Drop-style brown butter sugar cookies are festively sprinkled, boast tons of flavor, and are ready in under an hour. This simple cookie recipe is an easy upgrade from classic sugar cookies—and will have you reaching for seconds.
Meet brown butter sugar cookies, a cookie whose flavor runs deep and is an easy upgrade from traditional sugar cookies. You’ll be surprised at how quickly and easily these cookies come together!
An Upgrade From Traditional Sugar Cookies
Traditional sugar cookies, whether that’s roll-out or drop sugar cookies, have their own distinct flavor. You can’t quite put your finger on it, but it’s somewhere in between sweet, butter, vanilla, and rainbows. I wanted to create a different kind of sugar cookie—one that could stand up to its big flavor besties—you know, the cookies loaded with chunks, nuts, molasses, oats, caramel, etc. Mission accomplished! Brown butter is always the answer.
These brown butter sugar cookies are:
- Drop style—no rolling pins, cookie cutters, or royal icing needed (try my cream cheese sugar cookies, drop style Christmas sugar cookies, and soft cakey sugar cookies for more no-roll sugar cookie recipes)
- Flavored with brown butter for an extra nutty, buttery flavor
- Topped with festive sprinkles—use your favorite colors or mix them up for different holidays
- Easy to make and ready in under an hour (just like my quick and easy shortbread recipe)
- Adorable and perfect for any gathering
Ingredients in Brown Butter Sugar Cookies
These cookies come together with only 8 ingredients (9 if you count the sprinkles)! Let’s review what you’ll need:
- Butter: We’re using brown butter in these cookies. Here’s a full tutorial on how to brown butter. (Use this one ingredient wonder in everything!)
- Flour: All-purpose flour is the base of these cookies.
- Baking Soda: Baking soda helps the cookies rise.
- Salt: Salt adds flavor.
- Sugar: To complement the brown butter flavor, you’ll use brown sugar in this recipe. However, to keep some of the traditional sugar cookie taste—we use some granulated sugar as well. An equal mix of both is just the flavor you’ll crave.
- Egg: One egg binds everything together.
- Vanilla Extract: Vanilla adds flavor. Try using homemade vanilla extract.
- Sprinkles: Sprinkles add a fun and festive touch!
Baker’s Tip: Even though we aren’t creaming butter and sugar together, I still recommend using a mixer to really get the sugar incorporated into the brown butter.
How to Chill Brown Butter Sugar Cookie Dough
This is a thick cookie dough. You *could* chill the dough and then roll into balls, but I found the dough a little too crumbly to roll after chilling. So I suggest rolling before chilling. This cookie dough isn’t all that wonderful for cookie cutter cookies—I had some crumbly issues. So I suggest sticking to drop cookie style. Easier that way, too!
Here’s what I do: After the dough is made, immediately begin rolling into 1 Tablespoon size balls and dunking into sprinkles—I like red and green nonpareils and/or gold sprinkles for these. After you dunk each one, place the cookie dough balls into the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. This will help solidify the butter so your cookies don’t spread all over the baking sheet. Likely happens when using melted butter!
Texture of Brown Butter Sugar Cookies
- Very soft in the centers
- Crisp bottoms
- Slightly chewy edges
- Crunch from sprinkles!
Taste of Brown Butter Sugar Cookies
- Brown butter-tastic, obviously
- Slight brown sugar flavor (for EXTRA brown sugar flavor, try my brown sugar cookies)
- Sweet vanilla
- Brown butter brown butter brown butter
A must-bake for your annual lineup of Christmas cookies? I think so!
PrintBrown Butter Sugar Cookies
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 13 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 36 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Brown butter sugar cookies are easy to make, incredibly flavorful, and ready in under an hour!
Ingredients
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter
- 2 cups + 2 Tablespoons (265g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup (150g) packed light brown sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- optional: sprinkles and/or nonpareils for topping
Instructions
- Brown the butter: Have a large heat-proof bowl handy. Slice the butter into pieces and place in a light-colored skillet. (Light colored helps you determine when the butter begins browning.) Melt the butter over medium heat, whisking occasionally. Once melted, the butter will begin to foam. Keep whisking occasionally. After 5–8 minutes, the butter will begin browning; you’ll notice lightly browned specks begin to form at the bottom of the pan and it will have a nutty aroma. See photo above for a visual. Once browned, remove from heat immediately, pour into bowl. Allow to cool for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Add the granulated sugar and brown sugar to the brown butter. Using a handheld mixer or stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat together on medium-high speed until relatively combined, about 1 minute. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract.
- Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and begin beating together on low speed, slowly working up to high speed until everything is combined. The dough will be thick and a little greasy. That’s ok! Just roll into balls as best you can in the next step.
