These corn sugar cookies made with brown sugar are simple to make and full of flavor! They have a great cornmeal texture, strong flavor from the sweet corn powder, and a hint of nuttiness from the brown butter. I made these for a cookie exchange and they were one of the first ones to go!
Interested in more corn desserts? Try out my roll-out corn cookie recipe!
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❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- You won’t need any special equipment. The butter is browned over the stovetop and the corn cookie dough is mixed together in one bowl.
- It’s perfect for corn lovers. The cookies have cornmeal and sweet corn powder, which add great texture and flavor.
- It’s versatile. Zhuzh it up however you like! For example, you could mix in half a cup of sprinkles or chocolate chips.
Looking for more another sugar cookie recipe? Try out my famous earl grey sugar cookie recipe!
Ingredients
To make corn sugar cookies from scratch, you’ll need the following ingredients:
- You’ll brown unsalted butter, which will add a nice toasty, nutty flavor to the cookies. Since we’re using it in its melted form, it’ll make mixing the cookies by hand much easier.
- I like to use a mix of brown sugar and granulated sugar to create the perfect balance of flavor and chew. You can use light or dark brown sugar; dark brown sugar will just give you a deeper butterscotch flavor.
- I love adding medium-grind cornmeal to this recipe because it adds that iconic gritty texture normally found in cornbread.
- The sweet corn powder adds a beautiful rich corn flavor, giving these cookies a super distinct corn flavor.
- Adding in both baking powder and baking soda gives us the exact texture and rise we’re aiming for!
- You can use either vanilla extract or vanilla paste (1:1) in this recipe.
For the full list of ingredients and measurements, see the recipe card below.
💡 Baking Tip
- Weigh your ingredients! One of my favorite kitchen tools is a kitchen scale because it’s more accurate than measuring by volume. If you use cups, spoon the flour in gently, then level it with a knife or spatula.
- For rounder cookies, place a large circular cutter or mug on top of a freshly baked, warm cookie. Move it around in a circular motion until your cookie is perfectly round! This step is totally optional and purely for plating purposes! 🙂
How to Make Soft, Chewy Corn Sugar Cookies
Step 1: Brown the butter on medium-low heat until nice and toasty, then transfer to a large heat-safe bowl to cool to room temperature (full brown butter tutorial here). Mix in brown and granulated sugars until fully combined.
Step 2: Add in egg, malted milk powder, and vanilla until smooth.
Step 3: Stir in dry ingredients until no dry spots remain. Cover and chill in fridge for 30 minutes. Use a cookie scoop (2-3 tablespoon capacity) to gather dough, then roll into granulated sugar.
Step 4: Bake corn cookies at 350°F/177°C for 9-11 minutes, or until edges are slightly golden and middles are mostly set. Remove from oven let cookies sit on tray for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to fully cool. Enjoy!
For full instructions, see the recipe card below.
“Holy sh*t!” – one of my taste testers LOL
😋 More Sugar Cookie Recipes
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Thank you so much! -Bianca ❤️
📖 Recipe & Video
Corn Sugar Cookies
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Equipment
- 1 Small light-colored saucepan for browning butter
- 1 large mixing bowl for mixing dough
- Parchment Paper
Ingredients
Dry ingredients:
- 1 cup (120 g) all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup (35 g) cornmeal
- ¼ cup (40 g) sweet corn powder
- ½ teaspoon (2 g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (2 g) baking soda
- ½ teaspoon (3 g) fine sea salt or table salt
Wet ingredients:
- ½ cup (113.5 g) unsalted butter
- ⅓ cup (66.67 g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (55 g) brown sugar packed; light or dark
- 3 tablespoons (21 g) malted milk powder
- 1 tablespoon (13 g) vanilla extract or paste
- 1 (1) egg room temperature
For rolling:
- 4 tablespoons granulated sugar
Instructions
Brown the butter:
- (Feel free to check out my more in-depth post about brown butter)In a light-colored pan over medium heat, add ½ cup unsalted butter. Continuously stir with a silicone spatula. After the butter melts, it will begin to foam. Then, the foaming will subside and brown specks will start to form at the bottom of the pan. Keep stirring. 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 cool until room temperature, about 10-15 minutes.
Make the cookie dough:
- In a large bowl, use silicone spatula to mix the cooled, melted brown butter with ⅓ cup granulated sugar and ¼ cup brown sugar until combined.
- Stir in 3 tablespoons malted milk powder, 1 tablespoon vanilla, and 1 egg until smooth.
- Add in all of the dry ingredients: 1 cup all-purpose flour, ¼ cup cornmeal, ¼ cup sweet corn powder, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, and ½ teaspoon fine sea salt. Mix until no dry spots remain.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to 2 days. In the last 5-10 minutes of chilling, preheat oven to 350°F/177°C and line two baking trays with parchment paper.
Bake cookies:
- In a small bowl or plate, add 4 tablespoons granulated sugar for rolling the dough.
- Use cookie dough scoop to gather dough (2-3 tablespoons). Roll into granulated sugar and place on lined baking tray, spacing cookies about 3-4 inches apart.
- Bake one tray at a time for 9-11 minutes, or until edges are slightly golden brown and middles are mostly set. Cool cookies on pan for 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to wire rack to cool completely.Tip: For rounder cookies, place a large circular cutter or mug on top of a freshly baked, warm cookie. Move it around in a circular motion until your cookie is perfectly round.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- Weigh your ingredients! One of my favorite kitchen tools is a kitchen scale because it’s more accurate than measuring by volume. If you use cups, spoon the flour in gently, then level it with a knife or spatula.
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- Room temperature: Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
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- Freezing instructions: Store cooled cookies in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. You can also freeze cookie dough for up to a year and bake as usual—just add a couple more minutes to the baking time.
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- Reheating instructions (if you want warm cookies!): Allow frozen cookies to thaw at room temperature for about 15 minutes. Or, reheat in the microwave at 10-second intervals.
