Thin and chewy brown butter snickerdoodles. These flavorful cookies remain chewy days after baking!
What’s better than a sugar cookie rolled and coated in cinnamon sugar? Sugar cookies made with brown butter and rolled twice in cinnamon sugar.
Don’t be fooled by the appearance of these cookies. Just because they look flat and thin, doesn’t mean they are crispy and crunchy.
Oh no, these cookies are quite the opposite of that.
They are soft, chewy, and packed with more flavor than its height can manage. These cookies stay soft for days, although they probably won’t last that long in your kitchen.
I like to make big batches of this cookie dough and freeze them. That way, I’ll always have cookies on hand when I’m craving something sweet.
I’m sure you have all heard of brown butter. It was the buzz word a couple of years ago and it seemed like everyone was browning their butter.
For good reason, too. Brown butter is the magical ingredient that makes baked goods taste heavenly.
Table of Contents
European Style Butter
These cookies are super special because I used “fancy butter”. Photographed above is Plugra European style butter.
European style butter is higher in fat, a little lower in moisture content, and a tad bit more expensive than its counterpart- American butter.
Traditionally, croissants are made with European style butter– hence all the flakey, buttery goodness we have come to associate with the perfect French croissant.
How to Cook Brown Butter
Brown butter is fairly simple to make. Start off my slicing the butter into equal size cubes. This allows butter to melt more evenly.
Melt the butter over medium heat. Once butter had melted, continue to cook over medium-low heat.
The melted butter will foam up quite a bit during this time. Be careful and use a pot that has sides high enough to accommodate all the foam.
At this point, you should start to smell the nutty aroma of the browning butter. Brown specks will start to float up to the top once the foam has receded.
Carefully watch the butter because it can quickly burn and blacken. Swirl the pan a little bit to see whether the bottom of the pan has browned too much.
Once the butter smells super nutty and fragrant, its time to remove it from the heat. Pour the brown butter into another container and allow it cool to room temperature before using.
Once you’ve experienced and tasted the magic of brown butter, you’ll want to use it in everything!
This brown butter pecan pie uses that liquid gold to enhance the warm nutty flavors of the classic pie.
Looking for a new cake to try? This nutty espresso cake is coated with butter butter frosting!
And for the ultimate brown butter treat, fry up a dozen of these brown butter glazed old fashioned donuts!
So now you have my secret to my addictive and delicious cookies. These cookies are great and all, but you know what can make them even better?
Adding ice cream in between two cookies! Who ever invented ice cream cookie sandwiches is my hero.
Its the perfect handheld dessert, especially when you a perfectly soft yet durable cookies held together with creamy, rich ice cream.
Brown Butter Snickerdoodles
Ingredients
Cookie Dough:
- 8 oz unsalted European style butter, , cut into large cubes
- 1 ½ cup light brown sugar, (300 g), packed
- 1 cup granulated sugar, (200 g)
- 2 large eggs, , room temp
- 2 large egg yolks, , room temp
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cup all-purpose flour, (325 g)
- 2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Coating:
- ¼ cup granulated sugar, (50 g)
- 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon, (7 g)
Instructions
Dough:
- Add butter to a heavy bottomed, medium sauce. Melt butter over medium heat. Once butter is melted, continue to cook over medium-low heat until butter has browned and is fragrant (it should smell nutty). The melted butter will foam up quite a bit. Carefully watch the butter after this point. Cook the butter until you smell the nutty aroma. When the butter has browned, you will see specks of brown bites at the bottom of the pan. Be careful because the butter quickly burns and blackens. Remove from heat and pour into another container to cool to room temperature.
- Once brown butter has cooled to room temperature, transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add brown sugar and granulated sugar. Mix together until creamy and smooth.
- Add eggs and yolks one at at time. Mix until each egg is combined before adding the next. Scrape down sides of bowl as needed. Mix in vanilla extract.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to mixing bowl in three addition additions, mixing on low speed until fully incorporated.
- Use a cookie scoop to portion out dough. Place scooped dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap. It is okay to place balls right next to each other. Freeze or chill dough until firm.
- Preheat oven to 325° F.
- Coating: In a small bowl, remaining granulated sugar and ground cinnamon.
- Remove cookies from fridge and roll in coating mixture. Place on parchment lined baking sheet, leaving about 2-inches in between cookies to allow dough to spread.
- Bake for 15-18 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking. Cool in pan for 5 minutes to firm up slightly. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
- Roll cooled cookies in cinnamon-sugar mixture once again be serving.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this recipe? Rate & comment below!
Please post the original recipe. This recipe has been changed. I know because I made your old recipe dozens upon dozens of times. It never called for cream of tartar, it also called for vanilla extract and for chilling the cookie dough balls before baking. I loved that recipe so very much it was nearly memorized. Sadly, I never printed it so please can you post the original as well? Thank you!
I have reverted the recipe card to the original recipe as requested. Thank you for being a fan of the original recipe! I appreciate the support.
Thank you so much. This recipe is unmatched! My favorite of all cookie recipes :)
Hi! How does one roll a baked cookie? Do you mean just place it in cinnamon sugar and flip it over for the other side too?
Hi, me again. Just trolling your site this afternoon it seems ;) These cookies are tops on my list to make. Snickerdoodles are my dad’s favorite. Obviously I also have a weak spot for them. Beautiful photos, as always!
Thanks! I can’t say no to a fresh oven baked cookie!
Also, am I able to add cream of tartar?
These look delicious! I can’t wait to try them. My question is, does the butter need to come back to a semi-solid state after it is browned and cooled to room temperature? Or is it still completely liquid?
Thanks!
Hi Shannon, as long as the browned butter has cooled to room temperature it’s good to go. You just don’t want the butter so hot that it cooks the eggs while you’re mixing. Happy baking!
Can you make these cookies without a stand mixer?
Hi Kathleen, you can totally make these using a sturdy spatula (or hand mixer) instead of a stand mixer.