Brown Butter Sugar Cookies

Brown butter espresso cookies on a wire rack, one is decorated as a bear.

5 from 1 vote

These brown butter sugar cookies are soft, a bit chewy, toasty, nutty, and not too sweet! It's a recipe you'll want to make again and again... I pinky promise! :)

Prep Time20

Cook Time9

Total Time29

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: cookies

Calories: 191kcal

Author: Bianca Fernandez

Equipment

Kitchen scale/measuring cups
Measuring spoons
stainless steel or light-colored pan
silicone spatula
heatproof bowl
medium mixing bowl for dry ingredients
large mixing bowl for mixing cookie dough
hand whisk
Medium cookie scoop 2-3 tablespoon capacity
Cookie sheets
Parchment Paper
Wire rack
3 microwave-safe bowls, optional for bear design
3 Piping bags optional for bear design

Ingredients

Dry ingredients:

1 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon table salt

Wet ingredients:

½ cup unsalted butter cut into tablespoons
2 tablespoons milk powder I used whole fat, but you can use any milk powder
1 teaspoon espresso powder
½ cup brown sugar light or dark, packed
½ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

For rolling:

¼ cup granulated sugar

Topping:

flaky sea salt

Optional decorations for bear:

3 tablespoons white chocolate
½ tablespoon milk or dark chocolate
oil-based pink food coloring, see steps

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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 and 2 tablespoons milk powder. 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. Stir in 1 teaspoon espresso powder.

For the cookie dough:

Preheat the oven to 325°F/162°C. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper/silicone mat.
In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the dry ingredients: 1 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, and ¾ teaspoon table salt.
In a large bowl, whisk the cooled, melted brown butter with ½ cup brown sugar and ½ cup granulated sugar until combined.
Add in 1 egg, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth.
Dump in all of the dry ingredients. Fold together using silicone spatula until no dry spots remains.

Scoop & bake:

For regular cookies: Use cookie scoop to gather dough (about 1 ½ tablespoons each), roll into granulated sugar, and place on baking sheet. Repeat, spacing cookie dough balls about 3 inches apart.
To make bears (optional): For the ears, take about 1 tsp of dough, split it in 2, and roll them in granulated sugar. Place them on top left and right sides of a cookie dough ball on the baking sheet. Repeat for other bears, spacing the cookies about 3 inches apart.
Bake for 9-11 minutes or until edges are set. Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle flaky sea salt on top. Cool on sheet for at least 5 minutes then transfer to wire rack to fully cool.

For the bear faces (optional):

Note: You can a piping bag, toothpick, or cookie scribe to add on the details. I used piping bags.
Add white chocolate to small microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring in between, until fully melted.
Leave about a tablespoon of melted white chocolate and transfer the rest to a piping bag. Use this for the snouts and ears.
To the remaining white chocolate, add a drop of oil-based pink food coloring. Transfer to piping bag and use this for the blush.
If you don't have oil-based food coloring, then the chocolate will seize/become lumpy. To counter this, stir in a tsp of neutral oil (canola, vegetable) at a time, until it becomes smooth again.
Melt dark or milk chocolate in another bowl, transfer to piping bag, and use this to draw on the eyes and nose.
Enjoy!

Notes

Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Check out my more in-depth post on browning butter here!

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