Triple Chocolate Chunk Cookies

These triple chocolate chunk cookies are a cut above your average cookie recipe. Imagine deliciously sweet soft and chewy cookies made with a gorgeous nutty brown butter cookie dough, filled with gooey dark, milk and white chocolate chunks. I just think few things say comfort quite like a freshly baked cookie warm from the oven.

This recipe is actually very easy. Once you have made the brown butter, it really is just a case of mixing ingredients together (and giving them time to chill). If you haven’t made brown butter before, it’s easy to do! Scroll down for my ‘brown butter step by step guide’ which takes you through it. Plus any pointers on what to look out for. 

Although you can be flexible on the brown butter, there are a few things which are key to taking these triple chocolate chunk cookies to the next level. Firstly, the chocolate chunks (note: not chocolate chips). Essentially, this is what creates those gloriously gooey puddles of molten chocolate. I explain why in more detail further down, but this is definitely a recipe that requires good-quality chocolate bars (same goes for my triple chocolate brownies if you haven't tried those!)

The second secret to making the very best triple chocolate chunk cookies is chilling. I know it can be so tempting to skip this step, but it really makes a difference. Even just 30 minutes helps to solidify the butter and prevent the cookies from spreading too much in the oven. It creates thicker, chewier cookies with a better texture and more even browning. 

Another reason to love these triple chocolate chunk cookies is the dough can be made ahead. I keep them in my fridge (it lasts up to 3 days chilled) or freezer (up to 3 months) and bake a cookie right when I want one so it’s freshly baked and warm. Perfect for when that cookie craving strikes! 

Obviously these triple chocolate chunk cookies are delicious as a snack. However, as anyone who has tried my cookie in a skillet knows, anything involving cookies makes for a delicious pudding. I love to serve them warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of chocolate sauce. Or I make ice cream cookie sandwiches! 

Why you will love this recipe:

• They are super easy to make. Perfect for all baking abilities!
• They can be made ahead. The dough can be chilled or frozen so you always have a stash of cookie dough for when that cookie craving strikes.
• They are full of flavour and texture. Imagine soft, sweet and nutty brown butter cookies, swirled with rich and gooey triple chocolate chunks. Not to mention those irresistibly crispy edges.
• They are so versatile - you can switch up the chocolate or add all sorts of nuts for crunch. 

Ingredients:

See recipe card for the exact recipe with a full list of ingredients and measurements

Butter - opt for unsalted butter so you can control the salt levels. It is really important to watch it closely as you make the brown butter to ensure it doesn’t burn (or the cookies will become bitter).

Caster sugar - this adds sweetness to the triple chocolate chunk cookie dough and helps give the finished cookies perfectly crispy edges.

Soft light brown sugar - this adds sweetness, moisture and a delicious toffee-molasses flavour to the dough. You can use soft dark brown sugar but it will give much darker triple chocolate chunk cookies.

Eggs - I recommend large free-range eggs stamped with the British Lion mark. 

Vanilla extract - this gives a subtle hint of sweet vanilla to the cookie dough. You can use a little more if you prefer. 

Plain flour - also known as ‘all-purpose’ flour. This helps create the perfect cookie dough for these triple chocolate chunk cookies. 

Bicarbonate of soda - this helps make these triple chocolate chunk cookies light and fluffy.

Salt - Adding a pinch of salt brings out the flavours of the other ingredients and takes your bakes to the next level. I recommend Maldon Salt Flakes.

Chocolate - these are triple chocolate chunk cookies so use a combination of dark, milk and white chocolate. Opt for the best quality you can find and chop into relatively equal-sized chunks. I used only milk and dark as I love that combination personally!

