These Cookies Changed My Life

"And perhaps my salted butterscotch chocolate chunk cookies will change yours, too.

 

The folks at my laundromat love me. I’d like to think that’s because of my effervescent personality, but in reality it’s because 1) I spend a lot of money there, and 2) I drop off a big box of assorted cookies during the holidays every year. I once heard one employee whispering to a new hire, “That’s the Cookie Man.” It’s a moniker I wear with pride.

 

“Cookies” — my first cookbook, a collection of New York Times Cooking’s 100 best cookie recipes — came out on Tuesday, and the response, coupled with the amount of times I’ve watched the new “Wicked” trailer, has me decidedly in my feels. I’ve spent the whole week reflecting on how cookies have changed me … for good.

 

One of the first times I ever flew solo in the kitchen was when I tried to make Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies around the age of 8 (emphasis on tried). I brought homemade cookies to my first ever professional job interview (I got the job, but not without some eye rolls). The first recipe I ever developed for New York Times Cooking was a cookie; the first NYT Cooking video I ever appeared in was about the famed $250 cookies. And, of course, I owe so much to Cookie Week and I love how connected it makes me feel to all of you.

 

Cookies have been there in every chapter of my story, and this book is an expression of my gratitude and love for them.

 

People ask me all the time what my favorite cookie is. I’ll respond, cheekily, “Whichever one I’m holding in my hands.” But truthfully, it’s a very good chocolate chip cookie, what I consider the greatest American sweet of all time. I dedicated a whole chapter in “Cookies” to it, and this month’s Monthly Bake is, to me, the cookie in its final form: salted butterscotch chocolate chunk cookies.

 

It’s my Platonic ideal of a chocolate chip cookie, one that’s all grown up, with butterscotch-scented brown butter, homemade toffee, two types of chocolate chunks and flaky sea salt on top. The edges are crisp, the outside is caramelized, but the center is perfectly chewy. It’s the best of every world.

 

I first made a version of these when I was home in North Carolina during the pandemic. My dad and I would often have movie nights, and I’d always make us treats to ease the inevitable two hours it took to decide what to watch. His eyes absolutely lit up when I brought him a warm-from-the-oven chocolate chip cookie packed with huge chunks of toffee, his favorite candy.

 

He couldn’t stop talking about the cookies. When I returned to New York, he asked me for a recipe. I didn’t really have one, I explained; I had cobbled the cookie together from a few of my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipes. So began the quest to appease my dad and perfect my ultimate chocolate chip cookie recipe.

 

A few months later, I produced a video about the famed Jacques Torres chocolate chip cookie recipe. I made hundreds of cookies, starting with the original version and branching to variations with different quantities of sugar and various fats, flours and resting periods. I felt like Bradley Cooper’s character in “Limitless”: I had taken a proverbial superdrug that gave me perfect cookie recall. I was finally able to unlock my own recipe.

 

Some tips and pointers: These cookies don’t require any sort of electric mixer. In fact, I think they’re best made by hand so they don’t get overmixed. You’ll start by making toffee — you can use store-bought, but I really do believe you can and should make your own. In the video, I hold your hand through the process, telling you what to look and smell for in order to know when your toffee is ready. You got this!

 

And if you’ve never browned butter before, don’t worry. When the bubbles start to slow down and you see foam on top, swirl the pan around to see if there are brown flecks beneath the surface. Remove the pan from the heat and, very carefully, add a couple of ice cubes, using a wooden spoon to scrape up all that flavor off the bottom of the pan. (Ice cubes are great here because they halt the cooking so your brown butter doesn’t burn. They also replace the water that boiled off in the process, without which the cookies turn out dry!)

 

The longer you can chill your cookie dough, the better. The flavor will deepen and the cookies will have a more cohesive overall texture. (If the dough is resting for anything longer than a few days, throw it in the freezer for treats on demand.)

