Easy brown butter kitchen sink cookies decorated with melted chocolate! These bear cookies are crispy yet soft, sweet yet salty, and are so, so delicious. They can be made in one bowl with a hand whisk and rubber spatula, making these cute cookies an easy project for beginner bakers!
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About these kitchen sink cookies
I recently had Panera’s kitchen sink cookie for the first time, and it was soooo good. It was salty, sweet, soft, crunchy, all of the good things. And it’s what inspired these cute bear cookies, which I made for a brand deal with Pringles!
These cookies have chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and Pringles mixed into the batter, but you can def change it up to your liking! For example, you could add in crushed pretzels, marshmallows, Oreos, M&Ms, toffee bits, etc. Either way, you’ll get cookies with crisp edges and soft + chewy centers.
And what’s even better, is that this recipe is extremely beginner-friendly. You can use one bowl, a hand whisk, and a rubber spatula. Shaping the cookie dough is quick and all the decorations are made with melted chocolate. So no fancy equipment is needed, making this a fun project for the weekend.
If you’re interested in other kawaii cookie recipes I have like Aang Sugar Cookies, Frog Matcha Sugar Cookies, and Chick Lemon Cookies, check out this page!
FAQ
Can you make these vegan?
Yes, you can!
Instead of regular butter, you can swap in high quality vegan butter made for baking. Make sure to use a good brand—some brands are very high in water content and melt at lower temperatures, yielding very flat cookies. I recommend brands like Miyokos and Country Crock. In my personal experience, I have been able to brown Miyokos butter, but haven’t tried Country Crock yet.
You can also omit the egg. First, follow the recipe up until you add the flour, baking powder/soda, and salt. Slowly mix the dry ingredients in. If the dough seems too crumbly, add a tablespoon of alternative milk at a time (2-4 tbsp total), until the dough comes together. The finished dough should be thick, but scoopable.
And remember to be mindful of what mix-ins you use! Opt for vegan brands. And as for decorating the bear faces, you can replace the decorating chocolate for a vegan brand, like Pascha chocolate. OR, you can try out my easy icing recipe, which is found in my teddy bear cookie recipe.
Can you make these gluten-free?
Absolutely! I recommend using 1:1 gluten-free flour and gluten-free mix-ins.
Tips for baking and decorating
Properly measure the flour
I always like to measure my ingredients with a kitchen scale for consistent, accurate results. But if you’re measuring with cups, make sure you follow this tip: gently spoon in the flour into the cup until it’s full, then scrape the excess off using the back of a knife or offset spatula.
If you scoop the cup directly into the flour bag or container, the flour may get compacted, and you will be adding in more flour than necessary. On the other hand, if your flour is clumpy, you could be adding in chunks of flour into the cup with gaps in between them, possibly adding less flour than required. These instances can cause tougher or even really flat cookies, since the proper ratio of dry:wet ingredients isn’t met.
So, for best results, use a scale. If you don’t have one, gently spoon and level the flour into your measuring cup!
Chill the dough
After making the dough, cover the top with plastic wrap. Then, leave it in the fridge for about 30 minutes so the dough hardens up a bit. This will make shaping easier and also yield chewier cookies.
Shaping the dough
For each teddy bear cookie, you’ll want to use a small cookie scoop, or gather about 1 ½ tbsp of dough. Shape it into a ball and place it onto your lined baking tray. Repeat for about 14 more cookies, making sure you have some left over for the ears.
For the ears, take about 1/2 tsp of dough, and split it into two equally sized pieces. Roll into balls and place on the sides of the bears’ heads.
Decorating with melted chocolate
You can use a piping bag, cookie scribe, or toothpick to add on the details.
First, use the white chocolate for the snouts and ears. Then, use dark or milk chocolate to add the eyes and nose.
Storing the cookies
Store these cute bear cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week!
I really hope you enjoy this recipe. If you make these cute teddy cookies, I’d love to see them. You can tag me at #bitesbybianca / @bitesbybianca on Instagram. Enjoy!
If you’re interested in other kawaii cookie recipes I have like Aang Sugar Cookies, Frog Matcha Sugar Cookies, and Chick Lemon Cookies, check out this page!
Brown Butter Kitchen Sink Cookies
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Ingredients
Dry ingredients:
- 1 ¼ cup (156.25 g) all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) baking soda
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) salt
Wet ingredients:
- ½ cup (113.5 g) unsalted butter
- ⅓ cup (73.33 g) brown sugar packed
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 1 (1) egg
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) vanilla extract
Mix-ins
- ½ cup (90 g) chocolate chips
- ⅓ cup (56.67 g) butterscotch chips
- 15 (15) Pringles crushed
Decorations for face:
- 3 tablespoons (3 tablespoons) white chocolate melted
- ½ tablespoon (0.5 tablespoon) milk or dark chocolate melted
Instructions
For the cookie dough:
- In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the dry ingredients: all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Now, brown the butter.In a saucepan over medium heat, add in all of the unsalted butter. Continuously stir with a whisk or rubber spatula.After the butter melts, it will begin to foam. Then, the foaming will stop and brown specks will start to form at the bottom of the pan. The color change will be fairly quick, so keep an eye on the butter. Remove the pan from heat once you smell a nutty aroma and the butter becomes golden brown. Transfer to a heat-safe bowl and let slightly cool.
- In a large bowl, whisk the cooled, melted brown butter and both sugars until combined.
- Add egg and vanilla extract to the mixture. Whisk until smooth.
- Dump in all of the dry ingredients and mix-ins. Fold together using rubber spatula until no dry spots remains.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let chill in fridge for 30 minutes. This will help the flour hydrate and firm up the butter, yielding chewier cookies. Plus, the dough will be much easier to handle when shaping the teddy bear cookies.
- Place oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 325°F/162°C. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper/silicone mat.
- Use cookie scoop to gather dough (about 1.5 tablespoons each). Roll into a ball and place on lined baking sheet. This will be the bear's head. Repeat for about 14 more cookies, making sure you have leftover dough for the ears. For the ears, take about 1/2-1 tsp of dough (without any chocolate chips mixed into it), split it in two, and place on top left and right sides of the head. Repeat for other bears, spacing the cookies about 3 inches apart.
- Bake for 11-13 minutes, or until edges are set and slightly browned.Allow to cool on sheet for at least 5 minutes then transfer to cooling rack.
For the faces:
- You can a piping bag, toothpick, or cookie scribe to add on the details. I used a piping bag for the and ears, eyes, and snout.
- First, use melted white chocolate to add the snouts and ears.
- Use melted dark or milk chocolate to draw on the eyes and nose.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.
- To make it vegan, swap in a high quality vegan butter and vegan chocolate (suggestions listed in this blog post). Omit the egg. Follow the recipe accordingly up until you add in the dries. If the dough seems crumbly, add in a tbsp of alternative milk (2-4 tbsp total) at a time until the dough comes together. It should be thick, but scoopable.
- Make sure the mix-ins you are using are vegan!
- For the decorations: use a vegan chocolate brand like Pascha Chocolate. OR, you can try out my easy icing recipe, which is found in my teddy bear cookie recipe.
- To make it gluten-free, sub in 1:1 gluten-free flour!
- Make sure you opt for gluten-free mix-ins.
yum 😋
So glad you think so!! 🙂