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.
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: Let cookies cool completely then transfer to an airtight container and freeze up to 2 months.