Brown Butter Sugar Cookies are soft, chewy, and a major upgrade from regular sugar cookies. They're drop-style so easy to make. Roll in sugar or sprinkles to make them festive for the holidays.
I love including these cookies on my holiday tray! Try pairing them with Christmas Pretzels or Puff Pastry Palmier Cookies and all alongside a pot of homemade Christmas Hot Chocolate. I also love to include them on a Cookie Charcuterie Board for a fun presentation.
Browned butter adds a rich, slightly nutty, and warm flavor. Never browned butter before? Check out the tips and tricks below!
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⭐Why I Love Them:
- Soft and Chewy - These sugar cookies have a super soft and tender texture.
- Brown Butter Flavor - Browned butter adds a rich, slightly nutty flavor!
- Make Ahead and Freezer Friendly - You can keep the brown butter cookie dough balls in the fridge or freezer until ready to bake!
🥘Ingredients Needed:
You need the classic baking staples to make these easy brown butter sugar cookies!
- Butter - I prefer to bake with unsalted so I can control the salt, but you can use salted as well. You'll brown this in a pan first. Also try Brown Butter Pecan Blondies, Brown Butter Rice Krispie Treats, or Brown Butter Almond Shortbread Cookies.
- All-Purpose Flour
- Baking Soda
- Kosher Salt
- White Granulated Sugar
- Light Brown Sugar - Make sure to pack it into the cup when measuring
- Egg - at room temperature so it combines into the cookie dough easier.
- Vanilla Extract
- Sprinkle or Granulated Sugar - To roll the cookie dough balls in. This is optional, but I love the effect it gives!
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
🧈How To Brown Butter:
- Light Colored Pan - Add the butter chunks to a medium-large light colored skillet. Using a light colored pan helps you better see when the butter is browned - this is harder to do in a dark skillet.
- Melt Butter - Melt the butter over medium heat, whisking occasionally.
- Brown Butter - Continue to cook the butter, whisking occasionally. After about 5-8 minutes (depending on pan size), the butter will start to foam and then brown.
- Remove From Heat - The butter is browned when it has a nutty aroma, is amber in color, and has brown specks. The specks go from brown to black (burnt) fast! Remove from heat and immediately pour the browned butter into a separate bowl to stop the cooking process.
🔪Step by Step Instructions
Making Brown Butter Sugar Cookies starts by browning the butter then mixing up the simple sugar cookie dough. Roll into balls and bake!
Photo 1 - Brown the butter then set aside. See lots of tips below in the post.
Photo 2 - Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl. Add the sugars to the brown butter and mix to combine. Then beat in the egg and vanilla before slowly mixing in the dry ingredients. Roll the dough into balls then roll each ball in sugar or sprinkles.
Photo 3 - Place the balls on a lined baking sheet or a few plates, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about 30-45 minutes to chill. Bake the chilled dough balls in a preheated oven until they are lightly browned and the edges are just set.
Photo 4 - Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!
🍽Recipe FAQs
Brown butter is a staple in French cooking and for good reason. It’s made by melting butter and cooking until it is browned and the milk solids are toasted. It has a rich, nutty flavor that is an amazing addition to both sweet and savory recipes.
The brown specks are the toasted milk solids. They are very important and loaded with flavor, so make sure to scrape them from the pan.If your specks become black, they are burnt and will make it taste bitter - I recommend starting a new batch.
It adds an extra depth and rich, nutty flavor to the brown butter sugar cookies that you just don’t get from using regular butter. It also results in a slightly chewier cookie.
Nope! While I love the extra sweetness (and prettiness) that rolling in granulated sugar adds. And I also love making them festive using sprinkles. But, you can absolutely skip the step and just bake the dough balls as is.
You can substitute brown butter for melted butter in most recipes. But be aware that there is a loss of moisture in the browning process, so you’ll want to measure the brown butter after making it. For example - you will likely need to brown 9 tablespoons of butter to get 8 tablespoons of browned butter. If the recipe calls for cold butter or even room temperature, softened butter then substituting brown butter will not be an even 1:1 swap and recipe testing will be needed.
💭Recipe Tips
Making brown butter for the first time can be intimidating, but it doesn't have to be! Here are some of my best tips:
- Watch it Closely: The #1 tip is to watch the butter closely! It can go from perfectly browned to burnt quickly.
- Light Colored Pan: Use a light colored pan! This makes it easier to see the color.
- Chop Butter: Chop your butter into chunks. This aids in even melting.
- If it's burnt, toss it: If you think your butter is burnt (some of the specks will be black and it will have a slightly burnt smell), then start over. Seriously. It will give your cookies an off flavor.
- Have a Bowl Ready: Have a bowl ready to transfer the browned butter from the skillet. This will stop the butter from continuing to cook in the hot skillet.
- Don't Over Brown: When in doubt, stop browning a few seconds early than late. It's better to have butter that is amber and shy of peak browning than to have it burn.
