These Browned Butter Snickerdoodles are coated in cinnamon sugar, with a rich, nutty, browned butter flavor. Perfect for the holidays!
I'm back again with yet another cookie recipe to add to your collection.
With their mild browned butter flavor and cinnamon sugar coating, these Browned Butter Snickerdoodles are great for any occasion. They also work particularly well on a Holiday cookie platter.
What are snickerdoodles?
Snickerdoodles are similar to sugar cookies. They're both made from a similar dough that contains butter, sugar, flour, eggs, and leaveners.
However, there are two distinguishing factors that make snickerdoodles different.
- Snickerdoodles almost always have a little bit of cream of tartar in the dough. This is used partially for leavening and stabilizing the egg in the dough, but more importantly, it adds a distinct and noticeable tanginess to the cookies.
- Snickerdoodles are rolled in a cinnamon sugar mixture before baking to give them a warm, cinnamony flavor.
Also, this recipe in particular is made with browned butter to give them a richer flavor. It also changes the color of the dough to a slightly more yellow color, which isn't typical of all snickerdoodles.
How to make Browned Butter Snickerdoodles
Making snickerdoodles is just like making most other cookies. But this particular recipe is a little bit different because part of the butter in the recipe is browned and cooled before mixing it into the dough.
- Brown half of the butter in a skillet and let it cool.
- Cream the butter (both the browned butter and the softened butter) and sugar together.
- Add the eggs and beat until light and fluffy.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix until incorporated.
- Chill the cookie dough until it's firm.
- Portion the dough into balls and roll in cinnamon sugar. Bake on a parchment-lined baking sheet until the edges are set. Make sure you don't overbake them!
Browned Butter Snickerdoodles Ingredients:
- Unsalted butter - or if you only have salted butter, use it and reduce the amount of salt in the recipe by half.
- All-purpose flour
- Cream of tartar - this helps to stabilize the eggs in the cookie dough, but more importantly it gives snickerdoodles their distinct tangy flavor. Find cream of tartar in the baking aisle, often with the spices.
- Salt
- Baking soda
- Granulated sugar
- Light brown sugar - adding a little bit of light brown sugar to the granulated sugar gives the cookies a faint molasses flavor and extra chewiness.
- Large eggs
- Vanilla
- Ground cinnamon
Want more Christmas cookie recipes?
Browned Butter Snickerdoodles Nutrition Notes:
The nutrition information in the recipe below is for one cookie if you make 24 cookies from the recipe. If you make more or fewer cookies, and your cookies are smaller or larger than mine, adjust the nutrition information accordingly.
Browned Butter Snickerdoodles
Equipment
- Stand mixer or hand mixer
Ingredients
Snickerdoodle Cookie Dough
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter softened and divided
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla
Cinnamon Sugar Coating
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Heat 1 stick (8 Tablespoons or ½ cup) of the butter in a small skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally. The butter will melt and bubble. When the butter turns golden brown and becomes fragrant, remove from heat and pour into a heat-proof bowl or measuring cup to cool. Place in the fridge or freezer to cool more quickly.
- Mix together 3 cups all purpose flour, 1 ½ teaspoons cream of tartar, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon baking soda in a medium bowl with a whisk. Set aside.
- Place the remaining stick of butter into the bowl of a stand mixer or large bowl. Add the cooled browned butter, 1 cup granulated sugar and ½ cup light brown sugar. Mix on medium-high speed until the mixture is uniform and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes. Add 2 large eggs and 1 Tablespoon vanilla and mix on medium-high speed again until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Add the flour mixture to the stand mixer bowl. Mix on low speed until the flour mixture is completely incorporated into the butter mixture and forms a dough, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed.
- Stir together ¼ cup granulated sugar and 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon for the cinnamon sugar coating. Set aside.
- Portion the dough into 1 ½ to 2 Tablespoon portions and roll into smooth balls in the palms of your hands. Roll the balls in the cinnamon sugar mixture until coated completely. Place the dough balls in an airtight container or cover them with plastic wrap in the fridge and chill for 1 hour. Alternatively, place in the freezer for 15-20 minutes if you're in a rush.
- Move oven racks to top middle and bottom middle positions and heat oven to 350°F. Prepare 2 baking sheets by lining with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Stir together the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl for the cinnamon sugar coating.
- Place the balls about 2 inches apart on the baking sheets and flatten slightly with the palm of your hand.
- Bake until the edges of the cookies have set, about 12-15 minutes, switching and rotating the baking sheets in the oven halfway through the baking time. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. Store extras in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days, or freeze.
Nutrition
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