Big Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies with Brown Butter

Sometimes your house is full and you need easy cookies for a crowd. This big batch of chocolate chip cookies is my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe for those occasions. Making about 40 cookies, this recipe is in rotation nearly *every* holiday or family gathering because my mom always requests it! After making versions of these cookies for a long time (nearly 15 years!), I'm sharing my beloved and favorite chocolate chip cookies recipe here.

Ingredients in these Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

This Teens Cook Dessert cookbook introduced me to the first chocolate chip cookie recipe that I'd ultimately make on repeat for years. Over time, I gradually made changes, like replacing some of the chocolate chips with M&Ms and adjusting ratios of ingredients. This is now my favorite recipe for making chocolate chip cookies, and I often return to it.

After recipe testing, below are the key ingredients that make this large batch cookie recipe delicious and extra special.

• Ground oats from old fashioned oats - They add texture and chewiness. They even add small health benefits - like fiber, vitamins, and minerals - to the cookie!
• Chocolate chunks - Dark or milk chocolate chips will work, too. However, unlike a chopped bar of chocolate, chips contain ingredients that make them keep their shape, meaning they don't melt as easily. Instead, chop chunks of chocolate. They make your cookies unique in appearance as bits and larger pieces of chocolate scatter throughout. If you need further convincing, read this Epicurious article called "Why Chocolate Chips Ruin Chocolate Chip Cookies." I usually throw in a mix of milk and dark chocolate chunks, avoiding bars with greater than 70% cacao. I once tried 80%, and it made my cookies taste bitter!
• Browned butter - Browned butter provides a lightly nutty flavor. It's not strong but is noticeable and enhances the cookie's chocolaty flavor.
• Vanilla extract - An undervalued hero in desserts, vanilla extract helps elevate other flavors in a recipe. It also adds the familiar sweet aroma and flavor associated with cookies!

Guide for Browning Butter

Brown butter is a key ingredient here. It gives a rich flavor to these large batch chocolate chip cookies. Brown butter is also easy to make at home.

Place your sticks of butter in a pot over medium heat (approximately 8-12 minutes). Stir occasionally until the butter begins to foam and becomes golden brown before removing it from the stovetop.

Pour your browned butter into a heat-resistant container. Place it in the freezer to expedite the cooling process for the next 15-20 minutes as you move ahead with this recipe. When you next use it, it'll likely be cool and, with enough time, have formed a sort of shell on its surface but be liquid-y beneath.

I've also been short on time and made this recipe without cooling the brown butter. That works, too. The end result yields slightly flatter, more crispy cookies.

For thicker cookies, be sure to allow for chill time for your brown butter in the freezer.

Best Tips for Browning Butter

If you're new to browning butter, watch your pot closely. You want to see little brown flecks scattered throughout the butter as it becomes a more amber color.

I also suggest you use a pan or pot that has a lighter colored bottom. That makes it easier to notice the subtle changes in your butter's color.

How to Make a Big Batch of Chocolate Chip Cookies

After you've browned your butter, preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Measure all your ingredients besides your brown butter, which should be cooling in the freezer.

Place old fashioned oats into a food processor or blender and pulse until finely powdered. Set aside in a large bowl. Combine spooned and leveled flour and finely powdered oats into one big bowl. 

Roughly chop your bars of chocolate and set aside. 

In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the cooled brown butter, white sugar, brown sugar (light or dark brown sugar works), vanilla extract, salt, nutmeg, baking powder, and baking soda. Start on a low speed to moisten, then increase speed to medium until batter is well combined, about 5 minutes. You may need to pause the mixer and scrape down the sides of your bowl halfway through the process to ensure your ingredients are incorporated. 

Stop the mixer and add one egg as well as half of your flour/oat mixture. Beat until smooth before adding the second egg and other half of the flour and pulsed oats. Beat for about one minute. Stop the mixer to add your chocolate and beat for another 15-30 seconds.

Using an ice cream scoop or cookie scoop, remove small balls of your chocolate chunk or chocolate chip cookie dough from the mixing bowl to place onto ungreased cookie sheets (no parchment paper needed), with about 2 inches between your balls of dough. You may need to form their shape using your hands.

