Salted Brown Butter Snickerdoodles
Sometimes my kitchen mistakes end in epic disaster with me in almost-tears and my small countertop full of messy bowls, spoons and pretty much every utensil I have. Other times-a huge mistake like leaving out an entire stick of butter from a cookie recipe, ends up with me creating something I actually really love. That’s how these cookies came to life.
A few weeks ago when I was making these Brown Butter Confetti Cookies, I thought I was halving the whole recipe, but only reduced the quantity of butter and left the rest as it. I knew something seemed wrong, but before I realized what I needed to do, I baked one of the “mistake cookies” without adding any mix-ins just to see what was up. The lesser amount of butter resulted in a super thick and puffy cookie with a crisp exterior and a really chewy inside. It basically tasted like a chewy brown butter sugar cookie, and the texture reminded me of a snickerdoodle, dying to be rolled in cinnamon sugar.
So, it was only a matter of time before I attempted this “mistake” again, this time with a few more tweaks, (adding in a little more of the butter I mistakenly left out. )I made mine small and almost bite-sized, which resulted in the perfect delicious portion. I wish all my epic fails resulted in something wonderful….if only! :)
Salted Brown Butter Snickerdoodles
Ingredients
- 1 stick plus 3 tablespoons of salted butter., 11 tablespoons
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
For rolling:
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 F.
- To brown butter- place butter in a heat-proof bowl with a plate or other snug cover in the microwave. Cook on high for 5-7 minutes. Butter will pop, sizzle and become perfectly browned.
- Transfer butter to a large mixing bowl and with an electric mixer or whisk, mix in the sugars until smooth and well-combined. Add the egg, yolk and vanilla, and mix until smooth.
- In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Gradually add them to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Combine the 3 tablespoons of sugar and cinnamon in a shallow dish. Scoop dough into equal 1 inch sized portions, roll into balls and coat in cinnamon sugar. Place dough balls an inch apart on parchment or silpat-lined cookie sheets.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until bottoms of the cookies are golden. Right after coming out of the oven, gently pat the tops of the cookies with a spatula to flatten. (To add some extra cracks!)
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 2 Serving Size: 1 gramsAmount Per Serving: Unsaturated Fat: 0g
I’ve had those crying on the floor surrounded by cookie dough (that I proceed to eat anyway even though it’s not particularly delicious) moments. But I’m so glad this did not end that way. These look like the perfect cookie bites!
These cookies need to get in my life… like right now! Here’s to a snow day in NYC tomorrow so I can bake them up!
If a cookie has brown butter I become weak at my knees and cannot say no! These cookies look soft and chewy, just how I like snickerdoodles! I actually made brown butter snickerdoodles a few weeks ago and brown butter really does make the best snickerdoodles of all time!
I love happy accidents. These sound wonderful!
As soon as I saw these cookies, before reading about them, I said to myself, “How are her snickerdoodles so thick? How come mine don’t come out that way?” I can’t wait to try these out!
I wish one of my mistakes could end up turning into something fabulous like this! These look amazing Audra!
Oh brown buttery goodness!
I’d be so happy if one of my kitchen mistakes turned into something so delicious! :) I am in love with your mini cookies, especially because there’s brown butter involved!
Those look so good!!
Once I forgot to add an extra cup of flour, and my cookies melted all over the oven. That definitely did not result in anything good! :)
nice!!! love mistakes that turn into creations :) these sound so very good!!
I love snickerdoodles and these look just beautiful Audra! Love that you used browned butter!
These are so pretty, Audra! I love snickerdoodles. Hope you have a sweets-filled birthday!!
Some of my best recipes are the direct result of kitchen mistakes! These look amazing!
I LOVE when a baking mistake turns into something good. Love these cookies!
Woahhh! You should stuff THESE with caramel!
Yum these sound delicious! I love brown butter, salted brown butter sounds even better!
I do love your browned butter recipes. Whether on purpose of by twist of fate they are always delicious!
oh wow, these look so good! I haven’t had a snickerdoodle in such a long time.
I went to the site looking for the old reliable “perfect choc chip cookie” recipe and instead took a chance on this new recipe. MAN are they GOOD! The browned butter is such a great change to this classic snickerdoodle recipe.
Great recipe! Delicious!
Thanks so much Rebecca! Your comments yesterday sure were sweet :) I loved these cookies too.
Thanks for this lovely snickerdoodle recipe. I baked them and wrote about them on my blog. These turned out fantastic :)
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These look delicious! How much salt would you add if using unsalted butter? It’s all I have in the fridge.
Hey Erin! I would add a 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the butter :)
I made these yesterday, they tasted delicious (thankyou!) but cracked quite a lot on top and ended up quite flat. Any tips for achieving a more rounded, puffer biscuit?
Often a flat cookie means your dough needs to be chilled a bit before baking. I’d suggest letting them chill a bit more on the cookie sheet before popping it into the oven.
These were good, but there was too much baking soda, so they taste a little bit too much of baking soda.