🍽Storage, Make Ahead, and Freezing
Storage: They will stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature for 5 days.
Make Ahead: I recommend making the dough, rolling into balls, and chilling the dough balls in the fridge for up to 3 days before baking. I don’t recommend chilling the dough before rolling - it may become crumbly and difficult to work with.
Freezing: Baked cookies can be frozen for up to 3 months. Unbaked cookie dough balls can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Bake the frozen dough balls, without thawing, for an extra minute or two. I also love freezing the cookie dough balls for these Christmas Sugar Cookies with sprinkles.
🍪Related Dessert Recipes
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PrintRecipe
Brown Butter Sugar Cookies
Brown Butter Sugar Cookies are soft, chewy, and a major upgrade from regular sugar cookies. They're drop-style so easy to make. Roll in sugar or sprinkles to make them festive for the holidays. Brown butter adds a rich, slightly nutty, and warm flavor.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 57 minutes
- Yield: 36 cookies
- Category: Dessert, Cookies
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, cut into chunks
- 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt, omit if using salted butter
- ¾ cup white granulated sugar
- ¾ cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- sprinkles or granulated sugar, optional for rolling
Instructions
- Brown the Butter. First, set out a large heat proof bowl to have at the ready. Place butter chunks in a medium-large light colored skillet. Melt the butter over medium heat, whisking occasionally. After 5-8 minutes, the butter will start foam and then brown. You'll start to see brown specks on the bottom and it will have a nutty aroma. When finished the butter will be an amber, golden brown and the specks will be brown. Be careful not to burn! The specks can go from brown to black very quickly which means the butter is burnt. Better to stop a few seconds too early than too late. If you accidentally burn it, throw away and start over. Otherwise it will taste bitter. Once browned, pour into the bowl immediately and let cool for 5-10 minutes.
- Prepare Dry Ingredients. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl.
- Mix Wet Ingredients. Add the granulated sugar and brown sugar to the slightly cooled brown butter. Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until mostly combined - about 1 minute. Then beat in the egg and vanilla extract until combined.
- Add the Dry Ingredients. Add the dry ingredients and mix together on low speed, slowly working up to medium speed until combined. The dough will be thick and slightly greasy.
- Roll into Balls. Roll the dough into balls - about 1 tablespoon of dough each. Due to the dough's texture, you may need to kind of press them into balls versus rolling. Do the best you can. Press the tops of the balls with sprinkles or sugar or roll and cover completely.
- Chill Dough Balls. Place the balls on a lined baking sheet or a few plates, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about 30-45 minutes to chill
- Preheat Oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners.
- Bake. Line the baking sheets with the chilled balls - a few inches apart (sprinkles/sugar up). Bake for 12-13 minutes until lightly browned around the edges and just set. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Storage: Cookies stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature for 5 days.
Make Ahead: You can make the cookie dough, roll into balls as directed and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Freezer: Baked cookies can be frozen for up to 3 months. Unbaked cookie dough balls can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 small cookie
- Calories: 106
- Sugar: 8.4 g
- Sodium: 71.3 mg
- Fat: 5.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 13.7 g
- Fiber: 0.2 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Cholesterol: 18.7 mg
rosalia pérez murillo says
Hello, Yesterday, I prepared the recipe for brown butter cookies. It turned out that there was too much butter. I think my sister weighed the butter before melting it. Can you tell me how many ounces or grams of butter we have to put? Thank you, can't wait to try them!
Katie says
I make these every year and they are always a favorite!
Lucy D says
Delicious cookies, and easy to make! I used a combination of light and dark brown sugar, rolled a tablespoon of dough per cookie in granulated sugar then topped each baked cookie with a pinch of flaky sea salt to enhance the sweet and salty balance, total winner of a recipe! Thanks for the clear instructions for browning the butter, came out perfect! Such depth of flavor, and pretty, too! Will definitely be making these again!
Kathleen says
Yay! Thank you so much! I LOVE the flaky sea salt addition on top - you and I would get along well 🙂
Lucy D says
Hi Kathleen, I’m just circling back to tell you that this recipe has become a fave among family and friends. Even friends who didn’t think a sugar cookie was their thing have remarked at the depth of flavor and delightful eating experience with these little gems! I make them several times a year and also freeze the unbaked cookies to have on hand. I can bake off a few when I have a craving or more when friends stop by. It’s very convenient and easy. Thanks again for such a great recipe!
Kathleen Hansen says
You just made my day. Thank you, Lucy! 🙂
Shelby says
These cookies are absolutely amazing! This was my first time browning butter, and the tips really helped me reach peak brown without burning. Aside from the bit of time it takes to brown the butter, these are super quick to throw together, and they're a total crowd pleaser! They were gone in no time, and I've already got requests to make them again. HIGHLY recommended!!
Kathleen says
Thank you for your comment! I’m so glad you liked them and YAY for successful butter browning. Watch out, it’s an addicting ingredient 🙂