- Roll the dough into balls, about 1 Tablespoon of dough each, and dip the tops into sprinkles. Place dough balls tightly together on a lined baking sheet (or a couple large plates). Loosely cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. (Always recommended for cookies.)
- Line chilled dough balls onto baking sheets about 3 inches apart. Bake for 12–13 minutes or until lightly browned on the sides. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week. You can make the cookie dough, roll into balls as directed in step 5 and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Allow to come to room temperature then continue with step 6. Baked cookies freeze well for up to 3 months. Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well for up to 3 months. Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw. Read my tips and tricks on how to freeze cookie dough.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Light-Colored Skillet | Whisk | Glass Mixing Bowl | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Cooling Rack | Red & Green Nonpareils | Gold Sprinkles
- I don’t recommend these cookies for roll-out/cookie cutter cookies. The dough is a little too crumbly for it. It’s easier to just bake as drop cookies. Enjoy!
Keywords: brown butter sugar cookies, brown butter cookies
WOW…the brown butter works its magic with these cookies. This is not your average sugar cookie! Another delicious winning recipe! Thanks Sally and Happy Holidays to you and your lovely family.
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Hi. If I want to freeze the balls, do I still dip them in sugar, or do I dip them when ready to bake? Thank you so much for the wonderful recipes.
Hi Sandra! You can roll dough balls in sugar, then freeze. Happy baking!
I ordered some flavorings from King Arthur and wondered if you think any of these would work with this cookie: Fiori di Sicilia, anise, maple, and Speculaas spice. TIA.
Thank you for the recipe, the cookies tasted great!
My cookies cracked on top. They are level otherwise, and spread fine. The cookies in the picture are smooth.
Any suggestions ?
Hi Heather, my cookies have crackles on top, but you can’t really see under the sprinkles. I wonder if your cookies were over-baked though?
These are so insanely delicious!!! I divided the dough in 2 batches (1 with Christmas red colouring, the other with … Christmas green), made smaller cookies (½ tbsp). I’m hiding them in the freezer, ready for Christmas, before the kids see them. Thanks.
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Hi! Have you ever used cream of tartar in this recipe? Whenever I make these cookies (often, they are a favorite!), they aren’t very soft, so wondering if that will do the trick!
Hi Katy, We have not added it to this recipe but can you certainly try adding a small amount. The culprit is likely too much flour soaking up the moisture (be sure to spoon and level the flour, do not scoop) or being slightly overbaked. Next time try reducing the bake time by a minute or two for softer cookies.
I made these today. The dough tasted great, and they are picture-perfect, but they are pretty bland. I’ve made other recipes with brown butter before and they had a more intense flavor. My mom agreed, but she still ate three as soon as I took them out of the oven, so I guess they’re not that bad!
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Hi Sally! I just made this recipe with a slight alteration!! I added about 1/2 cup of Heath bits to the batter before rolling & no sprinkles!! My husband said they are the best cookies!!
Hi Sally,
I was really hoping to use this for cut out cookies (brown butter is amazing). Is there a modification I can use to make this possible?
Hi Shawana, For cut out sugar cookies I recommend following the recipe for The Best Sugar Cookies. In that recipe you can try browning 2 sticks of butter (1 cup), then letting it cool completely before refrigerating it so it’s solid. Measure 3/4 cup from that solid brown butter to use in the recipe. Let us know if you try it!
I love a brown butter sugar cookie. I would like to make a coffee and a chocolate version. I think for the coffee version, I can add espresso powder and that will work. But for chocolate, would you recommend reducing the flour?
Hi Kristy, I’m unsure how to turn these into brown butter chocolate sugar cookies. You can try replacing some of the flour with cocoa powder, but keep in mind they have different baking properties. For some cofee flavor, you can add 1-2 teaspoons of espresso powder to the dry ingredients.
I cannot have reg butter. Has anyone tried with plant butter (specifically olive oil butter) and see that it would work?
Hi Stacy, you cannot brown plant butter, since the milk solids are what brown for the recipe.
This was my first time browning butter. I was motivated to make these after I saw the sprinkled episode. I like how simple this recipe is. These were so delicious. It converted my husband to a “brown-butter-anything” type. You won’t be disappointed!
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I’ve made this recipient a couple times now and I really love the way they turn out. Last time I made them I even used 1 cup bread flour and 1 cup all purpose and they were even better, nice crispy outside and soft inside. Awesome recipe.
I have been looking for a recipe similar to the Great American Cookie Co.’s sugar cookie, and these delivered!! THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!! I refrigerated my dough for about 3 hours before rolling them into balls… I didn’t have an issue with it being too crumbly. I rolled them in colored sanding sugar and pressed them down about half way. I will cook the next batch for only 8 minutes, as I like mine a little less crispy. Thank you so much for this recipe!!
