Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
Brown the Butter
In a small saucepan, add butter and melt over low heat. Continue heating for about 5 minutes, swirling the pan gently to see the butter browning, without stirring.
The butter will beging to foam and stop bubbling. Remove from heat.
Make the Cookie Dough
In a large mixing bowl, combine browned butter with brown sugar and granulated sugar. Beat for about 2 minutes with a paddle attachment, until fully blended. Add in vanilla and eggs and beat until well mixed.
Add flour, salt and baking soda JUST until combined. Do not over mix. Fold in chopped chocolate bars (saving a few bits to put on the tops of the cookies before baking, if desired).
Bake cookies in the preheated oven for about 12-14 minutes. The cookies will be darker because of the browned butter. Remove from oven and sprinkle with flaked sea salt, if desired. Remove and cool on a wire rack.
Notes
For all my tips and tricks on browning butter, check out this easy guide on how to brown butter. I love using salted butter for this recipe, but unsalted will work too.
Chop chocolate bars ahead of time. I used a total of 3 bars (4 ounce each). Just roughly chop the bars, and you'll use all the fine bits that fall off with the knife plus the bigger pieces.
No need to chill the dough! But if you DO want to chill the dough, I recommend portioning the dough with a cookie scoop before chilling. Otherwise the dough is hard to work with.
Store cookies in a an airtight container for up to a week at room temperature.
Freeze baked cookies in a freezer safe, air tight container for up to 3 months. Or portion the cookie dough and freeze the cookie dough for up to 3 months.
Recipe based off our favorite chocolate chip cookies. The browned butter adds a rich nutty caramel flavor!