Brown Butter Salted Honey Cookies (Print Version)
Chewy brown butter cookies packed with pretzels, toffee, chocolate chips, and flaky sea salt.
# List of Ingredients:
→ Dairy
01 - 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
→ Sugars & Sweeteners
02 - 1 cup packed light brown sugar
03 - 1/2 cup granulated sugar
04 - 2 tablespoons honey
→ Eggs & Extracts
05 - 2 large eggs
06 - 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
→ Dry Ingredients
07 - 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
08 - 1 teaspoon baking soda
09 - 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
10 - 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
→ Mix-ins
11 - 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
12 - 1/2 cup toffee bits
13 - 1 cup mini salted pretzels, roughly broken
→ Finishing
14 - Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling
# Step-by-step Instructions:
01 - Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Continue cooking, swirling the pan occasionally, until the butter foams and amber-colored brown bits form at the bottom, approximately 5 minutes. Immediately transfer to a large mixing bowl and let cool for 10 minutes.
02 - Add the light brown sugar, granulated sugar, and honey to the cooled brown butter. Mix until smooth and fully combined.
03 - Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla extract until evenly distributed.
04 - In a separate bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, and fine sea salt until uniformly blended.
05 - Gradually add the dry ingredient mixture to the wet ingredients, mixing until just combined. Avoid overmixing to keep the cookies tender.
06 - Gently fold in the chocolate chips, toffee bits, and broken pretzels until evenly distributed throughout the dough.
07 - Cover the dough and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. This step is optional but recommended for thicker, chewier cookies.
08 - Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
09 - Scoop 2-tablespoon portions of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart to allow for spreading.
10 - Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are golden brown but the centers remain soft and slightly underbaked.
11 - Immediately sprinkle the warm cookies with flaky sea salt. Let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
# Expert Advice:
01 -
- The brown butter adds a deep, toasty complexity that makes people close their eyes when they take the first bite.
- Every cookie delivers crunchy, chewy, salty, and sweet in a way that feels almost unfair.
02 -
- If you walk away while browning butter, it can go from perfect to burnt in seconds, so stay at the stove and keep swirling.
- Chilling the dough is technically optional but skipping it means flatter, spreadier cookies that disappear into each other on the pan.
03 -
- The cookies will look underdone when you pull them out, but they continue cooking on the hot sheet for those 5 minutes of resting time, so trust the process.
- A light sprinkle of flaky salt right after baking melts just slightly into the surface and creates a flavor contrast that makes people come back for thirds.