Sometimes I crave cookies so strongly that I just drop everything and make them. I rarely wake up and say, “Today I will make cookies.” They just sort of seem to happen often in my kitchen, without a real plan or purpose. Maybe this kind of impulsivity is common among all food bloggers? Today I wanted something thin, crackly, crisp on the edges, and chewy in the middle. The end result was these Brown Butter Snickerdoodles, and they did not disappoint. Had to share them here with you all, just in case my cookie craving is contagious.
The texture of these cookies is something wonderful in and of itself, but the flavor is what makes them so amazing. Browning the butter adds a wonderful, almost caramelized, nuttiness, which plays out so nicely with the tang from the cream of tartar and the spice of the cinnamon. I wouldn’t change a thing, really.
To brown butter, just melt one stick in a small saucepan over medium heat until it starts to bubble up and get a layer of foam on top. You can swirl it around as it bubbles, and when you start to see that the melted butter underneath the foam is turning golden brown (with flecks) and smell a nutty aroma, immediately take the butter off the heat. You don’t have to let it come all the way to room temperature before creaming with the sugars, but I do let it cool off a bit so it doesn’t scramble the egg.
Another technique I used to makes these Brown Butter Snickerdoodles is the pan banging method from Sarah Kiefer at The Vanilla Bean Blog. It doesn’t have quite the same edge crinkling effect on snickerdoodles as it does on chocolate chip cookies (try her recipe if you haven’t yet!), but I like the way it deflates the puffed up cookies and keeps them ultra-thin and chewy. For a thicker, softer snickerdoodle that I also love, try these Super Soft Snickerdoodles.
This recipe makes one dozen large, thin cookies. I’m not really sure how I feel about this. On one hand, that cookie craving is satisfied without a lot of time and effort of pulling trays and trays of cookies out of the oven. On the other hand, a dozen cookies go pretty fast in a family of five with three growing boys. I think I’ll double it next time so I don’t have to be so sad when everyone polishes them off so quickly.
Have I convinced you all yet? So how about we drop everything and make some Brown Butter Snickerdoodles? Make it a double. Happy baking, friends!
PrintBrown Butter Snickerdoodles
I LOVE the flavor and texture of these Brown Butter Snickerdoodles. They are ultra buttery and thin, with a crisp edge and chewy center.
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 11 minutes
- Total Time: 36 minutes
- Yield: 12 cookies 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup salted butter (1 stick)
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 1/3 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
For Rolling
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. It will start to bubble up and foam. Swirl the butter gently as it bubbles. When you can see brown bits in the melted butter, and smell a nutty aroma, remove from heat. Allow it to cool slightly.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, beat brown butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together on medium speed. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until smooth and light brown in color.
- In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt, and cinnamon. Add gradually to the mixing bowl at low speed until a dough forms. Do not over mix. The dough will be somewhat soft, but not sticky.
- Combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Scoop the dough into 1 1/2 tablespoon sized balls and roll them in the cinnamon and sugar mixture. Place six on a baking sheet at a time, and place into the oven.
- Bake them until they are puffed and crackled on top (usually around 8 minutes), then remove from the oven, and carefully drop them (from about 1 foot height) onto the countertop to deflate the cookies. Then place them back into the oven and bake for another 1-3 minutes. When they are just slightly browned around the edges, remove them from the oven and drop onto the countertop to deflate one more time.
- Allow to cool for 3-4 minutes on the baking sheet and then transfer to a cooling rack.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Cookie
- Calories: 185
- Sugar: 15g
- Sodium: 165mg
- Fat: 8.2g
- Saturated Fat: 5g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2.6g
- Trans Fat: 0.3g
- Carbohydrates: 26g
- Fiber: 0.6g
- Protein: 2.1g
- Cholesterol: 36mg
