These butter crunch cookies are thick, chewy, packed with tasty toffee bits, and then sprinkled with flaky sea salt! They are so easy to make that you don't need an electric mixer, and everything is combined in just one bowl! The brown butter and toffee bits make these extra special cookies a favorite treat for every toffee lover!
Easy Butter Crunch Cookies
If you are a fan of toffee or butterscotch, then you are going to love my easy homemade butter crunch cookies! This recipe features thick and chewy cookies that are made with browned butter, toffee bits, and a few other common baking ingredients.
I finish the cookies off with a sprinkle of flaky sea salt right before they sit to cool for an addictive combination of flavors! Trust me, once you share them with your family, you'll have a new go-to cookie recipe for any occasion.
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🥘 Butter Crunch Cookies Ingredients
Other than the toffee bits, which can be easily found at a local grocery store, the ingredients are all common baking staples! If you love baking cookies, the chances are that you'll have most of them in your pantry already.
- Butter - ½ cup of butter, or you can use a butter substitute.
- Sugar - ⅓ cup of granulated sugar, plus more for rolling the cookie dough in before baking.
- Brown Sugar - ⅓ cup of packed brown sugar or a brown sugar substitute.
- Egg- 1 large egg at room temperature or use an egg substitute.
- Vanilla Extract - 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract or use one of my vanilla extract substitutes.
- All-Purpose Flour - 1⅔ cups of all-purpose flour that's spooned and leveled or use an all-purpose flour substitute.
- Salt - ¾ teaspoon of salt.
- Baking Powder - ½ teaspoon of baking powder or use a baking powder substitute.
- Baking Soda - ¼ teaspoon of baking soda or use a baking soda substitute.
- Toffee Bits - 1 cup of toffee bits.
- Flaky Sea Salt - 1 tablespoon of flaky sea salt for sprinkling on top and finishing the cookies.
*Be sure to see the free printable recipe card below for ingredients, exact amounts & instructions with tips!*
🔪 How To Make Butter Crunch Cookies
There are no complicated steps in this recipe; even an inexperienced baker will have amazing results! Simply take out a mixing bowl, a silicone spatula set, a silicone whisk, a saucepan (or skillet), a baking sheet, measuring cups, and a wire cooling rack to get started!
1 batch of this cookie dough will make around 18 cookies! This will depend on how large you shape your cookies.
Prepare Cookie Ingredients
- Cook butter. Place a small skillet or saucepan over medium-low heat and add ½ cup of butter. Cook until the butter has melted, and then increase the heat slightly. Cook, stirring constantly, as the butter pops and sizzles. As the sizzling slows down and brown specks form, remove the butter from the heat and pour it into a measuring cup, measuring out 6¼ tablespoons (if you don't have enough, just mix in some melted plain butter until you reach the correct amount). Let cool for 5-10 minutes.
- Mix ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the browned butter, ⅓ cup of granulated sugar, and ⅓ cup of brown sugar using a silicone spatula. Add 1 large egg and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract and whisk quickly until everything is well combined and the mixture is pale and smooth.
- Add ingredients. Add 1⅔ cups of all-purpose flour, ¾ teaspoon of salt, ½ teaspoon of baking powder, and ¼ teaspoon of baking soda and mix with a spatula until all of the flour has been dispersed. Then, fold 1 cup of toffee bits into the dough.
Shape Dough & Bake
- Shape dough. Shape the dough into a large ball and place it back into the mixing bowl. Transfer the bowl to the fridge and let the dough chill for 1 hour.
- Prep. Preheat your oven to 325°F (160°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Roll dough. Scoop the chilled dough into 1½ tablespoon portions and roll them into balls with your hands. Pour some granulated sugar into a shallow dish and roll the dough balls into it until they are fully coated with sugar.
- Bake cookies. Place the balls onto the prepared baking sheet, about 2-3 inches apart. Bake in the preheated oven at 325°F (160°C) for 13-15 minutes. They will puff up, but the color won't change much.
- Cool & serve. Remove them from the oven and sprinkle them with 1 tablespoon of flaky sea salt. Let them cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, and then use a spatula to transfer them to a wire cooling rack.
These tasty butter-crunch toffee cookies can be enjoyed at any time of the year! They are especially fun to make for a holiday cookie swap party to share with your friend and family! Enjoy!
💭 Angela's Tips & Recipe Notes
- If you are in a time crunch, you can skip chilling the dough and make these cookies right after you mix everything together. However, the flavor and texture are much better if you let the dough chill in the fridge for an hour!
- You can use 6¼ tablespoons of plain melted butter if you don't want to brown the butter. Of course, I strongly recommend browning the butter as it adds a ton of flavor!
- You can place a round cookie cutter over your cookies as soon as they come out of the oven and scoot them into a round shape. This is completely unnecessary, but it makes all of your cookies perfectly round!
🥡 Storing
Keep any leftover butter crunch cookies stored in a sealed container at room temperature for up to a week.
Freezing Butter Crunch Cookies
If you want to freeze the dough, you can roll them into balls first without chilling the dough (but hold off on rolling them in sugar until you are ready to bake). Freeze the balls on a sheet pan until solid and then place them into a bag or container. The dough can be frozen for up to 3 months.
Baking Cookies After Freezing Dough
Let your cookie dough balls thaw at room temperature for 10 minutes before rolling them in sugar and baking for an extra 2-3 minutes.
