Description
These Brown Butter Bourbon Snickerdoodles are chewy, soft, and flavored with spices, brown butter, and a touch of bourbon. The cinnamon sugar really makes these something special. Perfect for holiday baking!
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter
- 1 cup packed dark brown sugar (not light brown sugar – see Notes below)
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons bourbon
- 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
For Rolling the Cookies:
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Place the butter in a light-colored skillet or saucepan and set over medium heat.
- Cook until the butter is melted and then reduce the heat to medium-low and stir constantly, swirling the pan every now and then, until the butter is deeply golden brown. Watch carefully as it can go from brown to burned in seconds.
- Remove the butter from the heat and allow to cool slightly while you gather the rest of the ingredients.
- Whisk together the cooled brown butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla, and bourbon until smooth and creamy.
- Stir in the egg and egg yolk and mix until well combined.
- Whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt in another bowl. Once well combined, pour into the wet ingredients and stir until just combined.
- Chill the cookie dough in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes (and up to 24 hours). Meanwhile, mix together the sugar and cinnamon for rolling the cookies.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F and line large baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a cookie scoop, portion out balls of dough roughly 2 tablespoons big and roll in the cinnamon sugar. Place on the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches of space in between.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are golden and set and the centers still look slightly underdone.
- Remove the pans from the oven and tap the pans on the counter top a few times to help the cookies slightly flatten and release excess air. Return to the oven for another 2 minutes.
- Cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack to continue cooling. Continue with remaining cookie dough.
- These cookies will keep at room temperature in an airtight container for up to a week.
Notes
- There are a few things that are imperative in this recipe to achieve the right consistency for these cookies. The first being the use of dark brown sugar instead of light brown sugar. Dark brown sugar has a higher moisture content, and these cookies need the moisture to have that classic snickerdoodle chew. Additionally, you absolutely cannot skip the cream of tartar in this recipe. It also gives the cookies that classic chewy texture that is so wonderful! The proportions of this recipe were tested three different times, and I do not recommend making any substitutions or measurement adjustments here.
- Rapping or banging the baking sheets on a hard surface while the cookies are partially baked also helps contribute to the chewy texture. Doing so releases extra air from the cookies, allowing them to finish baking with a denser, gooey texture.
- You can freeze this cookie dough if you do not want to make all the cookies at once. Make the dough, chill the dough, and roll it into balls. Flash freeze the cookie dough balls on a baking sheet for at least 1 hour. After an hour, transfer the frozen cookie dough balls to a plastic resealable bag, squeezing out as much air as possible. When you are ready to bake the cookies, take the dough balls straight from the freezer and roll in the cinnamon sugar. Add 2-3 minutes to the total baking time if baking from frozen. You can store the dough in the freezer for up to three months.
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: cookies