The Best Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies on the Planet (Gluten-Free)
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I’ll say it plainly: this is hands down the best chocolate chunk cookie I make, and it happens to be gluten-free. Browned butter gives it a deep, toffee-like flavor, a quarter cup of maple syrup keeps the centers chewy, and big pools of bittersweet chocolate do the rest. Crispy edges, gooey middle, flaky salt on top.
Serve them to anyone. They’ve fooled everyone.
Jump to RecipeWhy These Cookies Work
- Brown butter plus milk powder. Browning the butter toasts the milk solids, and a tablespoon of milk powder stirred in at the end adds even more of that nutty, caramel flavor.
- Brown sugar and a little maple. Lots of brown sugar and a little maple syrup make a chewy, moist cookie that stays soft for days.
- An extra yolk. One whole egg plus one yolk gives richness and that bakery-style chew.
- A real chill. Two to three hours (or overnight) lets the GF flour hydrate, so the cookies bake up thick with no grittiness.
- The pan slam. Right out of the oven, drop the pan on the counter. That’s what makes the rippled, wrinkly tops.
How to Brown Butter
Melt the butter in a light-colored saucepan over medium heat. It will foam, then go quiet. Keep stirring until the bits on the bottom turn golden brown and it smells nutty, then take it off the heat right away. Let it cool to room temperature before mixing, or the sugar will melt and the cookies will spread.
Make Ahead
Scoop the dough into balls and freeze them. Bake straight from the freezer whenever you want a few warm cookies, adding a minute or two to the bake time.
Make It a Show-Stopper: Skillet Cookie Sundaes
This is my favorite way to serve these cookies at a dinner party. Bake the dough in mini cast iron skillets, bring them to the table warm, and pile ice cream on top. Make 4 or 6, one per guest, and watch everyone lose it. It works with any cookie dough, but this one is the best.
- Fill the skillets. Butter 5- to 6-inch mini cast iron skillets and press about ½ cup of chilled dough into each one. One batch fills about 8.
- Bake. 325°F (160°C) for 16 to 20 minutes, until the edges are golden and the center is just set but still a little gooey.
- Top and serve. Rest 5 minutes, then add a swirl of vanilla soft serve or a scoop of cookies and cream ice cream and a pinch of flaky salt.
- Serve on boards. Set each skillet on a small wooden board or trivet. The handles stay hot, so give your guests a heads-up.
Dinner party trick: press the dough into the skillets earlier in the day, cover and refrigerate, then slide them into the oven while you clear the dinner plates.
What I use: mini cast iron skillets, small wooden serving boards and a good ice cream scoop. For more ways to dress up dessert for guests, see my gluten-free Show-Stoppers.
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This recipe is from my cookie book in progress, Cookie Magic: Undetectably Gluten-Free Cookie Recipes. Make them and tag @unbelievablygf!
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minutesBrown butter chocolate chunk cookies that happen to be gluten-free: crispy edges, gooey middle, flaky salt on top. They’ve fooled everyone.
Ingredients
- Dry ingredients
2¼ cups (270 g) gluten-free flour blend
1 tsp (5 g) baking soda
Heavy pinch of sea salt
- Wet ingredients
1½ sticks (170 g) unsalted butter
1 Tbsp (8 g) milk powder
1½ cups (325 g) packed brown sugar
¼ cup (80 g) maple syrup
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 Tbsp (15 g) vanilla bean paste
- Mix-ins
8 oz (225 g) bittersweet chocolate, chopped
Flaky sea salt, for finishing
Directions
- Brown the butter: melt the butter in a saucepan and cook until golden brown and nutty. Stir in the milk powder, then cool to room temperature.
- Beat the cooled brown butter with the brown sugar and maple syrup until smooth. Add the egg and mix, then add the egg yolk and vanilla bean paste and mix again.
- Add the flour blend, baking soda and sea salt and mix just until combined.
- Fold in the chopped chocolate.
- Scoop 1 oz (28 g) balls and chill 2 to 3 hours or overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment.
- Bake 14 minutes. Right away, slam the pan on the counter to create wrinkles, then sprinkle with flaky salt while warm. Cool on the pan.
Notes
- Weigh your flour for best results. Don’t skip the chill. Dough balls freeze beautifully. For skillet cookie sundaes, press about ½ cup dough into each buttered mini skillet and bake 16 to 20 minutes.