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These cookies are delicious! You are right, they are chewy in the middle and have a wonderful crispness on the bottom! Thank you!
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My husband has a new favorite cookie!! Oh my goodness! These are perfection!! Thank you so much for this amazing recipe!
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Seriously amazing. Seriously. Only change was the 1/2 tsp baking powder you mentioned to a reader in a comment. I followed the instructions to a “t”. I’ve never browned butter before, but your instructions were spot on. My boys are raving , my husband (who isn’t a fan of sweets) just came in for more exclaiming they were the best cookies he’s ever had. I imagine they will all be gone by dinner time (who needs dinner when you have these?!). I’m a huge fan. But these….these are out of this world.
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Hi! I made these today with my son and although they are delicious they didn’t spread much at all, resulting in a very thick coolie that’s undercooked in the center. I even let them cook for 16 minutes. I realize some may be a bit too large but most are right about a tablespoon full.
Hi Danielle, Make sure that you are measuring your flour properly (spoon and level, don’t scoop). If you end up with too much flour in the recipe it will absorb too much liquid stopping your cookies from spreading. You can also slightly flatten the dough balls before placing them in the oven to help them spread.
Thanks for the response! My husband said he thinks they’re the best cookies he’s ever had!! So I guess then not spreading didn’t matter much lol
I just finished making these to send in a Valentine’s care package to my boyfriend, and they taste incredible! The brown butter really comes through and makes it something special. I made them a little to big at first, but I was able to cut the rest in half and make ones small enough to vacuum seal and put in the container I prepped for them. I’ve never tried a recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction that hasn’t tasted amazing, and this is no exception. 😀
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Hi Sally! I made these, following the recipe to a “T” as far as I could tell, but the dough turned out completely crumbly. What might I have done wrong?
Hi Nicole, This is a thick cookie dough. I found the dough a little too crumbly to roll after chilling, so I suggest rolling into balls immediately after mixing and then chilling the rolled dough. It does feel crumbly but will come together in your hands as you roll it!
Delicious! An easy holiday (or anytime) cookie.
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Hi! Just chiming in to say I found this recipe a few years ago and they have become an official christmas tradition in my house and my friends literally ask for them for Christmas. Everyone loves them. So thank you
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My new “go to” Sugar Cookie recipe! My family went nuts over them….had to make 3 additional batches. Been making cookies for 45 years & this is a keeper. Thanks for this great recipe!
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Loved these! Really easy and have that extra flavor from the brown butter!
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Oh wow! I think I have a new favorite cookie recipe. I prepped the dough tonight to bake later this week, but decided to cook a couple up for us to try since this was my first time making them. The flavor of the browned butter is so so good. I will definitely be making these again soon. Thank you Sally for another amazing cookie!!
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My mom taught me 40 years ago about the flavor enhancing wonders of browned butter in all sorts of cooking. I get a little chuckle that many never heard of browned butter ! Tell me no! Add to icing recipes too for a great flavor ! I jumped on making these cookies last Christmas and wow! They are the best. Used them for a Cookie Walk fundraiser. Easy to batch. After making the dough I formed it into logs and cut into small even-sized cubes to speed up forming each cookie. Going to repeat making these again. I stocked up on butter that was on sale and forgot I needed “unsalted”. Oh dear ! I Do you think I should omit the salt altogether or reduce the amount in the recipe by half?
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She was onto something! If using salted butter, add just a pinch of salt- about 1/8 teaspoon!
I’ve tried a lot of your cookie recipes but I think this is the best one so far! These are unbelievably delicious! Soft and yummy and that browned butter just takes them to the next level! These are like crack!
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Today was a day that the baking gods decided that I really shouldn’t have tried to bake anything lol. First – I guess the heat was too high on the stove and I damn near burned the butter (too much foam to see what color it was becoming), then I had unexpected company show up just as I was about to roll into balls. I just dumped sprinkles in the mix and wrapped it in plastic as a block to chill. Then, after doing 3 loads of laundry I remembered the cookie dough ….rock hard by that time. Since I was short on time I just cut the block into 36 squares and put them on the cookie sheet that way. It was VERY crumbly but the heat of my hands helped to smoosh it together. I have to say that though they look kind of funky they taste amazing! I’m glad I persevered because they are some of the best sugar cookies I have ever had!
Ooops…just realized that I had forgotten to rate the recipe lol – taken care of now !
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Hey, Sally! I made these with my little sister last week and they were AMAZING! They tasted like eating a chunk of sugary butter!! They got a bit stale because we made so many (though they still taste incredible, just a bit crunchy), so I was wondering if you have any recipes or ideas for the stale cookies? Thanks so much! Have a great day!
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Made these cookies. I used “dark” brown sugar instead and for topping, I dipped cookies in “granulated” sugar. Such a delicious recipe! Thank you Sally!