brown butter snickerdoodles

these brown butter snickerdoodles are soft, chewy and rolled in spiced sugar, and take the classic cinnamon-sugar cookie to new heights with the deep, nutty richness of browned butter.

why you will love this brown butter snickerdoodles recipe

• perfectly soft and chewy – the best brown butter snickerdoodle recipe creates that perfect chewy texture that works so well with snickerdoodles. these snickerdoodle cookies are soft in the centre with slightly crispy edges and stay fresh and pillowy for days.

• incredible nutty depth of flavor – making snickerdoodles with brown butter transforms ordinary snickerdoodles into something a little bit more complex in flavor. the nutty, caramel notes from the browned butter complement the cinnamon-sugar coating and the chewy brown sugar cookie base perfectly.

• versatile and customisable – this brown butter snickerdoodle recipe works as a base for so many variations. you can use this as a base for a brown butter pumpkin snickerdoodles recipe, or make brown butter biscoff snickerdoodles, or even turn it into brown butter snickerdoodle bars or brown butter snickerdoodle blondies – the possibilities are endless!

learn how to make browned butter snickerdoodles

start off this recipe for brown butter snickerdoodles by browning the butter to add an extra toffee-like depth of flavour to our snickerdoodle cookies. let the butter slightly after browning, then add granulated sugar and light brown sugar and mix these together until combined. then, add an egg, some heavy cream and a splash of vanilla, and mix that in until you get a relatively smooth batter.

in another bowl, add flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, some baking soda and salt and mix all of that together. add the dry ingredients to the wet batter and gently fold them in until you get a smooth snickerdoodle cookie dough. place the cookie dough in the fridge for about an hour.

once the dough is ready, split the snickerdoodle cookie dough into equal sections. roll the cookie dough balls in a cinnamon and sugar mixture, bake the cookies, and we’re done!

brown butter snickerdoodles ingredients

• butter – we’re going to use unsalted butter here. if you would prefer to use salted butter, just remove the extra salt from the dry ingredients. for this snickerdoodles recipe, i decided to brown the butter until it’s golden and fragrant, which adds an incredible nutty depth to these cookies.

• brown sugar – adding brown sugar to these browned butter snickerdoodles enhances the caramel notes from the brown butter and keeps the cookies extra soft and chewy.

• granulated sugar – essential for the cookie dough and the cinnamon-sugar coating. the sugar in the dough helps create that characteristic snickerdoodle texture.

• egg – i’m using one large egg at room temperature for the best mixing. this will help bind the dough and contribute to the soft chewy texture.

• vanilla extract – optional, but a splash of it will add a nice, subtle vanilla flavour to your brown butter snickerdoodle cookies.

• double cream or heavy cream – this is optional but i like to add a small amount of heavy cream to my brown butter snickerdoodle cookies as it adds a lovely richness and makes the cookies extra soft and chewy. you can skip this, or use milk if you’d rather not use the heavy cream.

• flour – we’ll be using plain flour or all purpose flour in this recipe.

• baking soda and baking powder – i use just a small amount of baking soda and baking powder in these brown butter snickerdoodles to get a good balance of spread and thickness.

• ground cinnamon – i like to add a bit of ground cinnamon to the snickerdoodle cookie dough and to the sugar coating. use fresh ground cinnamon for the best flavour in your brown butter snickerdoodles recipe.

• salt – a small amount of salt added to the dry ingredients helps balance out the sweetness in this snickerdoodles recipe.