Substitutions and Variations:

• Brown butter: browning the butter is an additional step that gives these triple chocolate chunk cookies a delicious nutty flavour. However, if you are short on time, you can just use regular softened butter.
• Caster sugar - you can swap the caster sugar for vanilla sugar to increase the vanilla flavour. Alternatively, granulated sugar or golden caster sugar will work well if that is what you have.
• Vanilla - you can swap the vanilla extract for vanilla bean paste. Just avoid vanilla essence which is artificial and will give these triple chocolate chunk cookies a synthetic taste.
• Chocolate - you can use any ratio of chocolate you like. I have gone for more dark and milk chocolate, but you do you. You can even use some blonde chocolate for a caramelised biscuit flavour. Ruby chocolate will add a hint of fruitiness. Alternatively, just use 1 or 2 types of chocolate for classic chocolate chunk cookies (or double chocolate chunk cookies). 
• Nuts: you can swap 100g of chocolate for roughly chopped nuts for extra crunch and a praline flavour. Chopped almonds, macadamia, pecans, pistachios or hazelnuts all work well.

Here’s how to make brown butter

Brown butter (A.K.A beurre noisette) is butter that has been heated to the point where the moisture evaporates and the milk solids brown. Don’t worry - it really isn’t complicated or as science-y as it sounds! The name ‘beurre noisette’ actually translates as ‘hazelnut butter’ which is a pretty good way of describing the gorgeous nutty, toasted flavour it has. It is such a simple way of adding lots of flavour to sweet and savoury recipes.

This step by step guide shows you how to make brown butter. If you scroll down, the full recipe with measurements is at the bottom of the page in the recipe card.

ONE: Place the butter into a medium-sized non-stick pan and place over a medium heat. Try to choose a pan light in colour as you want to be able to see the colour of the butter changing.

TWO: Continue to cook the butter as it melts, stirring occasionally. Once melted, slowly bring to the boil while continuing to stir. You will start to see the milk solids separate from the butter and collect at the bottom of the pan. Keep cooking the butter, stirring/swirling gently. You want to keep cooking until the milk solids turn a golden amber-brown. Don’t be alarmed if it crackles/spits and/or foams up during this time - this is normal and what you want to happen. If you are worried your butter is browning too quickly/unevenly, simply turn down the heat.

THREE: The crackling and foaming should start to subside as it gets closer to the ideal ‘brown butter’ stage. At this point, remove from the heat and pour into a heat-proof bowl.

FOUR: Leave to cool a little before using in your chosen recipe. If you are worried you have a few too many burnt bits, you can pour through a sieve to strain any burnt bits so it's not wasted.

Here's how to make the cookies

Now you've made brown butter, it's time to make the cookies. If you scroll down, the full recipe with measurements is at the bottom of the page in the recipe card.

FIVE: Once you've made the brown butter, In a large mixing bowl, add the brown butter, caster sugar and soft light brown sugar. Beat together.

SIX: Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla extract and mix again until combined.

SEVEN: In a separate large mixing bowl, sift together the plain flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Mix half the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until combined. Gradually mix in the remaining dry ingredients, a little at a time, until you have a smooth dough.

EIGHT: Chop the chocolate into large chunks. The chunks will melt into gorgeous chocolatey pools in the cookies whereas chips won't so defo use chunks!

NINE: Gently fold in the chopped chocolate chunks. Take care not to overmix, just carefully fold in until the chunks are evenly distributed throughout the dough.

TEN: Cover and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes - ideally overnight. You can do this by leaving the dough in the mixing bowl covered, or scoop onto the tray ready. When you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 190°C/170°C Fan. Scoop the cookie dough into around 16 equal-sized balls and place roughly 5cm apart on lined baking sheets.

ELEVEN: Bake for about 11 minutes - or until the edges are just golden-brown but the centres are still puffy and slightly gooey. They might look underdone, but they will continue to bake as they cool on the trays. 

TWELVE: Sprinkle with flakey salt when out of the oven and once they've set for a bit, you can dig in!

