Transform classic snickerdoodles with the rich, nutty flavor of brown butter. These brown butter snickerdoodles are soft, chewy, and bursting with cinnamon sugar goodness—just the right kind of upgrade for your cookie cravings!
Who doesn’t love the sweet simplicity of a snickerdoodle? But these aren’t your average snickerdoodles. By adding browned butter, we’re bringing a deep, nutty twist to this timeless cookie. The result? A cookie that’s perfectly soft in the middle, slightly crisp at the edges, and rich with the warm flavors of brown butter and cinnamon. Trust me, these cookies won’t last long once you bake them!
Why You’ll Love This Brown Butter Snickerdoodle Recipe
- Deep, nutty flavor. Browning the butter adds a rich, almost caramel-like taste and nutty aroma that takes these cookies to a new level.
- Soft and chewy. Thanks to the cream of tartar, these snickerdoodles stay wonderfully soft while offering that perfect chewy bite.
- Classic with a twist. If you love traditional snickerdoodle cookies, this version will give you all the nostalgia with a little something extra.
- Easy to make. While browning the butter takes an extra step, the rest of the recipe is as easy as any cookie recipe you know and love!
What You’ll Need
See the recipe card below for the full recipe, including ingredient quantities and complete instructions.
- Unsalted butter – Browning the butter gives it a deliciously nutty flavor. Just make sure to keep an eye on it while it’s on the stove—browned is perfect, but burnt is another story!
- All-purpose flour – Measuring your flour accurately is key to getting the best cookie texture. Too much flour can make cookies dry, so I always recommend using a kitchen scale when possible. Learn more: How to Measure Flour
- Cream of tartar – This ingredient gives snickerdoodles their classic tang and chewy texture. If you don’t have cream of tartar, these won’t quite taste like snickerdoodles!
- Cinnamon – Fresh cinnamon makes all the difference. If your cinnamon has been in the pantry for a year or more, it might be time to replace it for that strong, spicy aroma.
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Eggs – Bring these to room temperature before mixing to help them incorporate more easily into the dough.
- Milk – I use whole milk, but any milk you have on hand should be fine.
- Granulated sugar and light brown sugar – The combination of these sugars helps create a balanced flavor—sweet with a bit of depth from the molasses in the brown sugar.
How to Make Brown Butter Snickerdoodles
- Brown the butter. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat until it foams, subsides, and turns a nutty golden brown. This step adds an incredible depth of flavor that makes these cookies truly shine.
- Mix the dough. Add the sugars to the cooled browned butter, followed by a mixture of eggs and milk, and finally the dry ingredients.
- Chill the dough. Don’t skip the chilling step! It helps the flavors meld and keeps the dough from spreading too much during baking. Cover and place the dough in the refrigerator for at least an hour up to 24 hours.
- Prepare for baking. Heat the oven to 400°F and line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners.
- Shape and coat. Roll the dough into balls and coat them generously in cinnamon sugar for that classic snickerdoodle touch.
- Bake. Bake until just set. Remember, slightly underbaking is key for that soft, chewy texture.
Why Brown the Butter?
Browning the butter is what sets these snickerdoodles apart from the rest! This simple extra step transforms the flavor, taking these cookies from classic to extraordinary. Here’s what it adds:
- Rich, nutty flavor. As the butter browns, the milk solids toast, creating a rich, nutty flavor that adds depth to the cookies. It brings in almost caramel-like notes that pair perfectly with the cinnamon coating.
- Aromatics. The aroma of browned butter is truly irresistible. The toasty, warm smell that fills your kitchen will give you a hint of the incredible flavor waiting in each bite.
- Balanced sweetness. The slightly savory, nutty edge of browned butter helps balance the sweetness of the sugars, making these cookies taste more complex and less cloyingly sweet.
- Enhanced texture. Browning the butter also impacts the texture of the cookies, giving them a softer, chewier center while keeping those delightful crisp edges.
Tips for Success
- Watch the butter closely. When browning butter, it can go from golden to burnt very quickly. Keep stirring, and remove it from the heat as soon as you see those brown bits form.
