Soft & Chewy Brown Butter Snickerdoodles

I dreamt about these Soft & Chewy Brown Butter Snickerdoodles for weeks. It plagued my every waking minute.

Ever since I made those gluten-free chocolate chip cookies that were unbelievably delicious. We couldn’t stop eating them and no one seemed to care or notice that they were gluten free. I decided those cookies were so exquisite because they were laced with brown butter.

And that got me thinking about snickerdoodles. Butter and sugar are the two predominate flavors in a snickerdoodle. Then comes cinnamon with a vengeance, not to be ignored or overlooked.

What would happen if we played with this flavor trio? Where would the snickerdoodle take us?

All of this is how we got this gorgeous cookie!!

Muscovado vs Brown Sugar

Muscovado is a very moist cane sugar that has strong toffee and molasses notes to it. These flavors come from the fact that it is actually an unrefined sugar that has never had the molasses taken out.

It has a wet, sand-like texture and is so fun to cook and bake with. It’s SO GOOD in these cookies!

In a pinch you can swap regular brown sugar (light or dark) for the muscovado and I have this How To Make Brown Butter Tutorial if you’re looking for a refresher! These flavors work sooo well together!

The Magic of Browning Butter

My number one (only?) reason for browning butter is that the flavor it imparts on baked goods is next level. Think of flavors like toffee and caramel being added to your cookie without actually adding toffee and caramel.

Browning butter only takes about 5 minutes, with an additional 5-ish minutes more for it to cool before using. It’s literally the only element keeping this from being a true, one-bowl recipe (because we need the saucepan for browning).

When browning butter, moisture in the butter evaporates. This is why I like to get in and brown my butter quick as the longer your saucepan is on the hot burner the more moisture will evaporate.

When you brown butter, you loose volume. A stick of butter (US) weighs 113 g. Post browning it will weigh about 83 grams.

If you start with 8 tablespoons (113 g) of butter and follow my browning butter instructions below, I don’t think you need to then, again, weigh your brown butter (unless out of curiosity). But this is a good baking fact to stash away for all of your brown butter baking.

I have a full brown butter tutorial here!

Favorite Brown Butter Recipes

Adding brown butter really elevates these recipes: Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Bar Cookies, Spiced Apple Cake With Brown Butter Buttercream, Pumpkin Bourbon Cake With Brown Butter Bourbon Buttercream and Brown Butter Banana Bread.

Here is a complete list of Brown Butter Recipes on DisplacedHousewife!

Why Cream of Tartar?

When cream of tartar is combined with baking soda, it acts as a leavening agent. It’s also what gives snickerdoodles their awesome tangy flavor and chewy texture.

Could you replace cream of tartar with baking powder in this cookie? You could, but you wouldn’t have a snickerdoodle anymore…it would be more of a soft, sugar cookie-esque cookie.

Cream of tartar is also often used to stabilize meringues as well. I use it in both these crispy french meringues and this chocolate pavlova recipe.

Tools for Making These Soft & Chewy
Brown Butter Snickerdoodles Fabulous

These are pretty fuss-free cookies to bake, these are my favorite tools:

I love this small, light-colored Williams-Sonoma sauce pan for browning butter.

These spoonulas from GIR are my absolute favorites right now (I love the soft blue). 

My favorite nested, heat-safe bowls for any baking occasion! I love them so.

That beautiful Williams-Sonoma whisk with the wooden handle. It’s so pretty. When I’m being practical (and not making videos), this Material whisk is THE BOMB. I love their stuff!

Don’t forget my favorite scale. I wrote both of my books with this one, it will serve you well on your baking journey!

Brown Butter Muscovado Cookie Tips

• Make sure your balls are roughly the same size (this makes me giggle), about 1 1/2 tablespoons each. Roll them between the palm of your hands (gently) to get a nice, spherical shape.
• Roll the dough, coat in your cinnamon-cardamom-sugar goodness and then pop your cookie sheet in the freezer. Don’t skip this step…they really need the chill to keep their shape while baking.
• Don’t ignore the praise I throw on bread flour when it comes to cookie making. It’s magical. Additionally, I haven’t tested this with other flour or combinations…so proceed with caution. I will update this page when I do.
• Don’t make all of your cookies at once. Once you freeze the balls, throw them in a resealable, freezer plastic bag and eat fresh cookies every night. It’s a game changer.

Let’s bake some bomb-ass muscovado snickerdoodles.

The Baker’s Guide to Measuring Flour

One of the biggest (and most common) mistakes in baking is how we measure flour. If you find yourself without a scale, see my top tips on how to properly measure flour for the perfect amount every time!

More Yummy Cookie Fun

Try these Vanilla Chocolate Chip Cookies, Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies or these Fudgy Brownie Cookies.