Cooking Tips

Brown butter: the delicious brown butter (the fancy cookery term is ‘beurre noisette’) adds a nutty flavour to these triple chocolate chunk cookies. I know it sounds a bit cheffy, but it is a really simple process. You just need to cook the butter just until it is a gorgeous amber colour and has an incredible nutty aroma. That is the point to remove it from the heat before it starts to burn (by which point, it will turn butter). If you are short on time, you can use regular softened butter, but it is well worth giving it a go at least once!

Chocolate: triple chocolate chunk cookies are, naturally, all about the chocolate. For best results use the best quality chocolate bars you can find. Also, note the use of chocolate chunks not chocolate chips. 

Chill out: don’t be tempted to skip the chilling. Even 30 minutes is better than nothing. It helps solidify the butter to prevent the triple chocolate chunk cookies spreading too much in the oven. This gives thicker, chewier cookies with better texture and more even browning. It also helps hydrate the flour which enhances the flavour.

Well-spaced: make sure you leave plenty of room between the cookie dough balls as they will spread during baking. Otherwise you will end up with one giant cookie.

Cooling: Let the cookies cool for at least 15 minutes before tucking in. This allows them time to firm up slightly and form the perfect chewy cookie texture.  

Chocolate chunks vs chocolate chips

You might have noticed that I specify using bars of good-quality chocolate, chopped into chunks instead of different flavours of chocolate chips. I do the same in my triple chocolate brownies and chocolate chunk muffins. I find it gives a much better flavour and texture. This is because chocolate chips have stabilisers in them specifically designed to make them withstand high temperatures and hold their shape during baking. This prevents them from melting into the gloriously gooey chunks you want in the perfect cookie. They also tend to taste sweeter as they have a higher sugar content and lower cocoa butter percentage than chocolate bars. Of course you can use chocolates, but chopped up bars of good-quality chocolate will give you much better triple chocolate chunk cookies.

Frequently Asked Questions

Storage & Freezing Instructions

Other recipes you may enjoy:

If you like the sound of these triple chocolate chunk cookies, try my tiramisu cookies. Also don’t miss my one pan condensed milk cookie or my chocolate brownie cookies. 

Made this recipe and loved it?

I would love love LOVE if you could leave a review in the comments…  I love hearing what you thought, any changes you made, the stories behind what made you try my recipes. Also, if you share a photo on instagram, please tag me @desertislanddishes, it makes my day to see you making my creations!

Triple Chocolate Chunk Cookies

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These triple chocolate chunk cookies are better than your average cookie recipe. Imagine deliciously sweet, nutty brown butter cookie dough filled with gooey dark, milk and white chocolate chunks. Be warned, once you try cookies this way, there is no going back…

• Author: Margie
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Chill Time: 30 minutes to overnight
• Cook Time: 20 minutes
• Total Time: 40 minutes + chilling time
• Yield: Makes about 16 cookies 1x
• Category: Baking
• Method: Oven
• Cuisine: American
• Diet: Vegetarian

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 170g unsalted butter, diced
• 50g caster sugar
• 200g soft light brown sugar
• 1 large egg, plus 1 large egg yolk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 220g plain flour
• ¾ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• Generous pinch of sea salt
• 150g good-quality dark chocolate, chopped into chunks
• 150g good-quality milk chocolate, chopped into chunks
• 100g good-quality white chocolate, chopped into chunks

