Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies (2024)

Only make these brown sugar chocolate chip cookies if you absolutely ADORE the taste of chewy, rich chocolate chip cookies. Making chocolate chip cookies with all brown sugar makes incredible, sweet, caramel-tasting cookies that you will love so much, they just might replace your regular cookie recipe!

If you love my small batch chocolate chip cookies, you've got to try this version, made with ALL BROWN SUGAR! We love brown sugar in cookies, because it makes cookies sweet, chewy, and slightly smoky from the molasses.

The thing about most brown sugar on the grocery shelves is that it’s essentially white sugar with a little extra molasses stirred back in. If you come across anything labeled natural brown sugar, it means that sugar cane that was halted in the stripping process, allowing a portion of the natural molasses to stay in the sugar. Either will work for this recipe, but if I have to choose, I'd grab a bag of regular dark brown sugar.

The reason we love molasses in baked goods is that it provides a chewy texture, as molasses is soft and pourable at room temperature. So, that is why we make these insanely delicious brown sugar chocolate chip cookies that have caramel notes and an unbelievably addicting texture. I will not confess how many of these cookies I ate, hot, straight off the pan! If you love molasses, you would like my soft and chewy gingersnaps.

So what happens when we bake with all brown sugar?

When we use only brown sugar in a cookie recipe, the resulting cookies will be chewier, since they contain moremoisture from the molasses.Also, we'll have a puffier and softer cookies, because molasses is acidic and reacts with baking soda to make them puff up in the oven more. This means the cookies will come out of the oven slightly puffy, but then fall into cookies with a few irresistible crackles.

Ingredients

• Butter. We needunsalted butter that has been softened to room temperature, about 2 hours on the counter.
• Dark Brown Sugar. Yes, you can use light brown sugar, but the dark is even better!
• Egg Yolk. Because this is a small-batch recipe, we just need the egg yolk. Do not use the whole egg for this recipe. Check my list of recipes that use egg whites for ideas on how to use the leftover.
• Vanilla Extract.
• Flour.
• Salt.
• Baking Powder.
• Baking Soda.
• Semisweet Chocolate. The best way to make melty pools of chocolate in cookies is to use chopped chocolate pieces. I like to use a mix of chocolate chips and chopped chocolate for the best results. It's your choice.

How to make brown sugar chocolate chip cookies:

1. Gather the ingredients: softened butter, dark brown sugar, egg yolk, vanilla, flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and chocolate pieces. Preheat the oven to 375, and line a light-colored cookie sheet with a silicone mat. I use light metal cookie sheets because dark metal speeds up the baking time, and I use a silicone mat because they provide even heat distribution, which prevents cookies from spreading too much while baking.
   
   2. In a medium bowl, add the butter and brown sugar. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, at least 2 full minutes.
   
   3. Once the mixture is fluffy, add the egg yolk (yes, just the yolk, not the egg white!), and vanilla extract.
   
   4. Beat the egg yolk and vanilla into the cookie dough. Next, sprinkle the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda evenly over the dough. I do it this way so that you don't have to use a separate bowl for the dry ingredients.
   
   5. Beat the dry ingredients in, just until everything is mixed. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips and chopped chocolate. I use a mix of chopped chocolate and chocolate chips, because the chips don't melt very well. If you like pools of melted chocolate in your cookies, use chopped chocolate.
   
   6. Scoop out 10 cookie dough balls, and space them evenly on the prepared baking sheet.
   
   7. Bake the cookies on the center rack of the oven for 9-10 minutes. Look for the edges of the cookies to start turning golden brown, and then you know it's time to remove them from the oven. Let them rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes after baking, and then move them to a wire rack to cool completely.
   

Which brown sugar to use for chocolate chip cookies?

I think it's a matter of how much you love the rich, smoky flavor of molasses. I always bake with dark brown sugar. It imparts slightly more moisture to a cookie dough than light brown sugar, making the final cookies slightly softer and chewier. If you want your cookies to be shapes, you can use my chocolate chip cut out cookies recipe.

Is brown sugar necessary for chocolate chip cookies?

Well, you can absolutely follow my recipe for chocolate chip cookies without brown sugar, but they are a totally different cookie than these babies above. In my opinion, brown sugar makes a softer, chewier cookie with notes of caramel. So good!

If you want a heavenly bite, try my brown sugar cream cheese frosting recipe smashed between two of these cookies!

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