Brown Butter Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe

Name: Brown Butter Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 7 min
Ingredients: ¾ cup unsalted butter; ¾ cups light brown sugar; ½ cup granulated sugar; 2 large eggs; 1 tablespoon vanilla; 2 cups (260g ) all-purpose flour; 1 teaspoon corn starch; 1 teaspoon baking soda; ¾ teaspoon salt; 1 cup chocolate chips (+ extra for the tops of the cookies)

These mini chocolate chip cookies are made with brown butter, which is the secret ingredient that gives them a rich, caramel flavor that you don't get from every chocolate chip cookie recipe. Make them with milk chocolate chips for a sweet, classic cookie or use mini semi sweet chips for something a little more grown-up. Or you can split the batch half and half - which is what I always do.

These mini chocolate chip cookies are made with brown butter, which gives them a rich, nutty caramel flavor that you just don't get from a standard cookie dough. Make them with milk chocolate chips for a sweeter, classic cookie, mini semi sweet chips for something a little more grown-up, or split the batch half and half - which is what I always do.

a round plate of mini chocolate chip cookies on a white background.

Our mini chocolate chip cookie recipe comes together in one bowl with no chilling required, which means you can go from mixing bowl to warm cookies in under 30 minutes. You'll end up with about 70 bite sized cookies that disappear almost as quickly as you can make them! If you're looking for a full sized cookie recipe, check out our soft and chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe.

Round plate of mini chocolate chip cookies.

Quick Look: Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ready In: less than 30 minutes
Serves: makes 70 bite sized cookies
Calories: 73 kcal per cookie (approximately)
Add to Your Shopping List: corn starch, unsalted butter, milk chocolate chips and mini semi sweet chocolate chips
Baker's Note: This one bowl cookie dough doesn't require any chill time so you can get right to baking these soft and chewy mini cookies.

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Quick Look: Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies
Mini Chocolate Chip Cookie Ingredients
How to Make Brown Butter for Cookies
How To Make Brown Butter Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies
Notes From My Test Kitchen
Brown Butter Mini Cookie Substitutions and Variations
How to Store Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies
Amanda's Top Cookie Baking Tips
Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies FAQs
More of Our Brown Butter Cookie Recipes
Recipe
Storage

Labeled ingredients for mini chocolate chip cookies on a white background.

brown butter - the brown butter in this recipe takes this from a basic cookie recipe to and over the top delicious cookie recipe filled tons of caramel, nutty flavor.

chocolate chips - you can use any chocolate chip that you prefer for this recipe - you can use milk, dark or white chocolate for this recipe. I like to split the batch and do ½ with milk chocolate chips and ½ with mini semi sweet chips. This is your opportunity to have some fun with your cookies.

corn starch - adding corn starch to the cookie dough creates a final cookie that is soft and chewy with crisp, buttery edges.

How to Make Brown Butter for Cookies

Place butter in a small sauce pan and cook over medium heat until the butter becomes bubbly, fragrant and nutty smelling - swirl and stir as needed.
Watch closely for small brown bits to begin forming on the bottom of the pan - this will happen around 5 minutes.
As soon as you begin to see brown bits in the butter, remove the butter from the heat. If you leave the butter in the pan it will continue to brown and could even become burnt.
Transfer butter to your mixing bowl and allow to cool for about 10 minutes before proceeding with your recipe.

See recipe card for exact quantities and detailed instructions.

How To Make Brown Butter Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies

a white saucepan with cubes of butter on a white background.

Step 1: Brown the butter and move it to a mixing bowl to cool.

Step 2: Add the sugars to the brown butter and mix well.

Butter, sugar and eggs in a glass mixing bowl.

Step 3: Mix the eggs, vanilla and salt into the butter and sugar.

Flour, butter and sugar in a glass mixing bowl on white background.

Step 4: Fold the dry ingredients into the butter and sugar.

Adding chocolate chips to cookie dough in a glass mixing bowl.

Step 5: Mix the chocolate chips into the cookie dough.

Mini scoops of chocolate chip cookie dough on a parchment lined sheet pan.

Step 6: Use a small cookie dough scoop to form small balls of cookie dough. Arrange on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Mini chocolate chip cookies on cooling rack.

Step 7: Bake cookies at 375° for 6-7 minutes or until the edges are just golden brown.