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Instructions

1. First make the brown butter: pop the diced butter into a medium-sized non-stick saucepan and set over medium heat. Stir gently until completely melted. Increase the heat to medium and allow the butter to bubble, stirring often. It will bubble and spit - don’t panic, this is normal (just take care!). Continue to cook the butter, stirring to ensure it cooks evenly, until the crackling noises fade and the bubbles subside. At this point, you should see a foam appear on the surface and the colour will change from golden-yellow to light brown to deep amber brown. This can take anywhere between 7-10 minutes, depending on the size of your pan and how high your heat is. Watch the pan closely as it takes just seconds to go from brown to burnt.
2. As soon as brown flecks start to appear and you start to smell a gorgeous nutty aroma, remove from the heat. Quickly, but carefully, pour into a medium-sized heatproof bowl. This stops it cooking any further. Leave to cool slightly. It doesn’t need to be room temperature but shouldn’t be scorching hot. You can do make the brown butter up to 2 weeks in advance and keep it chilled in your fridge. Allow to come to a softened room temperature before making the cookies.
3. In a large mixing bowl, add the brown butter, caster sugar and soft light brown sugar. Using an electric whisk, beat together. You can use a wooden spoon too.
4. Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla extract and mix again until combined.
5. In a separate large mixing bowl, sift together the plain flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Mix half the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until combined. Gradually mix in the remaining dry ingredients, a little at a time, until you have a smooth dough.
6. Gently fold in the chopped chocolate chunks. Take care not to overmix, just carefully fold in until the chunks are evenly distributed throughout the dough. Cover and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes - ideally overnight. I know it is tricky, but I promise it does make a difference and will be worth the wait!
7. When you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 190°C/170°C Fan. Line a couple of baking sheets with non-stick baking paper and set aside.
8. Scoop the cookie dough into around 16 equal-sized balls and place roughly 5cm apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake for about 11 minutes - or until the edges are just golden-brown but the centres are still puffy and slightly gooey. They might look underdone, but they will continue to bake as they cool on the trays.
9. Leave to cool before eating so they have time to firm up. Obviously they are delicious warm from the oven - but try to give them at least 15 minutes so you get the perfect chewy texture of the cookies.

Notes

To store: The baked cookies will last for up to a week in an airtight container - although they are best the day they are made.

To reheat: if, like me, you love a warm cookie, reheat in the microwave in 20 second bursts until warm and the chocolate is melted. Or pop in a preheated air fryer at 170c for 3 minutes or so.

To freeze: this cookie dough freezes well for up to 3 months. I recommend freezing the individual balls so you can take them out and bake as you need from frozen (just add a couple of minutes to the baking time). Alternatively, shape the chilled dough into a log before freezing. You can then defrost in the fridge before slicing and baking.

Make ahead: the brown butter can be made up to 2 weeks ahead and kept chilled in the fridge (remember to bring to a softened room temperature before making the cookies). You can make the cookie dough up to 3 days in advance, then cover and chill in the fridge. You can either do this and keep it in the bowl or after you have shaped it into balls. You can also freeze in advance, I recommend freezing in individual balls and then bake from frozen. Just add a few mins onto the baking time.

Bake what you need: you don’t have to bake off all the cookies at once. I sometimes bake a couple of cookies at a time so I can enjoy them at their best. Plus, the dough will only improve as it chills in the fridge. If you are keeping it for longer than 3 days, shape into balls and freeze. Then bake from frozen for 13-16 minutes, as they will need longer than if they were just fridge cold.

Brown butter: browning the butter is an additional step that adds so much flavour to these triple chocolate chunk cookies. However, if you are short on time, you can just use regular softened butter.  If you are worried you have a few burnt bits in the brown butter (black flecks instead of brown), you can pour through a sieve to strain any burnt bits which will give your brown butter a bitter flavour.

Chocolate chunks: you can use whatever combination of chocolate you like for these triple chocolate chunk cookies. I have gone for more dark and milk chocolate, but go with whatever you prefer. You can also stick with just 1 or 2 types of chocolate.

Nuts: you can swap 100g of chocolate for roughly chopped nuts for extra crunch. Chopped almonds, macadamia, pecans, pistachios or hazelnuts all work well. The latter has delicious nutella vibes.

Chilling: I know it is tempting to skip this, but these triple chocolate chunk cookies will be better for having time to chill. It helps solidify the butter to prevent them spreading too much in the oven. This gives a thicker, chewier cookie with better texture and more even browning. It also helps hydrate the flour which enhances the flavour.