Description
These brown butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are irresistibly chewy in the middle with crispy edges and an extra buttery, nutty flavor from the browned butter. Using rolled oats adds texture and heartiness, while the chopped 70% dark chocolate creates speckled pockets of rich chocolate flavor. No creaming or chilling needed, making these quick and easy to bake. Makes 22 cookies approximately 7cm/2.7″ wide each.
Ingredients
Scale
Butter Mixture
- 150g (10 tbsp) unsalted butter, cut into 1cm / 1/2″ cubes
- 1 cup brown sugar (tightly packed)
- 1 large egg, at room temperature (~55g/2oz)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Dry Ingredients
- 1 cup plain/all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups rolled oats (not quick or steel cut)
- 1 tsp baking soda (bi-carb), sifted if lumpy
- 1/8 tsp cooking/kosher salt
Chocolate
- 200g (7 oz) 70% dark chocolate block (e.g., Lindt), chopped into 1cm / 1/4″ pieces
Instructions
- Preheat Oven and Prepare Trays: Preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan). Lightly grease three baking trays and line them with parchment paper to prevent sticking.
- Brown the Butter: Melt the butter in a small silver pan or saucepan over medium heat. Let it simmer for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until you see golden-brown bits forming when you push the foam aside. Immediately pour all the butter and browned bits into a large mixing bowl and allow it to cool for 5 minutes.
- Chop the Chocolate: Cut the dark chocolate block into 1cm / 1/4″ chunks. Transfer these chunks to a bowl, leaving behind the fine chocolate dust, which can be used elsewhere. This creates nicely speckled cookies.
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, rolled oats, baking soda, and salt until evenly combined.
- Combine Butter and Sugar: Add the brown sugar to the cooled browned butter mixture and whisk. It may not combine fully, but that’s okay.
- Add Egg and Vanilla: Whisk in the egg and vanilla extract until the mixture is smooth and uniform.
- Finish the Dough: Add the dry ingredient mixture into the butter mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon until the flour is nearly fully incorporated. Then fold in the chopped chocolate until no flour is visible. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes to firm up a bit.
- Form Cookies: Using a heaped tablespoon (a size 40 cookie scoop works well), place scoops of dough 5 cm / 2″ apart on the baking trays. Flatten each scoop gently to about 8 mm / 1/3″ thick and reshape if any edges crack or become irregular.
- Bake the Cookies: Bake two trays at once for 11 minutes, switching shelves and rotating trays at the 7-minute mark. If baking one tray, bake for 10 minutes, rotating at 6 minutes. Bake until the cookie surfaces are lightly golden.
- Cool: Let the cookies cool on the trays for 10 minutes to set, then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely. Optionally, sprinkle with a little flaky sea salt before serving for an added flavor boost.
Notes
- This recipe is extremely fast and easy, delivering rich, buttery, and nutty cookies due to the browned butter.
- No creaming of butter or chilling of dough is required, which saves time.
- Browning the butter adds a delicious depth of flavor that is well worth the extra few minutes.
- Using chopped chocolate rather than chips makes the cookies look more artisanal and speckled.
- The cookies are chewy in the middle with crispy edges and measure about 7cm / 2.7″ wide each.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 179 kcal
- Sugar: 13 g
- Sodium: 71 mg
- Fat: 9 g
- Saturated Fat: 5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3.5 g
- Trans Fat: 0.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 22 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 23 mg