Hint: if you are using mini chocolate chips, dip one part of the cookie dough ball into mini chocolate chips before baking.

Notes From My Test Kitchen

No chilling required - I tested it. Every time I develop a new cookie recipe, I bake one cookie right away to see if chilling is actually necessary for that particular cookie dough. With this mini chocolate chip cookie recipe, it isn't. The cookies held their shape beautifully without any chill time, which means you can go from the mixing bowl to warm cookies in under 30 minutes. No one wants to wait for cookies if you don't have to.

Whisk the eggs, sugar and salt more than once. I learned this trick from an America's Test Kitchen cookbook and it makes a real difference in this recipe. After adding the vanilla and salt to the butter and sugar, whisk the mixture well and let it rest. After a few minutes, whisk it again. Repeat this two or three times. It's the trick that creates that shiny top layer and gives these cookies a chewy, bakery style texture.

Use two types of chocolate. I tested these mini chocolate chip cookies with both mini semi sweet chips and regular sized milk chocolate chips and genuinely loved both. My solution - make half the batch with each. You get two slightly different cookies from one dough and everyone at the table finds their favorite.

Dip the dough balls instead of topping after baking. If you are using mini chips, dip one side of each cookie dough ball directly into the chips before baking rather than trying to add them after. Mini chips are too small to press into a hot baked cookie and they won't stick. The dipping method gives you that beautiful chip-covered top every time.

salted butter - if you use salted butter, reduce the sale in the recipe to ½ teaspoon.

corn starch - you can leave the cornstarch out of the recipe if you don't have any - your cookies will just be a bit flatter and might spread a little more.

chocolate chips - you can use any combination of chocolate chips, chocolate chunks, butterscotch chips, etc. Just use 1 cup of whatever you choose.

gluten free mini chocolate chip cookies - swap the all purpose flour out for your favorite gluten free flour blend. I've had good luck using both Bob's Red Mill Gluten free 1 to 1 and King Arthur's Measure for Measure.

How to Store Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies

baked cookies - store baked cookies at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

cookie dough in the refrigerator - store cookie dough in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. Remove dough from the refrigerator and allow it to warm up for 30 minutes before scooping and baking.

cookie dough in the freezer - scoop the cookie dough and roll it into uniform circles. Arrange the dough balls on a sheet pan and freeze until solid. Transfer the frozen cookie dough to an airtight container. Store cookie dough in the freezer for up to 2 months.

Use a Kitchen Scale - a kitchen scale guarantees that you have correct measurements of each ingredient in your mini chocolate chip cookie recipe.

Make Sure That Your Brown Butter Has Cooled - your brown butter can still be warm, but make sure that it is not warm enough to cook the eggs when you add them.

Whisk The Egg and Sugar Mixture a Few Times - when adding the eggs vanilla and salt to the batter, you will want to whisk it well and then let it rest for a minute or two before whisking again. You can do this a few times - this helps with that nice chewy texture and the shiny top layer on the cookies.

Don't Over Bake the Cookies - remove the cookies from the oven when the edges are golden brown but the middles still look a little undercooked. The cookies will continue to bake on the sheet pan after you have removed them from the oven. If you cook them too long, they will be crunchy and dried out.

Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies FAQs

Can I make the brown butter ahead of time?

Yes! You can absolutely make the brown butter ahead of time! The brown butter can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. For this recipe, you will want to warm the brown butter back up before mixing up the cookie dough.

What chocolate chips should I use?

I like to make these mini cookies with both mini semi sweet chocolate chip and then regular sized milk chocolate chips. Any combination works. If you are using regular sized chips, you'll want to add a few additional chips to to tops of the cookies right when they come out of the oven. If you are using mini chips, dip one side of the unbaked cookie dough balls in mini chips before baking.

How long should I bake this mini chocolate chip cookie recipe?

Bake mini cookies for 6-7 minutes. You want the edges to be golden brown but the middles to still be a little light. The cookies will continue baking on the baking sheet after you remove them from the oven. Over baking the cookies will leave you will dry, crunchy cookies.

What is the difference between brown butter and regular butter?

Brown butter adds a nutty, caramel like flavor to baked goods. This comes from the caramelization of the the milk solids and makes the finished cookies chewier and full of flavor.