 

If you’re baking from the fridge, check the cookies after 16 minutes — they will most likely need the full 18 to 20, but everyone’s oven is different. They should look set around the edges and still a little underbaked in the middle, and that’s OK! They’ll finish baking as they rest on the sheet pan.” [1]

 

Recipe: Salted Butterscotch Chocolate Chunk Cookies

By Vaughn Vreeland

Updated October 28, 2025

 

Ready In

7 hr 15 min

(1 hr 15 min baking; 6 hr resting)

Rating

5

(50)

This is a grown-up version of the classic chocolate chip cookie: Brown butter infuses the dough with rich butterscotch flavor that pairs perfectly with crunchy toffee bits and chocolate chunks studded throughout. Crisp edges give way to a chewy, dense center, and the cookies are topped with flaky sea salt, which provides a necessary balance to their sweet, caramelized notes. Resting the dough for at least six hours gives it time to mature, deepening its flavor and hydrating the flour, making for a chewier, more gooey cookie. The longer the dough rests, the more pronounced the butterscotch flavor will be. While store-bought toffee bits such as Heath work fine, homemade toffee is worth the effort because its chunks positively melt into the cookies as they bake.

 

Ingredients

Yield: 18 large cookies

•           1 ¼ cups/284 grams salted butter (for unsalted butter, see Tip)

•           Ice, as needed

•           1 tablespoon vanilla extract

•           3 ½ cups/445 grams all-purpose flour

•           1 ½ teaspoons baking powder (or use 3/8 teaspoon of baking soda, and one plus half teaspoons of fresh lemon juice)

•           1 ¼ teaspoons more baking soda (1.6 teaspoons total)

•           1 ¼ packed cups/275 grams dark brown sugar

•           ¾ cup/150 grams granulated sugar

•           2 large eggs

•           6 ounces/170 grams 70 percent dark chocolate, coarsely chopped (about 1 cup)

•           6 ounces/170 grams milk chocolate, coarsely chopped (about 1 cup)

•           1 ½ cups/217 grams store-bought toffee bits (or homemade toffee, cut into ½-inch pieces)

•           Flaky sea salt, for finishing

 

Preparation

 

1.         Step 1

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Once it begins to bubble vigorously, cook for another 6 to 8 minutes, swirling occasionally, until the bubbles subside and turn into foam, and toasty brown flecks begin to float on the surface. Take off the heat and scrape the bottom of the pan. Pour the browned butter into a heatproof liquid measuring cup. Add a couple ice cubes (or a couple tablespoons of cold water) until you have 1 ¼ cups liquid. Add the vanilla extract, stir and set brown butter mixture aside to cool slightly.

2.         Step 2

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and baking soda.

3.         Step 3

In a large bowl, whisk together both sugars and the brown butter mixture until well combined. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking thoroughly after each addition, until the mixture is very smooth, about 1 minute. Add the flour mixture to the brown butter mixture and mix to fully incorporate. Fold in both types of chopped chocolate and the toffee bits.

4.         Step 4

Using a ¼-cup cookie scoop or measuring cup, scoop mounds of dough (about 100 grams each) onto a baking sheet. Tightly wrap the baking sheet and refrigerate for at least 6 hours and up to 48 hours.

5.         Step 5

When ready to bake, heat the oven to 350 degrees with racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven. Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Place 6 cookies onto each prepared sheet and bake for 18 to 20 minutes, moving the sheets between the racks and rotating them halfway through, until the cookies have spread slightly and their edges are golden.

6.         Step 6

Immediately sprinkle the tops of the cookies with flaky sea salt and let cool on the baking sheets for at least 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough on a single baking sheet. (You can also freeze the balls of dough and bake them for about 20 to 22 minutes.)

 

Cookies will keep, covered at room temperature, for up to 3 days.

 

 

Tip

•           Using salted butter can result in a very evenly seasoned cookie, but you can opt for unsalted here, too. If using unsalted butter, simply add  1 ¼ teaspoons kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal) to your flour mixture in Step 2."