- Let the butter cool. After browning the butter, it’s essential to let it cool to room temperature before mixing it with the sugars. If the butter is too hot, it can dissolve the sugar, leading to a greasy texture and cookies that spread too much during baking.
- Room temperature eggs. Cold eggs can cause the melted butter to solidify too quickly, making it harder to mix evenly.
- Don’t over-mix. Once you add the flour mixture, be careful not to over-mix. Overworking the dough can lead to tougher cookies. Mix just until no streaks of flour remain for soft, tender cookies.
- Chill time. Chilling the dough is important for achieving the perfect texture and keeping the cookies from spreading too much while also intensifying the flavor. If you’re short on time, try to chill for at least an hour, but ideally, let it rest for 2-3 hours or overnight.
- Use a cookie scoop. This helps ensure all the cookies are the same size, which means they’ll bake evenly. For these snickerdoodles, a 2-tablespoon scoop works well to create that perfect cookie size.
Variations
- Add some spice. Try adding a pinch of cardamom or nutmeg to the cinnamon sugar mixture for a little extra warmth.
- Nutty addition. Browned butter pairs wonderfully with nuts—try adding about 1/2 cup of finely chopped pecans or hazelnuts to the dough.
- Maple twist. Replace the milk with maple syrup and add a small amount (about 1/2 teaspoon) of maple extract. The maple and brown butter combination is a warm, cozy twist that makes these perfect for fall.
How to Store
- Room temperature: Store these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. To keep them extra soft, add a slice of bread to the container—the moisture from the bread will keep the cookies from drying out.
- Freezer: For longer storage, you can freeze these cookies in an airtight, freezer-safe container up to 3 months. You can also freeze the cookie dough balls (unbaked and without the cinnamon sugar coating) for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to bake, roll the dough balls in the cinnamon sugar and bake, adding an extra minute or two to the baking time.
More Snickerdoodle Recipes
Get the Recipe:
Brown Butter Snickerdoodles
Yield
about 24 cookies
Prep Time
25 minutes
Cook Time
20 minutes
Additional Time
1 hour
Total Time
1 hour 45 minutes
Browning the butter adds an incredible depth of flavor to these snickerdoodles, making them a cut above the rest. These cookies are perfectly soft, chewy, and coated with plenty of cinnamon sugar—just like the classic, but even better.
Ingredients
For the cookies:
- 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 2 & 3/4 cups (330g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) firmly packed light brown sugar
For the cinnamon-sugar:
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Place the butter in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the butter melts and foams. Continue cooking until the foam subsides, brown specks form in the bottom of the pan, and the butter turns a nutty brown (8-10 minutes).
- If you want to remove the browned bits, pour the butter through a strainer into the bowl of a stand mixer.* Beat on medium-low speed for 5-7 minutes to cool the butter to room temperature.
- Whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- Combine the eggs and milk in a small bowl. Whisk lightly.
- Turn off the mixer when the butter has cooled to room temperature. Add the sugar and brown sugar. Beat until combined. Reduce mixer speed to low and pour in egg mixture. Beat until well-combined.
- Add the flour mixture in three portions, beating just until combined after each addition.
- Gather the dough into a mound in the bowl. Cover the bowl and refrigerate at least an hour, or up to 24 hours.
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Line baking sheets with silicone liners or parchment paper.
- Stir together the cinnamon-sugar ingredients in a wide-mouth bowl or shallow dish.
- Using about 2 tablespoons of dough at a time, roll the dough into balls. Roll each ball in cinnamon-sugar to coat. Place the cookies about 1 & 1/2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets.
- Bake one pan at a time for 10 minutes, or until cookies are cracked and set.**
- Cool on the pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Then, transfer the cookies directly onto wire racks to cool completely.
Notes
*You can skip straining the browned butter if you like the browned bits. I don't usually strain it for these cookies.
Recipe slightly adapted from Baked Elements.
For tips, step-by-step photos, and extra details, be sure to read the full post above before starting. It’s packed with helpful info to answer common questions!
