Browned Butter Snickerdoodles

Rich, chewy, cinnamon-y: these snickerdoodles are not too sweet, yet will totally satisfy your cookie craving. Browned butter adds a carmel-y, rich depth of flavour while the addition of cinnamon to the batter, not just the coating, makes these cookies crave-worthy! Here's how to make them:

Browned Butter Snickerdoodles

Yield: about 27 cookies

Prep: ~ 45 minutes

Bake: 10-12 minutes/ cookie sheet batch

Ingredients:

For the cookie batter:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, browned and cooled (see notes)*

• 1 cup brown sugar

• 1/2 cup white sugar

• 1 egg + 1 egg yolk

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 2 1/4 cups flour

• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

• 1 tsp cream of tartar

For the sugar coating:

• 1/4 cup white sugar

• 2 tsp cinnamon

Instructions:

1. Brown the butter. Pour browned butter into bowl of a stand mixer to cool to room temp. Make sure to scrape all of the bits of butter from the pan into the bowl.

2. Add 1 egg + 1 egg yolk, 1 cup brown sugar, and 1/2 cup white sugar and mix using the paddle attachment until smooth.

3. Add 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp cream of tartar, and 1 cup of the flour. Mix until combined, then add the remaining 1 1/4 cups flour. Mix until combined.

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Let the dough rest at room temp until your oven is preheated.

5. Line a metal making sheet with parchment. Do not use a dark metal baking sheet for baking cookies, as they will cook the cookies faster and they are more likely to burn. I like the oversized sheet pans, like this one, because they fit more cookies and bake them evenly.

6. In a small bowl, mix together 1/4 cup sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon.

7. Using a 1.5 tbsp cookie scoop, scoop dough and roll it into a ball. Roll the ball in the cinnamon sugar and place it on the cookie sheet. Allow 2 inches of space between the cookie dough balls since they will spread just a little bit. If you do not have a 1.5 tbsp cookie scoop, you can use a 1 tbsp and 1/2 tbsp measuring spoon to get the correct size cookie. Roll only enough cookies to fit on the cookie sheet at a time.

8. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cookies will be set on the edges and puffed in the middle. They should not be shiny. They will be soft at this point.

9. Allow to cool for 3-5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

10. Repeat step 7 until all of the dough is gone.

*How to brown butter.

1. Slice two sticks of butter into 1 inch slices and place in a medium-sized heavy-bottomed pot. You want a medium pot to give the butter more surface area to brown.

2. Place the pot on medium heat, swirling the pot every 30 seconds or so.

3. Butter will melt, and them begin to foam. It may become difficult to see the color of the butter from this point on, so you may have to look quickly while swirling. Also, your nose is a good tool to use when determining when your butter is browned; when you begin to smell a caramel scent, your butter is bout done.

4. After a few minutes the butter will begin to create brown flecks on the bottom of the pan, and it will sound like it is boiling. When it it smells good, has flecks on the bottom, and is a deep caramel color, like coffee, pull it off the stove and pour it into a bowl to cool. Do not burn the butter. Burnt browned butter will smell bitter and appear black.

Butter should look like rich coffee with little brown specks in it.

Ingredient Explanation:

Cream of Tartar: Adds chewiness

Egg yolk: Adds chewiness

Brown sugar: Adds moisture

White sugar: Adds crisp, encourages spread

These cookies are best eaten after being cooled completely. This allows them a chance to get their chewiest. If you are making these for a special occasion, I recommend making them the day before, as I find they taste the best the second day.

Enjoy!

Mary