These brown butter cookies are a great introduction recipe for those who are new to a plant-based lifestyle. I promise, whoever they’re made for will never tell the difference between these cookies and their dairy-filled counterpart.
What Is Brown Butter?
According to good ole Google “Brown butter is regular butter that has been cooked just long enough to toast the milk solids found in the butter. All you’re doing is cooking the butter just a tiny bit past the melting point. By doing this, you create this magical nutty flavor that you just don’t get with regular melted butter.”
How Do You Make Vegan Brown Butter?
Vegan brown butter can be made in the same way dairy-filled brown butter is made, in a sauce pan on the stove! Now, you won’t find me claiming that it’s the same thing. I mean, plant-based butters have come a long way in the last few years but it’s not butter. It never will be (and I don’t really think that’s a bad thing!). Making vegan brown butter is as simple as heating the butter 30-60 seconds past melted. BE CAREFUL! You don’t want the butter to burn so you’ll need to watch it very closely.
Depending on the brand of plant-based butter, your butter may be white or yellow. If your butter is closer to white, like Miyoko’s Creamery, you’ll want to keep the heat on the butter until it just starts to change color. If your butter is more yellow, like Earth Balance, you can wait until your butter starts to brown.
What Is In Chocolate Chunk Cookies?
Only 9 ingredients! I aim to make all of my recipes as simple as possible so that any experience level baker can make them.
You’ll need:
- vegan butter
- brown or coconut sugar – you’ll want to use either type of sugar because it lends to a nutty caramel flavor profile that you would normally get with a dairy-filled brown butter.
- plant-based milk – soy milk is my favorite for baking.
- vanilla extract – always use a high quality brand!
- all-purpose flour
- cornstarch
- baking soda
- salt
- chocolate of choice
Which Chocolate Should I Use for Brown Butter Cookies?
You can use whichever plant-based chocolate you have in your household. I personally love using chopped up chocolate bars instead of chips for a few reasons:
- Quality control – A lot of chips have emulsifying ingredients that are not always the highest quality. Have you ever noticed that your chocolate chips don’t melt? Yeah, you can thank the emulsifiers for that.
- Chocolate puddles of bliss – sometimes it’s just nice to bite into a melty gooey pool of chocolate instead of chunks of chips that won’t melt.
- Sizing – Usually, cutting up chunks of chocolate will leave you with a good range of small to larger pieces. This allows for better distribution of the chocolate when you’re combining the chocolate with the dough.
Frequently Asked Questions:
- How do you get your cookies so round? The key to getting round cookies is to roll them in your hands prior to baking. Be careful, you have to work quickly or else your warm hands will melt the butter and you’ll get sad looking cookies.
- What do you scoop your cookies with? I use a 2 inch ice cream scoop but feel free to use a spoon!
- How do I store these cookies? Please store these Vegan Brown Butter Cookies in an air tight container for up to 5 days.
- Can I freeze Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies? Yes! Simply make the dough ahead of time and roll the cookies into their baking form. Place them on a parchment line baking sheet and place them in your freezer until solid. Once they are completely frozen, take the cookie dough balls off of the baking sheet and place them in an air tight container back in the freezer until you are ready to bake them. Once you are ready to bake them, place the cookie dough balls on a parchment lined baking sheet and let them defrost for at least one hour. Bake accordingly.
Looking For Other Cookie Recipes? Check These Out:
- Mini Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches
- Snickerdoodle Cookies
- Peanut Butter Stuffed Snickerdoodle Cookies
- Vegan Pumpkin Spice S’mores Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
Vegan Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup vegan butter
- 1 cup brown sugar pressed
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup plant-based milk
- 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 4-6 oz dairy-free chocolate
Instructions
- Begin by browning the butter. Place the butter in a saucepan set over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the butter begins to turn slightly golden. Watch it closely as it can go from brown to burned quickly. Immediately transfer the butter into a bowl into your mixing bowl and allow the butter to cool at room temperature for 30 minutes.
- Once the butter is down cooling, preheat your oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat.
- In the bowl of an electric mixture, cream the cooled brown butter and sugar together until the sugar mixes fully with the butter. You may need to scrape down the sides of the bowl a few times.
- Add the plant-based milk and vanilla extract to the bowl and whisk once more.
- Next, you’ll add the remaining dry ingredients for the batter except for the chocolate chunks. Turn on your electric mixture to incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet. Be careful not to over mix!
- Lastly, stir in the chocolate.
- Roughly scoop out 9 dough balls and place them on your prepared baking dish.
- Bake the dough for 15 minutes or until the edges start to turn golden brown. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for at least 10 minutes before enjoying.