I also have a Classic Super Soft Snickerdoodle recipe (that is DIVINE), bakery style Brown Butter Pumpkin Snickerdoodles and a Five-Spice Snickerdoodle that is so warm and cozy.

For even more cookie inspo, check out The Cookie Book!

I hope you enjoy your Soft & Chewy Brown Butter Snickerdoodles!

Soft & Chewy Brown Butter Snickerdoodles

These brown butter muscoavdo snickerdoodles are BONKERS DELICIOUS! They are soft, chewy, plush and pillow like. The brown butter and muscovado take these to the next level by drawing out all of those warm toffee and caramel flavors. Feel free to sub regular brown sugar in place of the muscovado. This recipe is one bowl and needs a short rest in the fridge to firm up (see notes below). Also check out Soft Classic Snickerdoodles, Five-Spice Snickerdoodles and Brown Butter Pumpkin Snickerdoodles. Enjoy!

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Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 11 minutes minutes

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Cookies

Keyword: Brown Butter, Muscovado, Cookies, Snickerdoodles

Servings: 24 Cookies

Author: Rebecca Firth

Ingredients

For the Cookies

• 83 grams  unsalted brown butter (about 8 tablespoons (113 g) unsalted butter before browning)
• 3/4 cup (168 g) sunflower seed oil (or other neutral oil)
• 3/4 cup (165 g) dark muscovado sugar (packed; you can also use light or dark brown sugar, see note below)
• 3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon (13 g) real vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs (room temperature)
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 3/4 cup (237 g) bread flour (see note below)
• 1 cup (135 g) all-purpose flour (how to measure flour)

To Roll The Cookies

• ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon cardamom

Instructions

For the Cookies

• Place 8 tablespoons (113 g) butter in a small sauce pan and melt over medium heat. Once melted, crank up the heat to medium high. Stand by, continuously stirring and watching. Small golden bits will start to settle on the bottom of the pan. Once this happens, take it off the heat and pour into a medium, heat-safe bowl to cool until closer to room temperature, but still liquid. 

  (For more details on browning butter, check out my How to Perfectly Brown Butter tutorial)
• Add the sunflower seed oil, muscovado (or brown sugar), granulated sugar, vanilla and eggs to the cooled browned butter. Whisk together until thoroughly blended. It will be thick and sludge like. Break up any large chunks of the muscovado. Add in the cream of tartar, baking soda and salt and give it a couple of good whisks to distribute evenly throughout the dough.
• Sprinkle the bread flour and all-purpose flour over the dough and use a spatula to fold into the dough. Mix until barely blended and you still see streaks of flour. Cover with plastic wrap and stash in the fridge for 30 to 60 minutes.
• Preheat your oven to 350°F (177°C). Line several baking sheets with parchment paper.

To Roll the Cookies

• In a small bowl, mix together 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1 teaspoon of cardamom for your cookie coating.
• Take the dough out of the fridge and roll about 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough, between your palms, into a nice ball.
• Give the dough ball a generous coating of the sugar-spice mixture and set on the prepared baking sheet. Make sure there are about 2 inches between each dough ball, allowing space for spreading whilst baking. Place the baking sheet with the coated dough balls in the freezer for 15 to 30 minutes.
• Bake one sheet at a time in the center of the oven for 11-12 minutes. Let them cool on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.

Notes

Bread Flour

This cookie will still turn out if you replace the bread flour with all-purpose flour. Simply use 2 3/4 cups (372 g) all-purpose flour for the entire recipe.

Muscovado

In a pinch you can use light or dark brown sugar in place of the muscovado.

Mixer vs Your Arms

I mention a mixer in the instruction, however, this is definitely a recipe that can easily be made with a bowl and spatula. Make sure you really cream your butter and sugar so that you get that awesome cookie texture.

Freezing Ya Balls

For long-term storage wrap the entire lump of cookie dough tightly (in plastic wrap, ideally) and then stash in an air-tight container.

For short-term storage (I’m talking about wanting to have a fresh cookie (or two) every night after dinner), freeze the cookie dough balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Once frozen, after several hours, stash in an air-tight container. When baking, they can go straight from the freezer to the oven, just tack on a few extra minutes to the bake time. This will result in a puffier cookie.

If you want the cookies to look similar to the photos here, then let the dough come closer to room temperature (just sitting out while you pre-heat the oven is fine). Add 1 to 2 minutes bake time if the dough still has a slight chill.

Want More Cookie Inspo?

Head over to My 10 Favorite Tips for Better Cookies!

Want a Brown Butter Refresher? 

Check out my How to Make Perfect Brown Butter tutorial.

Thanks for baking with me! Please rate + comment this recipe and tag me on social @displacedhousewife #displacedhousewife so I can see your beautiful treats! xo