Brown Butter Oatmeal Cookies
Total Time
1 hour 12 minutes
Prep Time
1 hour
Cook Time
12 minutes
Rating
4.8 out of 5 stars
(39)
Ingredients
15 cookies
- 1 cup (220g) unsalted butter, browned to make 3/4 cup (160g), melted
- 1 cup (200g) light or dark brown sugar, packed
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups (200g) all purpose flour
- 2 cups (175g) old fashioned rolled oats
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- OPTIONAL – 1 cup mix-ins (chocolate/white chocolate/butterscotch chips, toffee bits, or nuts)
- OPTIONAL – Flaky sea salt
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Preparation
Step 1
Start by browning the butter. See my full post here on how to do so. Once browned, make sure to measure it out to exactly 3/4 cup. If you have too much, take out a couple tablespoons. If you don’t have enough, add a bit of water to level it off. Also make sure it’s no longer warm to the touch when adding it to the dough.
Step 2
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, baking soda, and salt and set aside.
Step 3
In a large bowl, whisk together the cooled brown butter, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla. It should be smooth and slightly thickened to a caramel color.
Step 4
Dump in the dry ingredients and fold the two together using a rubber spatula. Stop once the flour is fully absorbed (don’t over mix). If using mix ins, fold those in just before the flour is fully absorbed.
Step 5
Place the dough uncovered in the fridge for about 20 minutes.
Step 6
When the 20 minutes is almost up, preheat the oven to 350F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Step 7
To scoop the dough you have a few options. You can use a large scoop to make large 2oz cookies, you can weigh each cookie using a food scale to 2oz each, or you can use a regular cookie scoop. The recipe makes about 15 large cookies and 20-22 regular cookies.
Step 8
Either way, roll the dough into balls and place them a few inches apart on the baking sheet. Gently press them down to about 1/2 an inch thickness. Return the remaining dough to the fridge. Bake large cookies for 12-14 minutes and regular cookies for 10-12 minutes.
Step 9
They’re done when there’s a golden brown ring around the edges and the center is pale and puffed. They’ll look underdone in the center, but they will continue to bake and settle outside of the oven.
Step 10
Sprinkle with a little flaky sea salt and transfer to a cooling rack.
Step 11
Let them cool for about 15 minutes then dig in!
Step 12
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Chef's notes
Old fashioned rolled oats are preferred as they provide the best texture, but quick oats are great as a secondary option. Use the same amount and follow all the same instructions.
These cookies can be made gluten-free by swapping the oats with gluten-free old fashioned oats and the flour with a 1-to-1 all-purpose gluten-free baking flour with xanthan gum.