• cream of tartar (optional) – i did decide to make these brown butter snickerdoodles without cream of tartar but you can a small amount of this if you want that classic snickerdoodle tang.

tools:

• pot or pan – for browning the butter on the stove

• large bowl – for the snickerdoodle cookie dough

• medium bowl – for the dry ingredients

• small bowl – for the cinnamon sugar coating

• baking sheets – you’ll need a big baking sheet lined with parchment paper or baking paper

step by step instructions

for full measurements, keep scrolling down to the recipe below.

step one: brown the butter. add unsalted butter to a pan or pot and heat up over medium heat. keep stirring until golden brown and toasted. you’ll know you’re done when the butter starts to smell almost caramel-like. (detailed instructions on browning butter in faqs section).

step two: add the browned butter to a large mixing bowl, making sure to scrape out all of the milk solids from the bottom of the pan and into the bowl. let this cool slightly.

step three: once the butter has cooled, add the granulated sugar and brown sugar to the bowl, and mix these together until combined.

step four: add the egg, vanilla extract and heavy cream and whisk this in until combined.

step five: in another bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, ground cinnamon and salt. add this to the wet batter.

step six: gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet batter until you get a soft and sticky snickerdoodle dough.

step seven: place the bowl in the fridge and let the cookie dough chill for around 30 minutes, then split the dough into equal-sized cookie dough balls, and then chill in the fridge again for another 30 minutes.

step eight: preheat oven 10-15 minutes before baking, and line a baking sheet or baking tray with parchment paper or baking paper.

step nine: mix ground cinnamon and sugar together in a bowl, and once your snickerdoodles are ready to bake, roll each cookie dough ball in the cinnamon sugar mixture until coated.

step ten: place the cookie dough balls on the lined tray, making sure to put space between them so that they have enough room to spread.

step eleven: bake the brown butter snickerdoodles for 13-16 minutes, or until they look soft and golden.

step twelve: remove the brown butter snickerdoodles from the oven, and let them cool on the baking sheet for about fifteen minutes before picking them up as they’ll still be soft.

step thirteen: pour yourself a glass of milk, and let’s eat!

tips and notes

• keep an eye on the butter when browning it – butter can quickly go from nutty and toasted to burnt. once the butter starts to smell caramel-like and toasty, and you can see it start to turn a dark golden brown colour, remove the pan from the heat. using a light-coloured pan or pot to brown the butter will help you see the change in colour better so i’d recommend doing that.

• make sure you give the browned butter time to cool slightly before adding the rest of your ingredients.

• if using salted butter instead of unsalted, leave out the extra salt stated in the recipe.

• once you add the flour and dry ingredients to the brown butter snickerdoodle cookie mix, gently mix until just combined to avoid over mixing the dough. over mixing can make your cookies tough and less soft and chewy.

• feel free to adjust the amount of ground cinnamon in this brown butter snickerdoodles recipe depending on whether you like a stronger cinnamon flavour or not. for me, 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon in the dough was just perfect, and not too overpowering.

• if you’d like to make the brown butter snickerdoodles with cream of tartar for that classic snickerdoodle tang, then you can add a small amount of that as well (around 1/2 tsp should be good!).

• to keep these brown butter snickerdoodles easy to make, i would really recommend chilling the dough in the fridge for at least 1 hour in total as the dough will be quite sticky before chilling it. placing the dough in the fridge will help the snickerdoodle cookie dough firm up, reduce spreading in the oven and also enhance the flavours of the browned butter. the longer you chill the snickerdoodle cookie dough, the better the flavour!

• use a cookie scoop or weigh out the cookie dough balls so that all of the cookies are equal and consistent in size. this snickerdoodle cookie recipe makes about 5 cookies, each weighing about 105g (about 3.7oz) each.

• if the dough becomes too soft to handle while you’re working with it, just place it in the fridge again for a few minutes to firm it up a little.

• adjust baking time as needed. every oven is different, so i recommend keeping an eye on your brown butter snickerdoodles as they bake. i like to take them out of the oven when they’re slightly soft and underdone as they will continue to cook as they cool once they’re out of the oven. over baking might make your banana chocolate chip cookies dry and cakey and we definitely don’t want that! i baked these for about 13-16 minutes, but keep in mind that baking times will depend on how big your cookies are, so be sure to adjust times according to that. bigger cookies will take more time to bake. smaller cookies will take less time to bake.

• feel free to increase the amount of salt in the cookie dough if you find that it’s too sweet. don’t reduce the sugar as this will impact the texture of the cookie.

