These brown butter snickerdoodles are insanely easy and delicious! This recipe starts with my base Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe and adds cream of tartar for that delicious, classic, tangy taste of snickerdoodles. The brown butter in these snickerdoodles elevates the cinnamon flavor so much more than traditional snickerdoodles. I love these cookies!!
What’s in a brown butter snickerdoodle?
Flour: I use a little extra flour in this recipe to make these cookies extra tall and fluffy.
Cream of tartar: This is the signature ingredient in a snickerdoodle. It’s what adds that tanginess to the cookie. Do not skip this!!
Brown butter: Brown butter pairs very well with the cinnamon in these and adds an extra pop of flavor.
Cinnamon: It’s not a snickerdoodle without cinnamon! These cookies have cinnamon in the dough and are rolled in cinnamon sugar.
Baking soda: Baking soda is essential in this recipe because it helps balance out the acidity in the cream of tartar. It also helps the cookies rise.
Granulated sugar: Sugar both sweetens these cookies and helps them hold their tall structure without crumbling.
Salt and vanilla: Both of these ingredients help to bring out the flavors in the cookies. Don’t skip either of these!!
Eggs: Eggs give these cookies the perfect rise. The extra egg yolk helps keep the cookies super tender.
How to brown butter
Browning butter is a lot easier than it may seem. To brown butter, simply place your butter into a pot over medium heat for 7-10 minutes. The butter will melt and boil. In this stage, stir the butter occasionally. Then, once your butter starts to foam and crackle, stir constantly. This means your butter is almost done. Once you start to see the brown bits forming on the bottom of the pan and can smell the nutty aroma, pull the pot off the heat and transfer your butter to a new bowl. Your butter should look something like this. When in doubt, take it off the heat! It is pretty easy to burn the butter, so pull it off the heat as soon as it starts to brown.
Do I have to use cream of tartar in snickerdoodles?
Yes!! Cream of tartar is what provides snickerdoodles with their signature tangy flavor. Using cream of tartar helps to balance out the flavors of the cookie. Without it, snickerdoodles become overly sweet and they will lack flavor.
Do I have to chill my dough?
I highly, highly recommend chilling your dough before baking. Chilling your dough allows the cookies to develop a better flavor to them and allows the ingredients to relax and tenderize your cookie even further. For all my cookies, I typically freeze them for 2 hours before baking. This develops the flavor and helps them keep their shape better. Just look at the difference! The cookie that was frozen (on the left) is much taller than the one on the right (baked immediately). A taller cookie allows for a softer, more dense inside. If you like your cookies a little crispier on the outside, then you can chill your dough in the fridge instead of the freezer.
Can I freeze this dough?
Absolutely! You can keep this dough in the freezer for up to three months. After you have shaped the dough, let it chill in the freezer for about 2 hours until the dough balls harden. Once they are solid enough, you can place them in a plastic bag or airtight container and bake them off as needed. Bake off like normal, but add an extra 2-3 minutes onto your baking time.
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Brown Butter Snickerdoodles
Equipment
- 1 Small pot
- 1 Whisk
- 1 Baking sheet
Ingredients
- 170 grams Unsalted butter, browned 1 ½ sticks
- 250 grams All purpose flour 2 cups
- 1 ½ teaspoon Cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Baking soda
- 1 Whole Egg
- 1 Yolk Egg
- 135 grams Granulated sugar 1 ⅓ cup
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
Cinnamon Sugar Topping
- 25 grams Granulated sugar 1/4 cup
- 2 teaspoons Ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Brown your butter over medium heat. Stir occasionally until the butter starts to foam, then stir constantly. Once browned, transfer your butter to a heat-proof bowl and place in the freezer to cool for 10-15 minutes.
- While your butter is cooling, prepare your dry ingredients in a medium bowl. To the bowl, add your flour, cream of tartar, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda. Mix until combined.
- When your butter has cooled to room temperature, add it to a large mixing bowl along with your granulated sugar, whole egg, and egg yolk. Whisk until thoroughly combined. Make sure there's no more streaks of egg!
- Add your dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix with a rubber spatula until there's no more flour visible.
- Scoop your dough into 3 Tablespoon size balls. You should end up with 10-12 balls.
- In a small bowl, combine 2 teaspoons of cinnamon with 25g (1/4 cup). Roll each dough ball in the cinnamon sugar mixture until well coated.
- Place the dough balls on a tray or plate that will fit in your freezer. Freeze for two hours.
- Preheat your oven to 350F. Bake cookies at 350F for 9-11 minutes or until the cookies no longer look wet on top. You want to under bake them slightly because they'll continue to cook on the tray.
