Brown Butter Christmas Chip Cookies
Think classic chocolate chip cookie, but she REALLY showed out for Christmas. Because these Christmas chip cookies are everything you love about a chocolate chip cookie, just extra special. Toasty brown butter and plenty of festive M&Ms are just a few reasons to LOVE these!
Scroll down for ALL the tips and tricks on how to make the BEST brown butter Christmas cookies!
Brown butter
It’s really easy to brown your butter, just keep a few things in mind so you reduce the risk of burning it. First, use a light colored or steel saucepan/skillet. If you use something dark, you won’t be able to tell when the butter is brown.
Second, remove the pan from the heat AS SOON as you begin seeing the milk solids turn a medium brown. The butter will continue to cook even off of the heat, so taking it off earlier than you think is better than being too late!
Allow the finished brown butter to return to a cool room temperature before you continue with this recipe. Once it’s at that point, you can easily cream it together with the sugars and start the recipe.
Thick, soft and chewy
The texture of these brown butter Christmas cookies is exactly that for a few reasons. First, using bread flour for its higher gluten content lends the chewiness, just like it does in a loaf of bread. Second, adding just a touch of cornstarch keeps these cookies nice and soft, well after they come out of the oven.
Mix ins
I always chop up my favorite dark chocolate for these cookies. Initially, I used regular sized M&Ms, but found that they took too much away from the actual texture and flavor of the cookies. Using a smaller amount of mini M&Ms solved that problem AND kept things colorful!
Feel free to play with the proportions, but keep the total amount of mix ins to 2 cups total. More than that, and you can lose that amazing flavor of the brown butter cookie dough.
Brown Butter Christmas Chip Cookies
- Prep Time: 2 hours
- Chilling Time: 3 days
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 3 days + 2 hours + 15 minutes
- Yield: 18 cookies 1x
- Category: Dessert, Cookies & Brownies
- Method: Oven, Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Description
These classic cookies are elevated with rich brown butter and studded with festive Christmas candy!
Ingredients
- 2 sticks unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/4 cups bread flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/4 cups light brown sugar, packed
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
- 1 cup chocolate chips or chunks
- 1/2 cup mini Christmas M&Ms
Instructions
- Add the butter to a medium saucepan and melt over medium high heat. Once the butter has completely melted, it will begin to sizzle and the milk solids will separate and sink to the bottom of the pan.
- Keep a very close eye on the butter, stirring occasionally until the milk solids are a light/medium brown and the butter begins to smell nutty. Immediately remove the pan completely from the heat and transfer the browned butter to a heatproof container to cool completely.
- Wait to proceed with the recipe until the browned butter has reached a cool room temperature. It should be opaque and spreadable.
- Add the all purpose flour, bread flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cornstarch to a large mixing bowl and whisk to combine well. Set aside. Don’t preheat the oven yet.
- Add the cooled brown butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer and use the paddle attachment to beat on medium high speed for 2 minutes. Stop the mixer, scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat for an additional 2 minutes.
- Add the whole eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and beat until well incorporated.
- Scrape down the bowl once more, and turn the mixer on low speed. Gradually add the flour mixture in 3 or 4 additions, allowing each one to fully incorporate before the next one.
- Once all the flour has been added, use a spatula to fold in the chocolate chips and M&Ms.
- Wrap the finished cookie dough in plastic wrap, and refrigerate (don’t freeze!) for 48-72 hours. This resting time will give you a better tasting cookie.
- When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a few baking sheets with parchment paper. Use a large cookie scoop to create balls of dough, about the equivalent of 3 tablespoons.
- Roll each dough ball in your hands to smooth out the surface before placing on the baking sheet. Bake each tray of cookies for 15-17 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown.
- Serve this amazing cookies warm from the oven or let them sit for longer to fully soften up! You can store any leftover baked cookies at room temperature in a sealed bag or storage container.
- Store any leftover dough in the freezer.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 325
- Sugar: 28 g
- Sodium: 247.7 mg
- Fat: 15.3 g
- Saturated Fat: 9.2 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 44.5 g
- Fiber: 1.5 g
- Protein: 4.2 g
- Cholesterol: 58.3 mg
