Name: Brown Butter Cookie Cake
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 60 min
Ingredients: 339 g unsalted butter ((1 ½ c.)); 220 g all purpose flour ((1 ¾ c. + 1 tbsp.)); 1 tsp. baking powder; ½ tsp. baking soda; ¾ tsp. salt; 180 g brown butter ((¾ c.)); 65 g granulated sugar ((¼ c. + 1 tbsp.)); 160 g light brown sugar ((¾ c.)); 1 egg + 1 egg yolk (room temperature); 2 tbsp. milk; 1 tsp. vanilla; 210 g semi sweet chocolate chips ((1 ¼ c.)); 90 g brown butter ((¼ c. + 3 tbsp.) solidified); ⅛ tsp. salt; 150 g powdered sugar ((1 ¼ c.)); 2 tbsp. heavy cream

Yield: 9″ brown butter cookie cake // Total Time:1 hr. // Disclaimer: This post includes affiliate links.

Thick and chewy brown butter cookie cake, loaded with chocolate chips and topped with a brown butter buttercream.

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flat lay of the brown butter cookie cake with brown butter buttercream, with three slices cut

Cookie cakes from the grocery store are a classic, but homemade cookie cake is truly so simple to make and is way better than the store. If you are looking for a delicious twist on your standard cookie cake, you have come to the right place! This cookie cake is bursting with toasty brown butter flavor in both the cake and in the buttercream. If you’re not sure what brown butter is, it’s essentially melting your butter for longer than you need to. Doing so allows some water to evaporate off the butter, and allows the milk solids in the butter to be toasted. These toasted milk solids add some toasty, slightly nutty flavor into the cookie and buttercream. It’s also thick, chewy, and loaded with chocolate chips. Perfect for any celebration, or for a fun night in!

Recipe tips

Weigh your ingredients

Weighing your ingredients is important for getting the recipe perfect and getting consistent results. I do provide cup measurements but please note that I test all my recipes in grams and can not guarantee that your bake will turn out like mine. This kitchen scale is super cheap and a great starter scale!

Mix the dough carefully

When adding in the flour, only fold the mixture just until no flour streaks remain. Overmixing the dough leads to more gluten formation, which can make the cookie cake super tough and chewy.

Room temperature ingredients

It is important for the ingredients to be at room temperature so that they properly incorporate with each other. If you have ever had your batter look curdled, it is most likely due to the ingredients separating from being at different temperatures. The butter in this recipe gets melted and the milk amount is quite low, so all you’ll need to worry about is your egg being room temperature. You can take the egg out at least 30 minutes before starting, or run it under hot water for one minute to bring it to room temp.

Baked goods continue to bake even after they have been taken out of the oven. The cookie cake is ready to be taken out of the oven once the edges are golden brown and the middle has set.

How to make brown butter:

Browning your butter is actually quite simple and such a great way to add more flavor to your bakes! Add the butter to a saucepan and place it over medium heat. Occasionally swirl the butter while it is melting. Continue cooking and occasionally swirling the butter until it begins to bubble up and turn amber in color. Once the butter turns amber and you can see little brown bits in it, remove it from the heat, and now you have brown butter! All those little browned bits are the toasted milk solids so you’ll want to make sure you get those out of the pan!

angled view looking at the frosted cookie cake

Ingredients and substitutions

For the brown butter cookie cake:

All purpose flour: for structure and chewiness.

Baking powder: for helping the cookie cake rise.

Baking soda: for helping the cookie cake rise and to help give it that golden brown color.

Salt: to help balance and bring out the sweetness of the cookies

Unsalted butter: for tenderness and flavor. We will brown the butter for extra flavor. You can use salted butter in place of the unsalted, just be sure to omit the extra salt from the dough.

Light brown sugar & granulated sugar: a combination of both helps to add moisture and flavor, and lock in moisture as well.

Eggs: for binding and for moisture. We will use one egg plus one egg yolk for extra richness in the dough.

Milk: we will add just a little bit of milk to help bring back some of that moisture that was lost from browning the butter. I used whole milk but you can use 1%, 2%, or your favorite non-dairy milk here!

Vanilla: for flavor. I use and love this vanilla extract

Chocolate chips: I use semi-sweet chocolate chips here, but feel free to use milk or dark chocolate chips, or a baking bar!

For the brown butter buttercream:

Unsalted butter: the base of the buttercream and all of it’s flavor. You can use salted butter in place of unsalted, just be sure to omit the extra salt from the buttercream.

Salt: to help balance and bring out the sweetness and flavor of the buttercream.

Powdered sugar: sweetens and thickens up the buttercream.

Heavy cream: to help thin out the buttercream so it’s able to be piped. You can also use your favorite milk here in place of the heavy cream.

a flat lay of a piece of cut cookie cake on a plate

Brown the butter.

We’ll start off the recipe with browning the butter. Place the butter in a medium saucepan set over medium heat, and occasionally stir until the butter turns amber in color and develops little specks. Immediately remove the butter from the heat and place it in the fridge to chill for 10 minutes.

Whisk the wet ingredients.

Once the brown butter has slightly cooled off, whisk in both sugars. Then, whisk in the egg, egg yolk, milk, and vanilla until the mixture is well combined.

Fold in the dry ingredients.

Add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and chocolate chips. Use a rubber spatula to fold the ingredients together just until no flour streaks remain.

Bake

Pat the dough into a 9″ cake pan and top with additional chocolate chips if desired. Bake at 350°F / 175°C for 25-30 minutes, or until the edges of the cookie cake are golden brown.

Make the buttercream.

Beat together the butter and salt for 1 minute, until the butter is light and fluffy. Slowly beat in the powdered sugar until all of it has been combined, then beat in the heavy cream. Wait for the cake to completely cool to room temperature, then frost, serve, and enjoy!

Definitely! Simply double all of the ingredients and distribute the dough evenly between two 9″ pans. I even more strongly recommend measuring by weight if you are going to double the recipe for the best results.

Definitely! Cookie dough only gets better with time. You can keep the cookie dough tightly covered in the fridge for up to 3 days before baking. Alternatively, you can bake and frost this cookie cake one day in advance. I wouldn’t recommend any further in advance than that just for optimal freshness.

This cake will hold up in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Why do you measure in grams?

My recipes are all written in grams because it is the most accurate way to bake. When you use a kitchen scale, you ensure that your baked goods turn out as close to the written recipe as possible. Plus, the cleanup is way easier when using a scale! I will provide standard cup measurements but please note that I have not tested the recipe using cup measurements and therefore can not guarantee your recipe will come out how mine did. Here is my favorite kitchen scale.

A note on oven temperature

Ovens vary and fluctuate in temperature. For example, I always have to set my oven to 330°F if I want it to bake at 350°F. If you love to bake like I do, I highly recommend getting an oven thermometer. They are super helpful for letting you know when your oven might be lying to you! I use this one.

Tools and ingredients

You can find all my favorite tools and ingredients that I use on my Amazon Storefront page, here!

If you made this brown butter cookie cake I would love to see it and know your thoughts! Please leave a comment and review down below, and tag me on Instagram @freshbeanbakery. If you have any questions about the recipe I will gladly do my best to answer them in the comments below!