My Brown Butter Toffee Cookies are lightly crisp around the edges, soft and chewy in the center, infused with rich, nutty flavor, and sweet, sticky toffee in every bite. I’ll walk you through how to make homemade toffee and brown butter for bakery-worthy cookies at home!
Brown Butter Toffee Cookies Perfect for the Holidays (and Every Other Day, Too!)
This toffee cookie recipe is a staple in my holiday baking lineup, alongside my hot chocolate cookies with marshmallows and white chocolate dipped chocolate peppermint cookies. We don’t do boring around here, and these cookies are truly unique! There’s just something about the rich, sweet, nutty flavor that makes them perfect for the holidays. However, if I’m being honest, I enjoy them all year long.
With crisp edges, soft centers, and buttery shards of homemade toffee in every bite, these cookies are an instant favorite with everyone who tries them. I’ll admit that they require a bit of prep work, but the result is more than worth it! Bake a batch for your next cookie swap, give them away as gifts, or serve a platter on a rainy afternoon. There’s never a bad time to dig in.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Flour: A combination of bread flour and all-purpose flour for the base of the cookie dough. The all-purpose flour gives the cookies structure, and the bread flour keeps it soft and chewy in the center. If needed, you can use only all-purpose flour. Or, if you need these cookies to be gluten-free, I recommend using a 1 to 1 all-purpose gluten-free flour. KING ARTHUR and CUP 4 CUP are two great options.
Leaveners: Baking powder and baking soda level the cookies and aid in their texture, helping them rise as they bake. The combination of these two compounds ensures a chewy cookie with a tender crumb. Make sure they’re fresh for the best results!
Salt: Trust me on this! Every delicious baked good needs a bit of salt to enhance the ingredients and balance the flavors.
Unsalted Brown Butter: This creates a deep, rich, nutty flavor base.
Sugar: Granulated sugar sweetens the dough and gives the cookies structure, helping create crisp edges. Then, we include dark brown sugar to add extra sweetness and a rich, molasses taste while keeping the cookies soft.
Egg: A whole egg and egg yolk give the cookies structure and contribute to the rich flavor.
Vanilla Extract: This infuses the cookies with a delicious vanilla taste, giving them lots of depth.
Toffee: Skip store-bought options, and make homemade toffee using water, light corn syrup, granulated sugar, butter, salt, and vanilla extract.
How to Make This Brown Butter Toffee Cookies Recipe
Step 1. Make the toffee.
Step 2. Make the brown butter. Melt butter pieces in a small pan over medium heat until they turn amber in color and have a nutty aroma. Transfer the butter to a heat-safe bowl, and let it cool slightly.
Step 3. Next, sift the dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl.
Step 4. Beat the sugars, brown butter, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Then, add the egg, and beat again to combine.
Step 5. Add your sifted flour mixture to the bowl of sweet ingredients, and mix just until combined. Then, fold in about ¾ of the toffee pieces.
Step 6. Transfer the toffee cookie dough to the fridge to chill. Allow for at least 45 minutes or ideally overnight for the best results!
Step 7. Scoop the chilled dough onto a lined baking sheet, leaving space between each cookie. Add additional toffee on top, if desired, but be mindful that it’s super rich. Be careful not to overpower your cookies!
Step 8. Bake the cookies until the edges are set, but the centers are still soft. Scoot the cookies to form perfectly round cookies.
Step 9. Top with flaky sea salt (and more toffee if desired), and cool them on the pan until set. Enjoy!
Can I Make These Cookies Ahead of Time?
Absolutely! These brown butter toffee cookies are perfect for making ahead, especially during the busy holiday season.
Store the Cookie Dough: Prepare the dough as directed, cover tightly, and refrigerate for up to 48 hours before baking. Chilling actually enhances the brown butter and vanilla flavors, making the cookies even better. Bake from the fridge as usual.
Freeze the Dough: Scoop the dough into balls, freeze until solid, then transfer them to a freezer-safe bag or container. Freeze for up to 3 months. Bake straight from frozen, adding 1-2 extra minutes to the bake time.
How to Store
Once cool, transfer leftover toffee cookies to an airtight container, and store them at room temperature for up to 2 weeks. Or, wrap the cookies with plastic wrap, and freeze them for up to 2 months. Thaw in the fridge or at room temperature to serve, and these taste as good as new!
More Amazing Cookie Recipes
- Fluffernutter Cookies with a Sugar Topping
- Key Lime Cookies with a Sugar Topping
- Lemon Sugar Cookies with Lemon Sugar Topping
- Old Fashioned Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies
- Classic & Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Soft and Chewy Sugar Cookies
I hope you love my Brown Butter Toffee Cookies recipe! The cookies are crisp around the edges, chewy in the center, and infused with a sweet, rich, buttery flavor. If you do give this recipe a try, I want to know! Leave a comment with a star rating below. You can also snap a photo & tag @butterloveandsalt on INSTAGRAM. Your reviews help support Butter, Love & Salt and make it possible for me to continue to create delicious recipes.
Brown Butter Toffee Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup bread flour can sub for all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 10 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg + 1 yolk
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 3/4 – 1 cup toffee broken in bite size pieces (homemade or store bought)
- flaky salt to top
Instructions
- Make the brown butter: Cut the butter in small pieces and heat the butter in a small pan on medium heat for about 3-5 minutes until the butter turns an amber color. The butter will first foam and start to pop. Then, brown bits will begin to form in the bottom of the pan. Once browned and popping slows, it is ready. You should smell a nutty aroma. Scrap the butter (and all the of those magical brown bits into a heat-safe bowl and let rest for about 15 minutes.
- In a medium mixing bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the granulated sugar, light brown sugar, cooled browned butter and vanilla and beat with a hand mixer for about 2 minutes. Then, add the egg. Beat until well combined about 1 minute.
- Add your “sifted flour mixture” into your wet batter and mix with a wooden spoon or rubber spatul until combined. Be sure not to over mix.
- Fold in about 3/4 cups of the toffee pieces.
- Transfer the cookie dough to a fridge and let chill for at least 45 minutes to allow the flour to hydrate and obtain those brown butter and vanilla flavors (Pro tip: Allowing your dough to refrigerate for overnight will result in the best flavored cookie; however, 45 minutes works just fine.)
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line a nonstick baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Remove your chilled dough from the refrigerator and scoop dough into the lined baking sheet with a medium (2 tablespoon sized) cookie scooper. The dough should be about 2 inches apart. You can add additional toffee to the top if you desire, but be mindful that toffee is rich.
- Bake the cookies at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are set and the center is soft. Top with flaky sea salt as soon as you take them out of the oven. Use a biscuit cutter or bowl to shape the cookies into a perfect circle. Add additional toffee pieces if desired. Let rest for about 10-15 minutes or until set.
- Once cooled, enjoy and feel free to add a comment on my blog! Also, be sure to share your photo on instagram and tag @butterloveandsalt! We would love to see how your cookies come out!
Nutritional Information
Recipe by: Chavez Adams / Butter, Love & Salt | Photography by: Meg McKeehan
Made these for our Christmas party this year and they were a huge hit! Should’ve doubled the recipe. Definitely recommend!
So happy these came out great!!