These Bon Appetit Chocolate Chip Cookies are still one of my all-time favorite brown butter chocolate chip cookie recipes because they hit the sweet spot between bakery-style and homemade. They have crisp edges, chewy centers, deep caramel flavor from browned butter and dark brown sugar, and just enough structure to stay thick without turning cakey. The recipe was developed by Chris Morocco for Bon Appetit, and reminds me of the old Cook's Illustrated cookies -- just a little richer and more full-flavored.
Why The Bon Appetit Recipe Works So Well
What makes this recipe different from many other chocolate chip cookies is the balance of chewiness, caramelization, and structure. The browned butter adds depth without making the cookies greasy, while the extra egg yolks and dissolved sugar help create shiny tops and chewy centers. Just be ready because the dough starts out loose. Chilling transforms it into a much more manageable dough with better flavor and texture.
Why Stirring and Resting the Dough Helps
Since this recipe appears to be a riff on an old Cook's Illustrated recipe, I made it again and added back one of the original CI steps: stirring the butter and sugar mixture, letting it stand for 3 minutes, then repeating the process a couple of times before adding the flour. The idea is to dissolve more of the brown sugar, which helps the cookies caramelize more evenly as they bake. It's also part of the reason cookie dough that rests overnight tends to brown better and develop deeper flavor.
Loose Dough Requires Chilling
Even with the stirring, BA's version is still too loose to shape right away. Contrary to what the original BA article says, it seems the dough does need some chill time. When I make the cookies, the shaped dough goes into the refrigerator looking something like this.
Shape the dough into nicer rounds once they're a bit firmer.
More Baking Tips for Soft and Chewy Cookies
How much should the flour weigh?
About 210 grams works best for me. If you don't have a scale, stir the flour first, then spoon it lightly into the measuring cup and level it off.
Can light brown sugar be used instead of dark?
Yes, I usually use light brown sugar, or sometimes a mix of light and dark depending on what I have around. Dark brown sugar gives the cookies a slightly deeper flavor, but both work well. Mine weighs 200 to 220 grams depending on moisture levels and how much I pack it.
Does the dough really need to be chilled?
In my experience, yes. The dough starts out very loose and barely scoopable, but firms up significantly as it rests. Chilling improves browning and gives the cookies better flavor overall. You'll be amazed at how much. My best cookies are ones made with dough I chilled for a few days, froze, then baked a week or two later.
What kind of chocolate works best?
I almost always use Ghirardelli bittersweet chips, but chopped chocolate works well too if you want more puddles and uneven pockets of chocolate.
Recipe
Bon Appetit's New Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter (170 grams)
- 1 cup packed dark brown sugar (200 grams)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar (50 grams)
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour, KA or a higher protein (210 grams)
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ cups semisweet chocolate chips or chunks
Instructions
- Brown 8 tablespoons (114 grams) of the butter in a large (3 ½ quart) saucepan. Remove pan from heat and add remaining 4 tablespoons of butter, stirring with a heavy duty heat proof scraper until fully melted.
- At this point you can continue to mix in the same saucepan, or if it's easier you can mix in a mixing bowl. If using a mixing bowl, pour the browned butter into a mixing bowl with the dark brown sugar, sugar, salt and vanilla and stir until blended, then stir in the egg and yolks. Let mixture stand for 3 minutes.
- After 3 minutes, stir again for 30 seconds. Let stand for another 3 minutes, then whisk again. The standing time helps dissolve the sugar with the theory being that more dissolved sugar in the batter will contribute to extra caramelization while baking.
- Add the baking soda and stir until blended, than add the 210 grams of flour and stir. The batter will be thinner than typical chocolate chip cookie dough and most likely still a little warm. Allow it to stand for another 5 minutes (or until cool) then stir in the chocolate chips.
- The batter will still be pretty runny, so empty it onto a large plate, cover and chill for about 30 minutes or until it is thick enough to scoop into portions.