Bake time is 12-13 minutes, longer for more crisp cookies and shorter for thicker, chewy cookies. 

Transfer cookies to a wire rack after they've sat on the baking sheet 5 or so minutes outside of the oven and are firm enough to handle. 

Chocolate Chunk Cookies for the Holidays

I've enjoyed experimenting with this big batch cookie recipe for Valentine's Day and Christmas. Instead of chopping up two and a half cups of chocolate bars, I sometimes throw in holiday M&Ms, depending on the season.

During the spring, I tweak this big batch chocolate chip cookie recipe for Easter with mini Cadbury eggs. Pastel M&Ms are another great way to make these cookies more seasonal.

FAQ for the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

More Recipes for Delicious Cookies

These Biscoff butter cookie sandwiches are another really tasty cookie on my site. They're thick and chewy with lots of Biscoff flavor in them.

Or looking for a smaller recipe than these big batch cookies? This peanut butter cookie recipe makes eight soft, thick cookies.

Big Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies with Brown Butter

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Brown butter, oats, and chocolate chunks make these big batch chocolate chip cookies a crowd-pleaser. They're soft, chewy, and easy to make. 

• Author: Susan Gravatt
• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Cook Time: 13 minutes
• Total Time: 90 minutes
• Yield: About 40 cookies 1x
• Category: Dessert
• Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 2 ½ cups (310 grams) assorted dark and milk chocolate (not commercial chips), roughly chopped  
• 2 ½ cups (225 grams) old fashioned oats  
• 2 cups (264 grams) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled 
• 2 ½ sticks (284 grams) unsalted butter for browning
• ¾ cup (150 grams) white sugar 
• 1 cup (190 grams) firmly packed (either light or dark) brown sugar 
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 
• 1 ¼ teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt, plus more for sprinkling (for regular table salt, use about half as much) 
• Pinch of grated nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 large eggs (about 50g), straight from the fridge

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Instructions

Browning your butter

1. Brown your sticks of butter over medium heat (approximately 8-12 minutes). Stir occasionally and watch as the butter begins to foam and becomes golden brown. Monitor closely to avoid any burning. Once it smells nutty and becomes amber in color, remove it from the stovetop. 
2. Pour your browned butter into a heat-resistant container and place it in the freezer to expedite the cooling process for the next 15-20 minutes while you move ahead with this recipe. When you next use the butter, you’ll want it to be cool. It will likely have formed a sort of shell on its surface but be liquid-y beneath. That's fine. 

Baking your cookies

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and start measuring out all your ingredients besides your brown butter, which should be cooling in the freezer.
2. Place old fashioned oats into a food processor or blender and pulse until finely powdered. Set aside in a large bowl.
3. Add your two cups of spooned and leveled flour to your bowl of finely powdered oats. 
4. Roughly chop your bars of chocolate and set aside. 
5. In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the cooled brown butter, white sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, salt, nutmeg, baking powder, and baking soda. Start on a low speed to moisten, then increase speed to medium until batter is well combined, about 5 minutes. You may need to pause the mixer and scrape down the sides of your bowl halfway through the process to ensure your ingredients are incorporated. 
6. Stop the mixer and add one egg as well as half of your flour/oat mixture. Beat until smooth before adding the second egg and other half of the flour and pulsed oats. Beat for about one minute. 
7. Stop the mixer to add your chocolate and beat for another 15-30 seconds.
8. Scoop golf-ball sized portions of your cookie dough onto ungreased aluminum baking sheets, with about 2 inches between each of them. Bake for 13 minutes. Transfer them to cooling racks after they've sat on the baking sheets 5 or so minutes outside of the oven and are firm enough to handle. 

Notes

• If you’ve previously made this dough and are pulling it from your freezer, add 1-2 minutes of baking time, depending on your preference for crispiness vs. chewiness in your cookie. 
• For a seasonal twist, feel free to put some holiday-themed M&Ms into the dough in place of your chopped chocolate bars. They add color, crunch, and fun to these already tasty cookies! I will sometimes use about half of the amount of chocolate bars (so roughly 150 grams) and let M&Ms help me reach 310 grams of chocolate in total. But tweak it to your liking - I definitely recommend trying out this substitution sometime, though!