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❓ Recipe FAQs
Great question! It's important to chill the cookie dough for at least an hour before you roll it into individual balls so that the cookies will hold their shape better while baking. Chilling the dough allows for the flour, baking powder, and baking soda to hydrate and the melted butter to firm up.
If you can't find toffee bits at your local grocery store, you can purchase a toffee bar instead. Place it in a sealed plastic storage bag and crush it into bits with a rolling pin or heavy object. Make sure that you have 1 cup of toffee pieces for this recipe. *You might need to buy more than one bar depending on the size.
When I make these delicious cookies for my family, there are rarely any leftovers to freeze; however, you can freeze them if you'd like! You can either freeze the dough for up to 3 months before you bake the cookies, or you can freeze the baked cookies if you store them in layers between wax paper or parchment paper.
🍪 More Tasty Cookie Recipes
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies - These easy cookies are an absolute must-try if you love chocolate and peanut butter!
- Ginger Molasses Cookies - A soft, chewy cookie with sweet and comforting flavors!
- Thumbprint Cookies - A traditional sugar cookie recipe filled with your favorite jam in the middle!
- Lemon Almond Cookies - A bright and refreshing citrus cookie full of almond flavor and a lemon glaze on top!
- Sour Patch Kids Cookies - These Sour Patch Kids cookies are a fun way to incorporate your kid's favorite sour candy!
- Red Hot Cookies - Crushed cinnamon candies are mixed in sugar cookie dough for the most unique treats ever!
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📖 Recipe Card
Butter Crunch Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter
- ⅓ cup sugar (plus more for rolling)
- ⅓ cup brown sugar (packed)
- 1 large egg (room temperature)
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1⅔ cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup toffee bits
- 1 tablespoon flaky sea salt (for finishing)
(Note: 2x or 3x only changes the ingredient list)
Instructions
- Place a small skillet or saucepan over medium-low heat and add ½ cup butter. Cook until the butter has melted and then increase the heat slightly. Cook, stirring constantly as the butter pops and sizzles. As the sizzling slows down, and brown specks form, remove the butter from the heat and pour it into a measuring cup, measuring out 6¼ tablespoons (if you don't have enough, just mix in some melted plain butter until you reach the correct amount). Let cool for 5-10 minutes.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix together the browned butter, ⅓ cup sugar, and ⅓ cup brown sugar using a silicone spatula. Add 1 large egg and 2 teaspoon vanilla extract and whisk quickly until everything is well combined and the mixture is pale and smooth.
- Add 1⅔ cups all-purpose flour, ¾ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon baking powder, and ¼ teaspoon baking soda and mix with a spatula until all of the flour has been dispersed. Then, fold 1 cup toffee bits into the dough.
- Shape the dough into a large ball and place it back into the mixing bowl. Transfer the bowl to the fridge and let the dough chill for 1 hour.
- Preheat your oven to 325°F (160°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Scoop the chilled dough into 1½ tablespoon portions and roll them into balls with your hands. Pour some granulated sugar into a shallow dish and roll the dough balls into it until they are fully coated with sugar.
- Place the balls onto the prepared baking sheet, about 2-3 inches apart. Bake in the preheated oven at 325°F (160°C) for 13-15 minutes. They will puff up, but the color won't change much.
- Remove them from the oven and sprinkle them with 1 tablespoon flaky sea salt. Let them cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes and then use a spatula to transfer them to a wire cooling rack.
Notes
- If you are in a time crunch, you can skip chilling the dough and make these cookies right after your mix everything together. However, the flavor and texture are much better if you let the dough chill in the fridge for an hour!
- You can use 6¼ tablespoons of plain melted butter if you don't want to brown the butter. Of course, I strongly recommend browning the butter as it adds a ton of flavor!
- You can place a round cookie cutter over your cookies as soon as they come out of the oven and scoot them into a round shape. This is completely unnecessary, but it makes all of your cookies perfectly round!
- To store: Keep any leftover butter crunch cookies stored in a sealed container at room temperature for up to a week.
- To freeze the dough: If you want to freeze the dough, you can roll them into balls first without chilling the dough (but hold off on rolling them in sugar until you are ready to bake). Freeze the balls on a sheet pan until solid and then place them into a bag or container. The dough can be frozen for up to 3 months.
- To bake from frozen: Let your cookie dough balls thaw at room temperature for 10 minutes before rolling them in sugar and baking for an extra 2-3 minutes.
Bea says
Hi Angela, you've got baking powder listed twice. Is one of those maybe sodium bicarbonate?? Please advise ASAP I want 5o make these. Thanks so much!!!
Angela @ BakeItWithLove.com says
I see it listed as ½ teaspoon baking powder and ¼ teaspoon baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) in the recipe card and post. Where are you seeing it listed as baking powder twice? I'll fix it ASAP. Let me know, thanks!! 🙂 PS - if you're on a page with an international prefix that may explain it too.
Susan Quigley says
I got carried away with addition of 1 cup chopped macadamia nuts. Dough seems really packed & dry. Any suggestions on best way to add some moisture so cookies aren't crumbly?
Angela @ BakeItWithLove.com says
Use a liquid - melted butter, milk, or water. Start with a tablespoon, then drizzle small amounts to adjust that last bit needed. Shouldn't be a problem at all. 🙂