• once your brown butter snickerdoodles are out of the oven, they will likely be too soft to pick up. let them cool on the baking sheets for a good 15 minutes before trying to pick them up. they should still be soft and chewy but you’ll be able to actually hold them without them falling apart.

• use a kitchen scale to measure your ingredients. while i add both metric and cup measurements for this recipe, i always recommend using a kitchen scale to weigh out your ingredients for most accurate results.

• if you do decide to use cups, bear in mind that this recipe uses higher than typical flour measurements, as it takes into account the fact that most people tend to scoop their flour.

• i really recommend adding heavy cream to these cookies as it makes these brown butter snickerdoodles soft and chewy! however, it is absolutely not necessary and the other ingredients, such as the browned butter and the brown sugar help make these cookies quite chewy anyway. you can skip the heavy cream if you don’t have it, or use milk instead.

• store any leftover brown butter snickerdoodle cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.

• these snickerdoodle cookies freeze beautifully – freeze dough balls (already rolled in cinnamon sugar) and bake directly from frozen, adding 1-2 minutes to baking time.

frequently asked questions

1. how do i brown the butter in this brown butter snickerdoodles recipe ?

   – to brown the butter for these brown butter snickerdoodles, start by adding butter to a pan. melt this over medium heat and stir constantly as the butter melts. the butter will melt and then begin to foam and sizzle. you’ll know the butter has browned when the foam starts to tone down a little and the butter looks golden brown underneath the foam. the butter will start to smell slightly nutty and toasty. once this happens, remove the pot from the heat and transfer the browned butter to your mixing bowl to cool.

2. should i brown butter for snickerdoodles or can i make these without browning the butter ?

   – technically, you can make these brown butter snickerdoodles without browning the butter and just using melted butter instead. however, i would highly recommend browning the butter as it adds an incredible depth of flavour with those nutty, caramel notes that complement the cinnamon perfectly. while traditional snickerdoodles are delicious, browned butter snickerdoodles take them to the next level. the brown butter also helps create an even more soft chewy texture.

3. can i use salted butter in this brown butter snickerdoodles recipe ?

   – yes, you can use salted butter instead of unsalted butter. if you do use salted butter for your brown butter snickerdoodles instead of unsalted, just leave out the extra salt in the dry ingredients.

4. do i have to use vanilla extract in this brown butter snickerdoodles recipe ?

   – the vanilla extract in this snickerdoodle cookie recipe is optional. i like the subtle vanilla flavour it gives to the cookie dough but if you would prefer not to use it or don’t have it, that’s also completely fine.

5. why did my brown butter snickerdoodles turn into a cake instead of soft and chewy ?

   – the reason why your cookies turned cakey or crispy could be because of baking times. you should take your brown butter snickerdoodles out of the oven when they’re slightly underdone as they will continue to cook and firm up on the tray as they cool. even if you follow the exact timings in the recipe, every oven will bake things differently so timings will vary depending on your oven. i highly recommend checking on your cookies every once in a while, especially towards the end of the recommended times to make sure they don’t over bake.

   – another reason could be that there was too much flour in your brown butter snickerdoodle cookie dough. to make these brown butter snickerdoodles as accurately as possible, i would recommend weighing out the flour using a kitchen scale.

6. can i make these brown butter snickerdoodles without brown sugar ?

   – the brown sugar in the brown butter snickerdoodle cookie dough gives the cookies some extra flavour that works really well with the rest of the flavours in these cookies and also helps keep them extra soft and chewy. however, if you don’t have brown sugar, you can substitute it with the same amount of granulated sugar. keep in mind that using all granulated sugar to make this cookie might result in a cookie that is less chewy and maybe even a little crispier. it will also probably spread more, but other than that, it should work just fine. for best results, use a combination of brown sugar and granulated sugar as stated. if you have molasses on hand, you could also add a small amount of that to granulated sugar to mimic the effect of brown sugar.

