Brown Butter Espresso Chip Cookies
These cookies are everything. Chocolate. Espresso. Brown butter. Cinnamon. They are a combination of all the best flavors and you get it all in just one bite of these brown butter espresso chip cookies.
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This recipe was originally published on November 25, 2021. It was republished on September 5, 2024 with updates.
Seriously, these are my new favorite cookies and I can’t wait for you to try them! And while you eat one of these thick, gooey beauties, turn on some Sara Bareilles and just let the day’s stress melt away…
Not My First Rodeo
This is actually not the first time I’ve made these cookies. Last summer, my husband grabbed a bag of these espresso morsels on his regular grocery trip because he knew I’d love them. Naturally, I decided to throw them into my fave chocolate chip cookies.
They were yummy, but something was missing. I was actually a little underwhelmed because I just knew these espresso chocolate chips could be the bomb dot com if I could just figure out how to make them pop.
Then Sara Bareilles saved my bacon.
Wait, What’s Sara Bareilles Got To Do With It?
Quite simply, my family and I are a little obsessed with her. We listen to her music almost non-stop because it is comforting, funny, emotional, and calming all at once. But these cookies actually make me think of her song “Poetry By Dead Men”.
“I wanted to be your girl
In a white t-shirt
Over coffee, stirring in the cinnamon
While you read me poetry by dead men”
This song has been putting coffee and cinnamon together in my head for months. So when I circled back around to these espresso chip cookies, I just knew a dash of cinnamon would be one way to add a little pep to my cookies.
Brown Butter Cookies
Have you tried brown butter yet? ‘Cause it is friggin’ amazing and once you give it a go, you’re going to be obsessed. Not too long ago I used brown butter to make these yummy brown butter pistachio biscotti.
Brown butter has wonderful caramel and nutty flavors that would work really well with coffee. I pulled out my flavor thesaurus and ended up going with a combo of brown butter and cinnamon to add dimension to my espresso chip cookies.
Brown Butter Espresso Chip Cookies
To be completely honest, I didn’t know if these cookies were going to work out. Brown butter isn’t always an equal swap for regular butter because it is softer and has slightly different properties.
Luckily, it worked! I think it helps that I always freeze my chocolate chip cookie dough before baking. Yes, it adds an extra day to the baking process, but you end up with thicc, gooey cookies that look gorgeous.
Related Reading: 8 Cookie Tips & Tricks You Need to Know
Where Can I Find Espresso Morsels?
Unfortunately, you may not be able to find them at your local grocery store. After I used my first bag, I couldn’t find them again! I had to use the store locator on the Nestle website to find these espresso morsels for this batch.
If you can’t find them locally, you could buy them on Amazon, but that’s not a cheap option. I would just use dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips instead. The espresso powder in the dough should add a decent coffee flavor.
Top Tips For Cookies
I’m In Love
Walnut chocolate chip cookies have been my ride or die cookie for years, but I’m moving on. They will always be a top tier cookie in my heart, but now I’m in love with brown butter espresso chip cookies.
The flavors are complex, yet comforting. Chocolate and espresso are a match made in Flavor Heaven, but the brown butter and cinnamon add a dimension and depth that make these cookies exceptional.
Related Reading: 10 Christmas Cookie Recipes You’ll Love
Update: I’m Still Obsessed
There are so many recipes out there that I want to bake, so I tend not to make the same bakes over and over again. But these brown butter espresso cookies are an exception. First of all, the aroma of that cookie dough is straight up addicting. These cookies are also my most requested treat, hands down. Since I’ve made them so many times over the years, I figured I’d make a video tutorial to go along with the recipe.
You can find this recipe video on my YouTube channel too! If you have any questions about the recipe or my freeze and bake technique, leave me a comment at the bottom of this blog post, or on the video on YouTube. Let me know if you’d like a deep dive on making browned butter in the future.
Happy Baking!
I so dearly hope you get to try these brown butter espresso chip cookies soon. You’ll find that these flavors come together beautifully. Impress your friends and family at your next cookie swap or bake sale!
Oh, and hey! If you love baking or eating (with your eyes), you should totes follow @bakesandblunders on Instagram. I love to post drool worthy photos of my bakes over there!
Brown Butter Espresso Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 8 oz unsalted butter
- 10 oz all- purpose flour 2 cups
- 1 Tbsp espresso powder
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 5.5 oz brown sugar 3/4 cup
- 2 oz sugar 1/4 cup
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp vanilla
- 9 oz espresso chocolate chips divided
Instructions
Brown Butter
- Make your brown butter. Place the butter in a saucepan over medium or medium- low heat. Let it melt, stirring occasionally. Continue cooking until the butter becomes a nice caramel color. Remove from the stove. Let the brown butter come to room temperature. You will need 6 oz of brown butter for this recipe. Add or remove butter as necessary.
Espresso Chip Cookies
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, espresso, cornstarch, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon and set aside.
- In another bowl, cream together the room temperature brown butter and both sugars on a low speed until well combined, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add the egg and vanilla to the butter/ sugar mixture and beat until combined. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until just barely combined. Gently mix in 7 oz of the espresso chocolate chips until evenly distributed.
- Use a large cookie scoop to portion the dough onto a small plate or board lined with wax paper. Top the dough balls with the reserved 2 oz of espresso chocolate chips. Freeze for an hour, then transfer the cookie dough balls to an airtight container or a freezer bag. Then freeze for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 325℉. Line a baking sheet or two with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
- Place frozen cookie dough balls on the prepared baking sheet two inches apart. Keep the remaining dough balls in the freezer.
- Bake cookies for 22- 24 minutes. Let them cool on the baking sheet for 5- 10 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.
Notes
- It's best to use a room temperature egg. If you forget to take it out in advance, place it in a glass and cover in warm water while you prepare the rest of your ingredients.
- You can make the brown butter in advance and store in an airtight container in the fridge. Pull it out about 1- 2 hours before you're ready to make the cookies.
- If your end up with less than 6 oz of brown butter, just add enough unsalted butter to the warm brown butter to make up the difference.
Colleen
Hi there! I’m Colleen, a novice baker with a passion for learning and improving my bakes… and blunders. On Bakes and Blunders, you can find all sorts of tasty recipes that range in difficulty, but most importantly, I’ll try to explain the reason behind important steps. If you know why a recipe works, you can tweak and adapt it to suit your unique tastes, and you’ll be able to reliably produce some very delicious treats. If you love baking and want to expand and grow your skills, or if you are a casual baker and just need some pointers, my blog is right up your alley! Join me on my baking journey and we’ll learn how to make more impressive recipes together.
2 Comments
Linda
These cookies are amazing! I followed the directions except for making them a little smaller. Since I’d never made browned butter before I burned the first batch (just a matter of seconds!) and had to start over – worth it!!
Have you ever used this recipe to make bars instead of cookies?
Colleen
Funny you mention the bars because I’ve been thinking about that lately. So no, I’ve never made them into cookie bars, but I have used this base recipe to make a giant cookie in a cast iron skillet – https://www.bakesandblunders.com/giant-chocolate-chip-cookie/. I think I might have to try making these as cookie bars soon!!