Browned Butter Snickerdoodles are an incredible twist on an old classic. A nutty, buttery, flavor combined with cinnamon and sugar sends this dessert over the edge!
While you may have enjoyed a traditional snickerdoodle cookie at some point in your lifetime, I can bet that you haven’t tried it with a unique twist like this.
While these browned butter snickerdoodles might take an extra minute or two to prepare, the flavor difference is well worth it.
These browned butter cookies are simple enough to make for anyone. So if all you know how to do is burn boiling water, you still have a chance to successfully make a batch of the best-browned butter snickerdoodle cookies you’ve ever eaten.
How to brown butter
If you’ve ever cooked a box of Rice-A-Roni, where it asks you to mix the butter and rice in a pan and stir until the rice is a golden brown, this is essentially the same idea.
You simply take the butter and place it in a medium-sized pan over medium heat. A lighter colored pan works best so that you can track the color of the butter as it melts, but if you only have darker ones, just pay extra close attention.
Stir the butter almost constantly to make sure that the butter is cooking evenly and that no spots are becoming overcooked. As the butter melts it will begin to foam. If you’re using margarine or vegan butter, be prepared for it to take longer or the results to look a little different as the melting consistency and temperatures needed are much different.
When the butter is a light brown and has a deliciously nutty aroma, immediately remove it from the heat by pouring it into a heat-proof bowl. Do not leave it in the pan as it will continue to cook and possibly burn. Place the bowl in the fridge to cool as you prepare the other ingredients.
How to make browned butter snickerdoodles
Whisk together flour, salt, baking soda and cream of tartar until it is well mixed. Then combine the cooled browned butter and the sugar until it is well blended, you can mix them together in the same bowl that you cooled the butter in to cut down on dirty dishes.
After the sugar and butter are well mixed, add in the eggs, beating well after each addition. It’s important that your butter is cooled by this point because if it is still too hot, it will cook your eggs as you’re doing this and that will result in scrambled eggs inside your cookies. -YUCK!
After adding in the eggs, pour in the milk and the vanilla extract, beat until combined and then pour in the dry ingredients and mix well, scraping the ingredients off of the side of the bowl as needed.
Form the dough into small 1 inch balls and roll through some cinnamon sugar until well coated. Place on a greased pan and using a fork, press down on the tops of the cookies to create a hash mark. Bake at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes.
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Browned Butter Snickerdoodles
Ingredients
For the Snickerdoodles
- 3 3/4 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 cup butter browned, see note
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup milk
For the Cinnamon Sugar Mixture
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
Instructions
For the Cinnamon and Sugar Mixture
- Whisk sugar and cinnamon together in a pie plate or shallow dish.
For the Snickerdoodle Cookies
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees (F).
- In a medium skillet (see note), melt cubed butter on medium heat, stirring occasionally. Butter will melt, simmer and then start to foam. Once the butter starts to become foamy, it is beginning to brown. DO NOT LEAVE IT!
- Check how brown it is by running a wide rubber spatula through the mixture. Once it is medium golden and has a nutty aroma, immediately transfer it into a heat-proof bowl.
- Place the browned butter in the refrigerator to cool while you prep the other ingredients.
- Whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar.
- Combine browned butter and sugar, mix until combined.
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition.
- Add milk and vanilla extract, beat until combined.
- Slowly add dry ingredients into the creamed mixture.
- Mix until everything just comes together, scraping down the bowl as needed.
- Check the consistency of the dough, you may have to add few tablespoons more flour. You should be able to touch it without it sticking too much to your fingers.
- Form dough into 1-inch balls and roll in cinnamon sugar mixture.
- Place 12 balls per cookie sheet and gently press a cross-hatch into the top with a fork until the cookies are flattened to about 1/2 an inch thick.
- Bake for 8-12 minutes until the edges are set and the very middle still looks slightly under baked.
Alli says
Browned butter makes everything better!