- When thick enough to shape, shape into 16 equal portions and keep the portions chilled until ready to bake. You can bake right away, or let them chill overnight.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place on parchment lined baking sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake 10-14 minutes at 375 degrees F. Allow them to cool directly on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.
Anna says
After a little more research on this, I really do think it has to do with an ingredient formulation change. So many people across the Internet have reported flatter cookies and wetter cookies using old reliable recipes. My feeling is it's something to do with either the water level of the butter or the mill of the flour and its absorbency. If you are really curious, try again with Land o' Lakes brand butter.
Anna says
Sheri, did you chill the dough? The texture improves if the dough is chilled for at least 24 hours. It also could have been the eggs. My egg usually weighs 48 grams and the yolks weigh 18 grams each. It's also possible it's just something with the absorbency of the flour you are using. I've baked with so many different brands and it seems like the absorbency and weight of the flours is really all over the place. It could be my imagination, but there are differences between bleached vs. unbleached and differences just going from brand to brand. For these cookies I think I usually use King Arthur AP. There's also the issue people had around the holidays with various brands of butter (Costco and Aldi), so that could be it. With the butter issue, cookies come out flat. Sorry to be wordy, but I think it's an issue with one of your ingredients and not anything you did.
Sheri says
thanks for the post. I think the recipes is behind the paywall since last time I left. Mine came out slightly cakey I’m not sure why, I used brown sugar, and instead of dark brown sugar, otherwise follow with a scale..
Gloria Rice says
I want to enter CCC in the state fair this year, but I don't know which recipe of the 1000s out there to use. I have not used browned butter lately. I think I will give that a go. These cookies look delicious....I took photos of the blue ribbon winners last year and the year before. The cookies looked anemic to me. I like them browned just a bit. Oh well!!
L.Tarpley says
T. Martin, I also think measuring by weight, rather than cup would also address the spread. It is very difficult to get baking recipes correct (whatever that means) using anything other than by weight. Mine also spread more than I liked but I missed the part of letting the dough sit for 5-10 min to allow the flour to hydrate (as per Chris from the Bon Appetit video on YouTube). Also, my oven is all over the place. I need a truly good quality oven thermometer to get this thing calibrated. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Overall, though, an excellent cookie. Loved the flavor the browned butter added.
Anna says
Cheryl, the old Alton Brown recipe is one of my favorites. I'm going to make a batch of Alton's and a batch of these and see which cookies get the best reviews.
T. Martin says
For Yvonne...
Yes, the recipe was posted online and they updated it recently with weights.
Anna says
Sue, maybe the chill was the reason yours weren't greasy.
Yvonne, I haven't checked the magazine but for some reason I just assumed this one was only on-line.
Yvonne says
Hello,
Was the Bon Appetit cookie recipe published in their magazine or only online?
Thanks,
Yvonne
-=^..^=-
Cheryl says
I found Alton Brown recipe to be very good and less fussing around. Some may find it too sweet.
Sue says
As you know I made these and used less flour. Mine were thin but not greasy. People loved them including me. I wonder if one of the problems other people are having is using too light a hand with the flour since the BA version doesn’t provide weights?
Most of the cookies I baked were baked after an overnight chill in the refrigerator.
I highly recommend this recipe using the weights here on Cookie Madness. Like I said before people loved these cookies even the way I made them. I can’t wait to make them again with these weights.
Anna says
I don't know. I think it's the fact the original recipe says to just shape the dough right after mixing and people followed the directions. My dough definitely required some standing and chilling time.
T. Martin says
Interesting that in 2019 a cookie recipe can "go viral". My thoughts:
1. All this noise over a cookie (smh).
2. Sounds like the never ending collective quest for the "perfect" chocolate chip cookie continues.
3. A cookie recipe I tried in January browned the butter and then let it cool so it would return to a solid/semi-solid state. Wonder if that wouldn't address the issues the "thin and greasy" crowd (wouldn't be surprised if alot of this group lives in warmer climates or have warm kitchens) is running into.