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Brown butter snickerdoodle cookies stacked on a cooling rack with cinnamon sugar coating and golden edges.
Summer Dempsey

Brown butter snickerdoodle

Brown butter snickerdoodle cookies with soft chewy centers, lightly crisp edges, and a crackly cinnamon-sugar top. The brown butter adds a deep nutty richness that turns a classic snickerdoodle into something people stop and notice.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 11 minutes
Chilling time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 11 minutes
Servings: 18
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Calories: 190

Ingredients
  

Brown Butter Base
  • 1 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • ½ cup light brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Dry Ingredients
  • 2¾ cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Cinnamon Sugar Coating
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • 1½ teaspoons cinnamon

Equipment

  • Stand Mixer
  • Cookie Sheet

Method
 

  1. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat.
  2. Cook, stirring constantly, until: Foamy, golden brown, smells nutty, brown bits form at bottom
  3. Immediately remove from heat.
  4. Pour into a heat-safe bowl.
  5. Cool 15–20 minutes until no longer hot. (It should be warm, not hot)
  6. Add sugars to cooled brown butter.
  7. Whisk until smooth and glossy.
  8. Add eggs and vanilla. Whisk until slightly thickened.
  9. In separate bowl whisk: Flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon
  10. Add to wet mixture. Mix just until combined.
  11. Chill dough 30–45 minutes. (Brown butter is liquid — chilling prevents spreading)
  12. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  13. Mix cinnamon + sugar for coating.
  14. Scoop dough into 2 tablespoon balls.
  15. Roll in cinnamon sugar.
  16. Place on lined baking sheet.
  17. Bake 9–11 minutes.
  18. Edges should look set. Centers slightly soft.
  19. They will continue setting as they cool.
  20. Let rest in pan 5 minutes. Transfer to cooling rack.

Notes

  • Brown butter is done when it smells nutty and you see deep golden specks at the bottom of the pan. Pull it off the heat immediately — it goes from golden to burnt in under a minute. Pour it into a heat-safe bowl to stop the cooking.
  • Cool the brown butter until warm to the touch, not hot. If it's still hot when you add the eggs, you'll scramble them. About 15–20 minutes off the stove is usually right.
  • Spoon flour into your measuring cup, then level it off. Scooping packs the flour and you'll end up with cakey cookies. This single step is the most common reason snickerdoodles turn out wrong.
  • The 45-minute chill isn't optional. Brown butter is liquid, which means the dough spreads faster than a traditional snickerdoodle dough. Skip the chill and you'll get flat, lacy cookies instead of soft chewy ones.
  • Roll the dough balls generously in cinnamon sugar. A thin coating disappears into the cookie as it bakes; a generous coating is what gives you the signature crackly top.
  • Pull them from the oven when the edges look set and the centers still look soft and slightly underdone. They keep baking on the hot pan for another 4–5 minutes. If they look fully done in the oven, they'll be overbaked by the time they cool.
  • For thicker, bakery-style cookies: Chill the dough for up to 24 hours instead of 45 minutes. The longer chill firms up the butter even more and gives you a taller cookie.
  • Storage: Airtight container at room temp for up to 4 days. Warm in the microwave for 8–10 seconds to refresh. Dough balls freeze for up to 2 months — bake from frozen, adding 1–2 minutes.