Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
Browning the butter and using more brown sugar than white keeps these cookies soft and chewy in the middle, while a short chill firms the dough enough to bake thick instead of spreading thin. Milk chocolate chips melt into softer, glossier pools than semisweet and give the cookie a sweeter, milkier flavor that pairs well with the caramel notes of the brown sugar.
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 11 min
- Total
- 1 hr 31 min
- Servings
- 24
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 1/4 cups brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 2 cups milk chocolate chips
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 380
- Protein
- 5g
- Carbs
- 49g
- Fat
- 19g
Based on the recipe as written, one serving. Recalculates if you swap an ingredient above. An estimate only, exact values depend on the specific ingredients used.
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Instructions
- 1Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, swirling often, until it turns golden brown and smells nutty, 4-6 minutes. Pour into a large bowl and let cool for 10 minutes.
- 2Whisk the brown sugar and granulated sugar into the browned butter until smooth and glossy.
- 3Whisk in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla, until the mixture lightens in color.
- 4In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
- 5Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir with a spatula until just combined, no streaks of flour remaining.
- 6Fold in the milk chocolate chips.
- 7Cover the dough and refrigerate for at least 45 minutes, or up to 3 days.
- 8Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- 9Scoop the dough into 2-tablespoon balls, spacing them 2 inches apart on the sheets.
- 10Bake one sheet at a time for 10-12 minutes, until the edges are set and golden but the centers still look slightly underdone.
- 11Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Tips & variations
- Milk chocolate chips scorch faster than semisweet chips due to their higher milk-solid content, so watch the last minute of baking closely if the oven runs hot.
- Chopped milk chocolate bars melt into bigger, more irregular puddles than uniform chips and give a more bakery-style look.
- Add 1 cup of chopped toasted pecans or hazelnuts along with the chocolate for texture contrast.
- For extra-thick cookies, freeze the scooped dough balls for 15 minutes right before baking.
Storage & reheating
Store baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Freeze raw dough balls on a tray until solid, then transfer to a freezer bag for up to 3 months and bake straight from frozen, adding 1-2 minutes to the bake time. To refresh day-old cookies, microwave for 8-10 seconds.
Tips from the Tulo kitchen
- Weighing the flour instead of scooping it with a cup keeps the dough from turning dry and cakey, since scooped flour can pack in up to 20% more than a spoon-and-level measure.
- Pressing a few extra chocolate chips onto the tops of the dough balls before baking gives a more picture-perfect finish since the chips inside get partially hidden as the dough spreads.
FAQ
Why use milk chocolate instead of semisweet chips?
Milk chocolate has a higher sugar and milk-solid content, so it melts softer and tastes noticeably sweeter and creamier than semisweet, which works well against the caramel notes of browned butter and brown sugar.
Why do these cookies need to chill before baking?
Chilling solidifies the butter in the dough and gives the flour time to absorb moisture, both of which slow how much the cookies spread once they hit the hot oven, so they bake thicker with a chewier center.
Can I skip browning the butter?
Yes, simply melt the butter and let it cool before mixing in the sugars, but the cookies will taste noticeably less nutty and rich.
Why are my cookies spreading too thin?
This is usually either under-chilled dough, butter that was too warm when mixed in, or too little flour; measure the flour by weight and don't skip the refrigeration step.