Erin’s Recipe Rundown
One of my favorite ways to make a cookie even better is by using brown butter in the dough. It’s something I started doing years ago, and so many of you have told me how much you love it too.
For these gluten-free brown butter toffee chocolate chip cookies, I didn’t want them to just feel like my classic gluten-free chocolate chip cookies with a handful of toffee mixed in. I wanted a thinner, crispier, bakery-style cookie that feels special and new.
Why You’ll Love Them: These cookies somehow feel both homemade and professional at the same time. The combination of rich brown butter, gooey chocolate chunks, crunchy toffee bits, and flaky salt makes them perfect for parties, and sharing with friends and family.
Top Tip: Don’t be intimidated by the homemade toffee bits. It only takes a few minutes to make, and it takes these cookies from great to completely unforgettable. That said, store-bought toffee bits work perfectly here if you’re short on time — I recommend Heath or Skor bits in a pinch.
xoxo erin
Ingredients You’ll Need
Here are a few notes on some of the key ingredients to make these gluten-free brown butter toffee chocolate chip cookies. Jump to the recipe card below for the exact measurements.
- Chocolate: For the chocolate, I recommend Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate bars, chopped into uneven chunks. The irregular pieces melt into pools of chocolate throughout the cookie — far better than chips.
- Butter: I always use a high-quality, higher-fat butter for the best color, spread, and rich brown butter flavor. My favorite is Kerrygold.
- Espresso powder: The cookies are amazing without the espresso powder, but I like to add it in to intensify the flavors for even richer, more decadent cookies. It’s such a tiny amount that you don’t taste the coffee at all.
- Almond Flour: I like to add a little almond flour for extra richness and tenderness. It also helps them bake up golden brown. It’s my secret ingredient in many of my gluten-free baked goods!
How to Make Gluten-Free Brown Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies
Here’s an overview of how to make this recipe. You can jump to the recipe for the full instructions!
Making the toffee bits is so worth it. I’ve used store-bought toffee bits plenty of times when I’m short on time, but if I can, I prefer to make them myself. Candy-making can feel intimidating, but this version is straightforward and the flavor payoff is absolutely worth it!
Temperature matters. I use a candy thermometer and cook the mixture to exactly 300°F before pouring it out to cool. Once it’s set and broken into pieces, you’ll have more than you need, but it keeps for 2 weeks so there’s plenty of time to use the rest. Sometimes I make more cookies. Sometimes I just snack on the extra toffee throughout the week!
Don’t skip browning the butter. It’s what gives these cookies their deep, nutty, almost caramel-like flavor. I like to cool it quickly in the freezer so it’s ready to use sooner. I use brown butter in some of my favorite cookie recipes, like my 5-star gluten-free chocolate chip cookies and my favorite gluten-free snickerdoodles.
Only bake 6 cookies per pan. Since these are meant to be flat, golden, crinkly cookies, they need room to spread. Crowding the pan will cause them to bake into each other and lose those gorgeous crisp edges.
Bake longer than you think — 12 to 14 minutes. Pull them when the edges are golden brown and just set. They’ll look slightly underdone in the center, but they’ll firm up perfectly as they cool.
Add the final touches. As soon as they come out of the oven, press a few extra pieces of dark chocolate and chopped toffee onto the top of each cookie. And a generous pinch of flaky salt? Non-negotiable.
More Gluten-Free Cookie Recipes
Gluten-Free Brown Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
Homemade Toffee Bits
- 1 cup (227g) butter
- 1 cup (213g) brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Cookie Dough
- 1 cup (227g) butter
- 1 cup (213g) brown sugar
- ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs + 1 large egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon milk of choice
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon instant espresso powder, optional
- 1 ⅔ cups (250g) gluten-free measure-for-measure flour
- ½ cup almond flour
- 8 ounces high-quality semi-sweet or dark chocolate, chopped
- 1 cup toffee bits, plus more for topping
- flaky salt for sprinkling, optional
Instructions
- For the homemade toffee bits: Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- In a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Once partially melted, add the brown sugar and salt and whisk until smooth.
- Continue cooking over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is smooth, thickened and deep golden brown, about 8-10 minutes and the mixture measures 300°F.
- Remove from the heat and immediately pour onto the prepared baking sheet. Using a spatula, spread into an even layer.
- Let cool until hardened, about 20 minutes. Break into small pieces.
- You’ll only use about a cup of toffee for this recipe. Store the rest in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
- For the cookie dough: Melt the butter in a medium skillet over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally.
- Once the butter is melted and begins to foam, stir continuously to prevent the milk solids from sticking to the skillet. The butter will change from yellow to golden brown quickly and will have a nutty aroma. Remove from the heat and immediately pour into a medium bowl.
- Place the browned butter in the freezer for 10 minutes (or leave at room temperature for 30 minutes) to cool slightly.
- Add the brown sugar and granulated sugar to the brown butter. Whisk to combine.
- Whisk in the eggs and egg yolk until smooth and creamy.
- Add the milk, vanilla, baking soda, baking powder, salt and espresso powder. Whisk until smooth.
- Using a rubber spatula, mix in the gluten-free flour and almond flour until almost combined. Stir in the semisweet chocolate and toffee bits and mix just until no dry streaks of flour remain.
- Scoop the cookie dough into round balls, about 2 tablespoons per ball. Place the dough balls onto a large plate or a parchment paper-lined large baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap.
- Freeze the dough balls for at least 2 hours or up to 3 months. Transfer to an airtight container if freezing for more than a few hours.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Place the 6 frozen dough balls on a prepared baking sheet, leaving room for the cookies to spread. Bake for 12-14 minutes, until the cookies have spread and are golden brown (note that these are supposed to be thin and crisp cookies!).
- Remove from the oven and top with more pieces of toffee and chopped chocolate if desired. Cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with flaky salt and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
I made these cookies this weekend and they were amazing!!! I doubled the recipe, including the toffee. Next time I will only make a single batch of toffee, but my extras made amazing candy!!!
Yay! Thank you for such great feedback, Jennifer! We’re so pleased you loved the new cookie recipe and that the double batch worked well. We love having extra toffee to snack on too!
These are 10000/10, I’ve been longing for a chocolate chip cookie that has the perfect chewy crispy texture and these turned out better than I could’ve imagined. The homemade toffee was easy to make and definitely worth it. I’ve also made the pumpkin bars, gingerbread bars, lasagna, and a couple other things from this site and they’ve all been a hit.
Oh wow! Thank you for such amazing feedback, Same! We’re so excited to hear you loved the new cookie recipe this much and that you’ve enjoyed so many other Meaningful Eats recipes too! We appreciate your kind words. Happy baking!
These cookies are a bit of a project, especially if you make the toffee, but they are bonkers delicious! I wasn’t sure about adding the toffee and chocolate on top after baking but I’m glad I didn’t skip this step. I’m not sure I’ve had a GF thin and crispy cookie that wasn’t mass produced – these are amazing!
Thank you for such wonderful feedback, Jessica! We’re so pleased to hear how much you loved the new cookie recipe and that the toffee was worth it!
The steps in this recipe are pretty different from your brown butter chocolate chip cookie recipe. I would have thought it would be similar to it…hold the toffee bits. Will your chocolate chip cookie recipe be revisited to be made like these?
Hi Kysta! Thank you for your question! This recipe is designed to make thin and crispy cookies, instead of chewy/gooey cookies like the gf brown butter chocolate chip cookie recipe. That’s why the recipes are so different. We don’t plan to revisit the OG gf chocolate chip cookie recipe at this time. We hope you love this new recipe if you try it!