Looking to elevate the humble sugar cookie with one easy extra step? I highly recommend trying out these Brown Butter Sugar Cookies.
In under 10 minutes, you can brown your butter, giving it a rich flavor with notes of caramel and toffee. Using it as the base of a super-simple sugar cookie dough, instantly upgrades your cookies to the next level.
As a busy mom who loves to bake and won’t settle for bland, having a simple kitchen hack like browning butter to give my cookies that little extra somethin’ special feels like a superpower.
Just like my Snickerdoodles Cookies, this recipe requires minimal ingredients, no chilling time, and the dough comes together in just one bowl. Because you don’t have to spend hours in the kitchen to get damn good food.
Brown Butter Sugar Cookies Ingredient Highlights
I prefer using unsalted butter and adding my own salt to have a little more control over the salt content. If you want to use salted butter, you certainly can, just omit the added salt.
You can use vanilla paste in place of vanilla extract if you’d like, but I usually just use extract. You will already get deep flavor and a nice visual appeal from the browned butter.
Browned Butter Sugar Cookies Tips and Tricks
How I Quickly and Easily Brown Butter
Browning butter is easy, but keep in mind that butter goes from browned to burned really quickly.
To avoid burning the butter, it’s best to watch it closely throughout the whole process (it usually only takes anywhere from 4-8 minutes!) and have a heat-safe mixing bowl ready to transfer it to as soon as it’s browned.
It’s also important to use a light-colored pan so you can easily see the color change.
Place the butter on your pan over medium heat, stirring frequently. First it will melt, then bubble, then brown. It typically stops bubbling right before it browns.
You’ll see little brown specks appear in the melted butter. Stir it, then immediately pour it into your bowl.
How I Make Dough for Sugar Cookies with Brown Butter
Like almost all of my cookie recipes, the dough for these cookies requires just one bowl. This just means you have to pay attention to the order in which you add things to your bowl.
Once your browned butter is in the mixing bowl, add the sugar and use a hand mixer on high to cream it together. You want it well-combined and almost fluffy. This may take up to 3 minutes.
The creaming process will also simultaneously cool down the butter so you can add the egg without scrambling it. Mix in the egg and vanilla extract before adding the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Use a rubber spatula to integrate any dry ingredients stuck to the sides of the bowl. You should be left with a sticky dough.
How I Bake My Cookies
Line your baking sheet with parchment paper or a reusable baking mat. Since the dough is sticky, it’s best to use a large cookie scoop.
If you don’t have a large cookie scoop, wet your hands and grab 4 tablespoons of dough, rolling each cookie between your hands. Wetting them will make it so the dough doesn’t stick to them.
Make sure to leave some room between each cookie for some minor spreading. I usually just bake up 6 at a time on a large baking sheet.
Bake the cookies on the top rack of the oven at 350°F for 12 minutes. Note: if your cookies are of a different size, the baking time may vary.
How I Store My Homemade Cookies
I like to bake a few cookies at a time and freeze the rest of the dough so I can bake a fresh cookie whenever I want! I just simply shape the cookie dough so that it’s ready to bake and store it in a freezer-safe bag for up to 3 months.
I bake them straight out of the freezer, adding a few extra minutes to the baking time.
As for leftover baked cookies, I store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator where they’ll stay fresh for about a week.
Pro tip: To keep homemade cookies nice and chewy, you can store a piece of bread with them (perfect use for the end piece!). The bread creates a humid environment and keeps your cookies moist.
You can also freeze baked cookies for up to a year!
Soft & Chewy Brown Butter Sugar Cookies
SAVE RECIPE TO COLLECTION PIN PRINT RATEEquipment
- Hand Mixer or Stand Mixer
- Reusable Baking Mat optional
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a reusable baking mat.
- Grab a large mixing bowl and set it next to the stove. To a light-colored pan (you need to be able to see when the butter changes color!), add the butter over medium heat. Heat for about 5-8 minutes, stirring frequently while the butter melts, then bubbles, then starts to turn brown. Once browned, immediately transfer to the mixing bowl so it doesn't burn.½ cup unsalted butter
- Add the sugar to the browned butter. Use a hand mixer on high to cream together until well-combined.¾ cup granulated sugar
- Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix again on high until combined.1 large egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Add the flour, baking powder, and salt and mix. Use a rubber spatula to scrape any dry ingredients stuck to the inside of the bowl and integrate them into the dough.1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt
- Use a large cookie scoop or 4 tablespoons of dough to form your cookies. The dough is sticky, so if you're using your hands to shape them, wet them a little bit. Line the dough up on your prepared baking sheet, leaving plenty of space between each cookie to allow for spreading in the oven (I usually do 6 to a sheet max).
- Bake at 350°F for 12 minutes and allow to cool at least 10 minutes before diving in. Enjoy!
Pro Tips
- Butter goes from browned to burnt very quickly, so monitor your butter the whole time it is heating. Make sure to transfer the butter from the pan to the bowl immediately upon browning.
Video
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