I fell in love with brown butter/brown sugar tasting cookies last year when I made my Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies. Ever since that time I was dreaming about making sugar cookies with same butterscotch/caramel taste. So I made these Brown Butter Brown Sugar Cookies which are super soft an chewy on the inside and crisp on the outside.
If you want to obtain chewy texture, you need to use more unsaturated fat than saturated fat. That is why I used 1/4 cup butter and 1/2 cup oil. Additionally, I cooked the butter to get that wonderful nutty flavor of browned butter. You can see more details about how to make brown butter here.
Before baking, you can roll each cookie in mixture of granular and brown sugar. I tried that and it was fine, but I generally prefer cookies without coating.
After baking, cookies will have slightly humped shape. That is why you flatten them with a bottom of a glass and then bake for 2 more minutes. This step is not really necessary, but it makes cookies looking nice.
Keep Brown Butter Brown Sugar Cookies in a closed container.
Just a quick reminder about the science behind the perfect cookies:
- 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 125 g
- 3/4 cup cake flour 95 g, or substitute with mixture of 1 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch and 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 cup brown butter* 2 oz; 55g
- 1/2 cup oil
- 1 tsp honey or corn syrup
- 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar 5 1/2 ounces; 150g, like Muscovado
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk
- FOR ROLLING : optional
- 1/4 c granulated sugar
- 1/4 c brown sugar
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees (175 C). Line 2 baking trays with baking paper (parchment paper).
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In a bowl, combine all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.
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Put brown butter into another large bowl. Add oil, honey, brown sugar, salt, vanilla and lemon juice and stir until combined. Add egg and yolk and continue whisking (with a hand whisk, no mixer needed) until mixture is smooth. Let the mixture stand for 10 minutes at this point in order to allow sugar to dissolve.
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Using a spoon or spatula, stir in flour mixture until just combined, but do not overmix. Cover and refrigerate for about 2 hours.
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Take 1 tablespoon of dough at a time and roll into balls. If you like, you can roll dough balls in a combination of brown and granulated sugar to give it a crust. Place dough balls 2 inches apart on lined baking sheets. Press lightly to flatten to get 2 inches (5 cm) wide cookies.
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Bake 1 sheet at a time on the middle rack, until cookies are puffy and slightly brown, about 8 to 10 minutes (depending on your oven). Remove cookies from the oven, gently press down with the bottom of a glass. Place them back into the oven for 2 more minutes. Cookie centers should still be soft. Cool the cookies on the sheets for at least 5 minutes.
*To make brown butter: In a thick-bottomed skillet, melt 1/4 cup (2 oz; 55g) unsalted butter over medium heat. Continue cooking, whisking frequently, for about - 1 to 3 minutes or until butter is lightly browned and has nutty aroma. Be careful not to burn the butter.
Wow these brown sugar cookies look perfect! They definitely have been added to my holiday baking list!
I hope you’ll like them 🙂
The ingredients list a tsp of lemon juice but I don’t see it in the instructions.
It is added together with oil, honey, brown sugar, salt and vanilla.
The recipe calls for 2 oz brown butter but the instructions on how to make brown butter uses 2 oz of butter. Which amount is correct 2 oz brown butter or 2 oz of butter browned?
You take 2 oz regular butter, cook it for 1-3 minutes until it browns. Some water will evaporate, but the amount of butter will not decrease significantly.