7. can i make these brown butter snickerdoodles without heavy cream ?

   – the use of heavy cream in this brown butter snickerdoodle cookie recipe helps add a lovely chewiness and richness to the cookies. however, it is also completely fine to omit the heavy cream for the cookies if you don’t have it on hand or would rather not use it. it will result in a less chewy cookie but these cookies are still pretty chewy even without the heavy cream, and the recipe only uses a small amount! if you’re looking for a substitute for the heavy cream, you could also just use milk instead for a somewhat similar effect.

8. why did my brown butter snickerdoodles spread so much ?

   – this is likely due to the dough being too warm. chilling the dough for the stated amount of time is really important, so make sure you don’t skip this step.

9. can i make use this recipe to make brown butter snickerdoodle bars ?

   – yes, you can! just follow the recipe as stated, and press the dough into a lined 8×8 inch pan and bake! you can skip the chill time, just bear in mind that making brown butter snickerdoodle bars will take longer than when making individual cookies, so you’ll have to keep an eye on baking times.

10. can i make these into a brown butter snickerdoodle skillet cookie ?

    – yes, you can. again, just follow the recipe as stated, then press the dough into a cast iron skillet and bake until soft and golden. you can skip the chill time, but you will need to adjust the baking times if you’re making this as a skillet cookie.

11. why did you make this brown butter snickerdoodles recipe without cream of tartar ?

    – i decided to skip the cream of tartar for this recipe as it’s not something most people usually have on hand. however, if you’d like to add cream of tartar to your brown butter snickerdoodles, i’d recommend about 1/2 tsp.

12. can you use brown butter for snickerdoodles without having to chill the dough ?

    – regardless of whether you brown the butter or not, i wouldn’t recommend skipping the chilling step. chilling the dough ensures that the cookies don’t spread too much in the oven, and also helps enhance the flavour of these snickerdoodle cookies.

13. can i make these banana chocolate chip cookies with oil ?

    – using oil instead of butter in these cookies is possible, but it just won’t provide the same rich flavour that browned butter gives to these cookies. it will also affect the texture and appearance of the cookies.

14. can i make these brown butter snickerdoodles ahead of time ?

    – the longer you chill the brown butter snickerdoodle cookie dough, the better, so you can definitely make these ahead of time. you can make the dough up to 24 hours in advance and keep it in the fridge before you’re ready to bake these snickerdoodle cookies.

15. can i make these brown butter snickerdoodle cookies without baking soda ?

    – i would highly recommend using a mix of baking soda and baking powder as stated, as both of these have an impact on the texture and appearance of these cookies.

16. how long do these brown butter snickerdoodles stay fresh ?

    – when stored in an airtight container at room temperature, these cookies should stay fresh for 3-4 days.

17. can i make brown butter pumpkin spice snickerdoodles ?

    – you can absolutely add some pumpkin pie spice to the dough AND TO THE CINNAMON SUGAR COATING IF YOU’D LIKE MORE OF A PUMPKIN SPICE FLAVOUR TO THESE SNICKERDOODLES.

18. CAN I make brown butter stuffed snickerdoodles ?

    – YES, YOU CAN STUFF THESE BROWN BUTTER SNICKERDOODLES WITH WHATEVER YOU LIKE! I’D RECOMMEND SOMETHING LIKE A CREAM CHEESE MIXTURE FOR CHEESECAKE SNICKERDOODLES. JUST BE SURE TO PORTION OUT THE CREAM CHEESE MIXTURE AND FREEZE IT BEFORE STUFFING THE BROWN BUTTER SNICKERDOODLES WITH IT AND BAKING.

19. CAN I MAKE BROWN BUTTER SALTED SNICKERDOODLES ?

    – YES! brown butter salted snickerdoodles WOULD BE GREAT! I’D add an extra 1/4 teaspoon of salt to the dough and finish the baked cookies with a light sprinkle of flaky sea salt AT THE END. the salt enhances both the brown butter flavour and the sweetness of the cinnamon coating.

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