Description
Soft and buttery brown butter cream cheese sugar cookies topped with frosting and sparkling sprinkles! The perfect holiday cutout cookie! Recipe makes 24 cookies.
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 oz reduced fat cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp pure almond extract
Frosting
- 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 2–3 Tbsp milk
- 1 Tbsp light corn syrup
- 1/4 tsp pure almond extract
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Brown butter: Cook butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly until it foams, turns clear, and then turns a deep brown, about 6 minutes. Pour browned butter into a glass measuring cup and chill in the freezer until solidified, about 45 minutes to an hour.
- Make cookies: Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Beat solidified brown butter and sugar in a large mixer bowl at medium speed until creamy; beat in cream cheese and egg until combined. Beat in extracts until incorporated. Reduce speed to low and gradually add flour mixture; beat just until incorporated.
- Divide dough in half and roll out each half into a 1/4-inch thickness between two pieces of parchment paper. Transfer to the refrigerator (keep flat) and chill for at least 1 hour, or overnight. Once the dough has chilled, preheat oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove the top layer of parchment paper from the dough and use cookie cutters to cut out cookies before transferring to prepared baking sheets. Chill in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
- Bake cookies for 12 to 14 minutes, rotating pans halfway through, until lightly golden and tops and edges are set. For smaller cookies, baking time will be approximately 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer baking sheets to wire racks and let cookies cool completely on baking sheets.
- Make frosting: Combine powdered sugar, milk, corn syrup, almond extract, and salt in a small bowl, whisking together until smooth and glossy. If the frosting seems too thick, add more milk, one teaspoon at a time, until you reach the desired consistency.
- Decorate cookies: Spread or pipe frosting onto cookies and top with sprinkles immediately, while the frosting is still wet. Let the frosting set completely before serving. Store cookies at room temperature.
Notes
Brown butter: Check out my full step-by-step recipe tutorial.
Cookie yield: About 2 dozen sugar cookies, depending on size. Yield will vary depending on the size of your cutter.
Make ahead: Shaped, unbaked cookies can be frozen up to 2 months and baked directly from the freezer, adding 1-2 minutes to baking time.
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