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21 Comments on “Brown Butter Snickerdoodles”
Mmmmm GREAT choice, you can never go wrong with brown butter and add a little snickerdoodle to the mix – – well we’re in business 😉
Craving one of these now!
Craving one of these now! OK.. not sure what happend so let try this again… =)
Now THAT is the perfect Snickerdoodle!
As if I wasn’t a browned butter addict before! Agh, this just takes it over the top. 😀 Delicious looking cookies and for such a great cause. Bravo!
i love the idea of making ‘snickerdoodles’ just so i can say the word ‘snickerdoodles’ – it’s such a giggle!
I am one lucky girl to have received these goodies in the mail, thank you! Tasted amazing.
I was so happy to receive your cookies. So very tasty and they smelled fantastic!
Those look SO GOOD!
I just made these cookies today to give away as gifts. I normally don’t call a cookie beautiful, but these really were. Big, thick, soft, chewy, crispy, and the cinnamon-sugar filled cracks on top just made look even better. Your photo really did them justice, and the recipe came out perfectly. I don’t think that I cooked the butter long enough, as I did not get a pronounced brown butter flavor, but I will get it right next time. There will definitely be a next time. I’ll be posting this on my blog tomorrow. Thanks for a great recipe!
I’m making these right now, and I have to say, these are a perfect representation of what snickerdoodles should be. The flavor, texture, and even appearance are all spot-on. I believe I should note, though, a couple of things that I did differently:
1. I used aluminum foil in place of parchment paper. These cookies slid right off, and I didn’t even grease or flour the aluminum foil either. So if you’re fretting over that little detail, you can rest easy.
2. I discovered that, if you roll them into balls and leave them like that on the baking sheet, they hardly spread out. The result is a really small, meaty cookie. So instead of keeping it in a ball, I flattened the ball of dough out using my palms and then dredged each side in the cinnamon sugar mix. That worked like a charm and made it come out exactly like the picture.
Also, you can use a little less than 2 tablespoons per cookie. It’ll make your dough go a long way if you don’t want to have to make 2 full batches.
Jennifer, you are KILLING me!!! We are leaving for 3 months in France in a couple of weeks and I am TRYING to empty my stash of food supplies! But you keep teasing and teasing me with goodies! I am just a gone-er……………………OK…..so don’t give me a break. I’ll be making some of these while we’re in France!
Enjoy your trip, Nikki! I’ll vicariously enjoy all the macarons and baguettes you’ll have while you’re there.
I made these Snickerdoodles as party of my Christmas cookie lineup. After refrigerating for a few hours, my dough was hard as a brick. After I managed to form the balls, I baked according to directions for 10 minutes and then left them on the cookie sheets for 10 minutes. That was a mistake. The cookies looked great when I took them out, but became overcooked and dry leaving them on the pan for those 10 minutes. They tasted great, though, with the brown butter.
If I try them again, I will only refrigerate for 30 min. and take them off the pan a minute or two after baking.
I’m sorry you had troubles, Julie! Tough cookies are usually a result of over-mixing. Dry cookies are usually a result of too much flour. You can read more about common cookie problems here.
Tried these again and they turned out much better. The browned butter really elevates these cookies.
So glad you liked the cookies, Julie! Brown butter is pretty magical. 😉
Hi,
Thank you for the recipe. I was wondering how many days in advance I could make the dough? Could it sit in the fridge for like 3 days? Or could I freeze them in balls then thaw overnight?
Thanks!
Hi, Lauren. Well-covered, you could chill it up to 3 days. Personally, I would rather portion and freeze them for anything longer than a day or two. They should keep for at least a couple of months that way.
I made these yesterday and they were perfect!
I had to substitute baking powder for baking soda and cream of tartar because I didn’t have any cream of tartar. I don’t think it made a difference. They were crisp outside and chewy inside.
The ratio I found online but basically in this recipe I used 4 tsp of baking powder.
The dough looked more wet than I was used to in a lot of cookies, but I didn’t doubt the recipe and they turned out perfectly!! Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Also I kept the brown bits in.
The brown butter flavor made the cookie taste just like my Mamaw’s cinnamon sugar toast as a child.
I’m glad you liked the cookies, Hope!