Brown Butter Cookie Company Recipe

4.82 from 38 votes

Oct 16, 2022

(updated Feb 8, 2026)

Our lives were forever changed when we visited Brown Butter Cookie Company along the central coast of California in a town called Cayucos. This Brown Butter Cookie Company Recipe makes thick, buttery cookies with a nutty flavor and the perfect amount of sea salt on top. This copycat recipe is a huge crowd-pleaser!

Leaning and stacked brown butter cookies.

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The magic of Brown Butter Cookie Company cookies

These cookies are little bits of heaven! The first time me and my family bit into a cookie, we were in love with the unique and wonderful flavor profile of these cookies. The intensity of the nutty flavor of the brown butter mixed with the sea salt on top is unmatched. These cookies are super thick and dense with a crumbly, but definitely not dry, melt-in-your-mouth texture.

More reasons to bake a batch today"

This is a very simple cookie recipe that produces incredible cookies
Browned butter, need I say more? The nutty aroma is reason enough to make this recipe. The depth of flavor this magical ingredient adds to these cookies is simply incredible
There are very few ingredients in this amazing recipe, it comes together quickly, no chill time required and no stand mixer or handheld electric mixer required

Flaky sea salt in a small bowl next to brown butter cookies

Simple ingredients to make brown butter cookies

This recipe requires only simple ingredients. The ingredients are listed on the back of each package of cookies purchased from the Brown Butter Cookie Company.

So to make this copycat recipe, it was just a matter of figuring out the proper proportions and method. Through lots of trial and error, this recipe emerged as the closest match to the cookies you can purchase.

Here's what you'll need:

Brown butter: browning butter adds the most delicious nuttiness to this recipe! It takes just a few minutes to prepare, too.
Brown sugar: Do not substitute with white sugar (granulated sugar). White sugar and brown sugar act very differently in cooke recipes. Brown sugar maintains moisture and softness while granulated sugar creates a crispy cookie. Additionally, white sugar is not used in the original recipe.
Vanilla extract
All-purpose flour: be sure to measure your flour correctly by spooning the flour into the measuring cup without packing it down at all. Sweep the top of the measuring cup with a butter knife to level it off. This cookie will not hold together if there's too much flour in the cookie dough.
Baking soda
Flaky salt: this is sprinkled on top just before baking. Flaky salt is different than coarse salt. Try looking for Fleur De Sel or Flaky sea salt such as Maldon.

Ingredients shown to make brown butter cookies

How to make Brown Butter Sea Salt Cookies

Butter beginning to brown in a skillet. — Prepare the browned butter

As much as it may be tempting to take a shortcut and skip browning the butter, I would not recommend substituting melted butter for the brown butter in this recipe. It'll change the flavor profile of the cookies completely.

Also, when butter is browned, a bit of the moisture evaporates, decreasing the volume of the butter. Melted butter has up to 25% more volume than browned butter, which can change the proportion of ingredients in the cookie dough. This changes the outcome of the baked cookie

Brown butter cookie dough in a glass mixing bowl. — Cookie dough mixture

TIP: If your cookie dough is not coming together and seems very dry, try adding a drop more vanilla to the dough, adding more until it comes together.

Brown butter cookie dough laid out on parchment paper on a baking sheet. — Scoop cookie dough, roll into balls and sprinkle with salt

Baked brown butter cookies on parchment paper. — Bake 10 minutes or until golden brown

How to store these cookies

Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Freeze in a single layer on a cookie sheet then place in a freezer-safe bag and store up to 3 months. Defrost at room temperature.

Love brown butter? Use it in my Brown Butter Blondies and my Salted Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies.

Brown butter cookies with flaky sea salt laying on parchment paper.

Like this recipe? Follow me on Pinterest for lots more recipes just like this one! And don’t forget to pin this recipe for later by clicking on one of the images below the recipe. Or, click on any of the images in this post to save to Pinterest.

How to brown butter without burning

Have you ever wondered can you overcook brown butter? The answer is yes! Butter can go from perfectly browned with a pleasant, nutty aroma to black and burnt in the blink of an eye. Learn more about how to properly make Brown Butter for all your baking recipes.

How to know when brown butter is done cooking

When butter is browning, it goes through a few stages. First it melts, then it sizzles and pops then it foams. Once it settles down and stops making noise, you should see amber-colored, golden brown bits at the bottom. You can also smell a delightful nutty aroma. This is how you know the butter is done browning. Learn more here!

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