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These soft baked brown butter sugar cookies are everything you want in a cookie: tender, soft, chewy, and flavored with rich brown butter. Best of all, this recipe is designed to be super approachable: no dough chilling required and the soft sugar cookie dough is easy to roll in sparkling sugar, nonpareils, or sprinkles! Recipe yields 30 cookies.
I love these drop-style sugar cookies because there’s no dough rolling, cookie cutters, or royal icing required (here’s to a foolproof sugar cookie!).
As I’ve learned through my recipe tests, browning half the butter infuses these homemade cookies with the nutty, toasty flavor of brown butter. The remaining butter (used in solid state) provides the necessary water content to bring the dough together. No crumbly cookie dough here!
And the secret ingredient? Sour cream – it adds tenderness to the cookies and a subtle tang that complements the brown butter flavor. If you usually find sugar cookies too sweet, you’ll love the balanced flavor of these!
Looking for cut out sugar cookies? Try my brown butter cream cheese sugar cookies!
Success Tips for Drop Sugar Cookies
- Use a light hand with the dough. The dough is soft and easy to work with, but don’t overhandle it. Use a cookie scoop to portion the dough, then invert the scoop directly over a shallow bowl filled with sugar or sprinkles. Roll gently until evenly coated.
- Bake one cookie sheet at a time. Place the cookie sheet on the middle rack in the center of the oven. This allows for even circulation of heat and ensures that the cookies don’t overbrown.
- Cool cookie sheets between batches. If the pans are still warm, the residual heat can cause cookies to overspread.
How to Make Brown Butter Sugar Cookies
Brown 1/2 cup unsalted butter in a saucepan. Pour melted brown butter into a bowl and chill for 30 minutes in the refrigerator, until cool to the touch and still mostly liquid.
Whisk together all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt.
Beat room temperature butter, cooled brown butter, and granulated sugar together on medium speed until creamy.
Add egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract to the mixer bowl. Beat until combined.
Mix in sour cream until combined, about 10 seconds.
Gradually mix in dry ingredients on low speed until a soft dough forms.
Scoop the dough with a medium cookie scoop and roll dough balls in the coating of choice.
Arrange 2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking pan. Press the tops to flatten slightly, then bake until cookies are just set and light golden. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes on baking pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Add these festive Christmas cookies to your holiday baking list!
More favorite cookie recipes:
- Giant Ginger Cookies
- Soft Chewy Snickerdoodle Cookies
- Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies
- Fudgy Peppermint Brownie Cookies
- Soft Molasses Spice Cookies
Soft Baked Brown Butter Sugar Cookies
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 11 minutes
- Total Time: 51 minutes
- Yield: 30 cookies
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
Flavored with rich brown butter, these soft baked brown butter sugar cookies are perfectly tender and chewy. A touch of sour cream adds tenderness and a subtle tang that complements the brown butter flavor. Roll the drop sugar cookies in sparkling sugar or sprinkles!
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 cup (224 g) unsalted butter, divided
- 2 1/2 cups (350 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp (10 g) baking powder
- 1/2 tsp (3 g) salt
- 1 1/4 cups (250 g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg (50 g)
- 1 large egg yolk (18 g)
- 1 tsp (4 g) vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup (60 g) sour cream, at room temperature
For Rolling
- 2/3 cup (133 g) granulated sugar, sparkling sugar, or nonpareils (see note below)
Instructions
- Brown butter: Cook 1/2 cup (112 g) unsalted butter in a heavy saucepan until browned (full tutorial here). Pour brown butter into a ramekin or glass bowl and chill for 30 minutes in the refrigerator, until cool to the touch and still mostly liquid.
- Bring remaining 1/2 cup (112 g) unsalted butter to cool room temperature (about 65°F). Preheat oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Make dough: Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Beat room temperature butter, cooled brown butter, and sugar in a large mixer bowl at medium speed until creamy (about 1 minute); beat in egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Mix in sour cream until combined, about 10 seconds. Reduce speed to low and gradually add dry ingredients; beat just until incorporated and a soft dough forms.
- Use a medium cookie scoop coated with nonstick spray to scoop 1 1/2-inch balls of dough (approximately 28 grams each). Roll in sugar or nonpareils to coat. Place two inches apart, 10 balls of dough per baking sheet. Gently press the tops with the bottom of a measuring cup to flatten slightly (see note below).
- Bake cookies: Bake 1 sheet at a time on the middle rack, rotating baking sheet halfway through, until the edges are set and cookies are light golden, about 11 minutes (do not overbake). Cool for 5 minutes on baking sheets, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature up to 5 days.
Notes
Sugar or sprinkle coating: I tested rolling in granulated sugar, colored sanding sugar, coarse sparkling sugar, and nonpareils – all worked! If you want to use jimmies sprinkles, I recommend baking a test cookie or two to see if the color bleeds before rolling the entire batch.
Bake on parchment: For best results, bake cookies on parchment-lined baking sheets. Silicone mats cause cookies to spread more while baking, so I don’t recommend them.
Cookie scoop: Use a medium cookie scoop which holds approximately 1 1/2 tablespoons of cookie dough.
Gently press tops: Slightly flatten the dough balls to promote oven spread. For sugar coating, press dough balls until 1 1/2 inches in diameter. For nonpareils, press dough balls until 1 3/4 inches in diameter.
Make ahead: Scoop balls of dough and roll in coating of choice. Place cookie dough balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet and cover the pan with plastic wrap. Refrigerate up to 3 days before baking. When you’re ready to bake, bring to cool room temperature and proceed with step 5.
Freeze cookies: Drop style sugar cookies freeze well for up to 2 months. Let cookies cool completely, then freeze flat on a baking sheet for 1 hour. Transfer to an airtight, freezer-safe container and store in the freezer.
Was worried about doing a recipe off IG but this one lives up to the pictures! brown butter + sour cream is a fantastic combo. Simple recipe that with fun non pareils make a special cookie. I also will be adding to rotation–thank you!
ps 11 min on the DOT.
So pretty! Thanks for sharing, Lori!
The sour cream adds a nice subtle tang and texture. Will make again!
Thanks for trying this recipe, Liz!
Delicious cookies, I’ve already added these to my list for next year’s cookie boxes. Love the brown butter flavor!
That’s great to hear, thank you Sarah!
These cookies turned out great! Loved by the adults and the kids, which is even better. Thank you for the recipe!
Thanks so much, Dorene! Happy Holidays!