggs everything came together smoothly. I am used to weighing everthing in grams now since I make sourdough with close-to exact measurements.
I'm not a cookie person but these taste amazing!!! yum yum! Sending them off with hubby for card night at the clubhouse.
Anna says
Glad you found me, Kerry! I hope you come back and try more recipes.
Kerry says
Best cookies ever! I found the recipe because I was out of granulated sugar, but I don’t think I’ll go back! I used dark brown sugar, half caramel and half semi-sweet chocolate chips (from Trader Joe’s), and lots of chopped walnuts.
Anna says
Thanks Sandra!!
Sandra says
Thanks so much for all your hard work! I always learn something new from you and truly appreciate how much time and thought goes into your recipes.:-)
Anna says
Thanks Jessica. Glad you enjoyed the cookies.
Jessica says
Made a half batch of these last night, but made them a little smaller and skipped the chilling (husband was in a hurry for cookies). They were fantastic!
Nana says
I just email this recipe to my BFFL its so good!!!! Im the COOKIE MASTER!!!!
Linda says
I mixed the dough for these yesterday and baked them tonight. I used mini chocolate chips and made small cookies - about a tablespoon of dough for each. They came out just as
Anna's did (texture, etc). we thought they were great. I'll definitely be using this recipe again.
Nom! says
Brown sugar is the best sugar to make cookies with, great for Millie's style cookies too!
Linda says
I made chocolate chip cookies the other night and was almost out of brown sugar and had to use mostly granulated sugar. And they came out fine. Yours look delicious!
Carol says
Anna,
Sorry about the awkward moment. Why can't people just say thank you, smile and move on? I love using brown sugar in CCC. The darker the better. The Tres Leches cakes was great by the way. Apparently my boys liked it, because they left dirty dishes in the sink from it late last night.
Jenny W (The Housewife Project) says
Interesting. I'll have to try those. I love testing out different chocolate chip cookie recipes.
Cookie Sleuth says
I really enjoy brown sugar cookie recipes. Plus it's really easy to only do one kind of sugar! Glad you're back to normal...
C L says
So glad you are back and feeling better! 🙂 So sorry to hear about the awkward cookie situation. I really enjoy CCCs with a rich brown sugar flavor and this recipe sounds like just the ticket for me to try. These look absolutely yummy! As soon as I get to town and buy some chocolate morsels, these cookies are being made. 🙂
Lisa @ Sweet as Sugar Cookies says
Now you've got me all excited about these chocolate chip cookies.
Rina says
Have to chime in - I'm lucky in the hairdresser department, my hairdresser ordered cupcakes from me for a baby shower she was hosting and she offered me a trade in exchange...two free haircuts!
Needless to say, I'm sure everyone subscribing to this blog would kill to be your neighbor. 🙂
Louise says
Thanks, Anna. You are right. The fundraiser lady would probably enjoy some cookies. I don't really want to hear from the bake sale ladies now, as I don't want to have to run around trying to find packaging, etc. They had their chance. 🙂
Anna says
Louise, having tasted your cookies I can say it truly is their loss. Then again, it's probably just taking them time to get their act together. Maybe you should just make cookies for the nice lady at Wal*Mart who contacted the bake sale ladies for you.
Louise says
We know who's not getting any more cookies. 🙂 Fortunately, my hairdresser loves my cookies and cakes, but I had a baking blow-off this week too. A few weeks ago you posted about the Duncan Hines & Great American Bake Sale events. I searched the web and found that a couple of ladies are listed as doing a Great American Bake Sale this Sunday morning at a nearby Walmart. I went to the Walmart and talked with the service manager about perhaps providing baked goods for the event. She took my name and phone number and was to have them call me. I never heard anything, so I went back earlier this week, not knowing if Walmart had passed on the message. I was directed to the woman who deals with fundraising events and she knew my name and had contacted the women with my offer. She was going to contact them again and tell them I stopped by to inquire. I guess they didn't like my offer as I haven't heard from them. I just have to look at it as their loss. 🙁
Anna says
Thanks for the awkward cookie gifting empathy!
You just never know. I made some for my ear doctor once thinking that would be awkward, but he and the staff really loved them. Teachers always love them, the neighbors (usually) love them, but the hair dresser thing was just weird. Maybe it's all the chemicals in the air.
Anyway, I went ahead and added some more notes on the texture above.
Sue says
Good to hear that your appetite is returning!
These cookies look fantastic!
HeartofGlass (Chew the fat) says
Argh! I hate it when I bake stuff for people and there is that awkward 'oh you REALLY shouldn't have moment.' But usually even if the person doesn't want it, someone else REALLY wants cookies/cake/muffins so I don't feel bad.
Another Anna recipe on my must-try list! I often only have brown sugar on hand.
Emily says
Those are gorgeous.
I gave cupcakes to my aerobics instructor a while back and it was awkward. She always talks about how much she loves cupcakes. She was kind of like, ohhh thanks! and that was it. I think if someone brought cookies or cupcakes to me I would be overly nice and excited.
Kelly says
Good to know because inevitably, there will be times when I'm out of granulated sugar so it's nice to know this is an option.
bakingblonde says
I, too, have a Brown Sugar CC cookie recipe that i adore, there is just something magical about brown sugar that intensifies a cookie taste and texture!
Judy says
Oh, and btw, I did the same thing with my hairdresser a while back. I was wondering if she thought I poisoned the cookies. Decided I will just stick to giving goodies to friends and neighbors who appreciate them.
Adam says
WELCOME BACK! :). Happy you're appetite has returned and as a bonus: craving cookies (always a plus :)). These cookies look really good. I love brown sugar. These are definitely on the list for this weekend. But have you ever tried to bake them at a smaller size? This is what I would likely do (as well as half the recipe) :).
Glad to have you back (although Todd did a great job keeping us entertained :)).
Judy says
Hi Anna, So sorry you've not been well and glad you are feeling better. I just made a variation of Torres' ccc that turned out great, and this recipe is very similar. Would like to try it soon, am getting ready for a short trip. You don't mention texture. Are the edges crispy? They sure look crispy in your mouthwatering photo.