These chewy brown sugar cookies are so simple as drop-style cookies come (no mixer required!), but they ship the form of deep, caramelized taste you normally solely discover within the richest chocolate chip cookies. No chips right here, although—this recipe lets brown sugar shine all by itself!
I initially printed this recipe in 2013 and have since added new photographs and useful success ideas. After gathering suggestions from readers over time, now we have additionally tweaked the recipe so as to add a little bit extra flour, to maintain the cookies from over-spreading.
I really like cookies filled with add-ins—chocolate chunks, caramel, sprinkles, all of it—however typically you simply need one thing easy, candy, and chewy. These cookies let brown sugar shine in each soft-baked, molasses-kissed chew.
However don’t name them plain! They’re filled with heat taste and have such a delightfully chewy texture that they don’t want any extras.
Unfussy and comfy, these chewy brown sugar cookies are the sort you don’t count on to fall in love with… till one chew makes them the solely cookie you need to bake all month. And the most effective half? They’re utterly beginner-friendly and excellent for each vacation trays and on a regular basis cravings.
Right here’s Why You’ll Love These Cookies:
- Chewy, delicate facilities + calmly crisp edges
- Easy substances you doubtless have already got readily available
- Candy, buttery, and comfy
- No particular tools or data of learn how to enhance sugar cookies required right here!
One reader, Michelle, commented: “I at all times thought-about sugar cookies because the sweet corn of the cookie world: a waste of butter and sugar. This recipe modified my thoughts. These cookies are so scrumptious all of my dinner friends most popular the sugar cookies over chocolate chip cookies. Let me say that once more: folks actively selected one thing that didn’t have chocolate. Sally, you’re really a magician. Thanks for opening an entire new world of cookies! ★★★★★“
The Secret Is… Brown Sugar
Utilizing all brown sugar within the cookie dough offers these cookies their signature taste and texture. Brown sugar doesn’t simply sweeten; its molasses content material provides moisture and chew that lasts for days. It additionally encourages extra caramelization within the oven, which interprets to deeper taste and people fairly golden edges.
Gentle or darkish brown sugar each work right here. Use darkish for those who’re after an additional deep taste. If I’ve each readily available, I take advantage of half gentle and half darkish.
In case you love brown sugar treats, strive my cut-out brown sugar cookies with icing subsequent, or my extra-tender brown sugar shortbread for a crumbly, melt-in-your-mouth variation.
Different Substances You Want
The substances for these cookies could seem acquainted for those who’ve ever made my recipe for chewy chocolate chip cookies. I used a couple of of the identical ingredient ratios and recipe strategies in at the moment’s chewy brown sugar cookies.
- Flour: All-purpose flour is finest for cookies.
- Baking Soda: This leavener will trigger the cookies to puff up whereas baking, then fall and crinkle a bit as they cool.
- Cornstarch: Cornstarch offers the cookies that ultra-soft consistency all of us love. Plus, it helps preserve the cookies fantastically thick.
- Cinnamon: 1/2 teaspoon provides a refined kiss of spice. In case you love cinnamon-sugar-flavored treats, use 1 complete teaspoon. In case you’re a brown sugar cookie purist, depart it out. Baker’s selection!
- Salt: To stability the sweetness of the brown sugar.
- Melted Butter: Melted butter produces the chewiest cookies. It could possibly, nonetheless, make your baked cookies greasy, so I made certain there may be sufficient flour to counteract that. And utilizing melted butter can be the explanation you don’t want a mixer to make these cookies, similar to these M&M cookie bars.
- Brown Sugar: The moisture in brown sugar guarantees an additional delicate and chewy baked cookie. You need to use gentle or darkish brown sugar in these cookies, and truly, I normally make them with half gentle and half darkish.
- Egg: To bind the substances collectively.
- Vanilla Extract: Taste enhancer extraordinaire!
Making ready the cookie dough is straightforward. Whisk dry substances in a single bowl and whisk moist substances in one other; then, mix the whole lot collectively.
Chilling this cookie dough for a minimum of 3–4 hours is a non-negotiable. We have to give the melted butter an opportunity to agency up earlier than baking the cookies. These brown sugar cookies are very buttery and the colder the cookie dough, the much less they’ll over-spread. Listed below are extra tips about learn how to stop cookies from spreading.
My recommendation? Make the dough forward of time. It could possibly chill within the fridge for as much as 3 days, so whip it up a day or two forward of when you may have time to bake the cookies.
Scoop & Roll These Drop-Model Sugar Cookies
A medium cookie scoop is useful to portion out the chilly dough into 1.5-Tablespoon-size items. Roll the cookie dough into balls, then coat them in granulated sugar.
You understand a cookie recipe is a winner when its softness isn’t compromised as the times go by. All of us love that about this recipe! True “soft-batch” fashion, similar to the cookies you get from a bakery.
Right here’s a Storage Tip: To maintain them further delicate, strive storing them in an hermetic container together with a bit of bread. The bread will get stale, however the cookies will keep delicate! It’s the identical trick you should use to melt up brown sugar that’s gotten arduous within the container.
In case you love the pure brown sugar taste of those cookies, remember to strive my brown sugar shortbread cookies subsequent!
I get this query loads, so we examined it! Sure, you should use brown butter for these cookies, however you must add further liquid to the dough to make up for the lack of moisture through the browning course of. Add 2 Tablespoons of water or milk to the dough once you combine collectively the moist substances.
These chewy brown sugar cookies are proof that typically the best recipes can simply grow to be a family favourite.
Description
Bake a batch of chewy brown sugar cookies with plush facilities, calmly crisp edges, and comfy brown sugar sweetness. A easy, no-mixer, beginner-friendly cookie recipe. See make-ahead and freezing directions under.
- In a big bowl, whisk collectively the flour, baking soda, cornstarch, cinnamon, and salt. Put aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the melted butter and brown sugar collectively till no brown sugar lumps stay. Whisk within the egg and vanilla. Pour the moist substances into the dry substances and blend along with a silicone spatula or giant wood spoon till utterly mixed. The dough might be very delicate, but thick.
- Cowl the dough and refrigerate for a minimum of 3–4 hours, or as much as 3 days. Chilling is obligatory.
- Take the dough out of the fridge and permit to barely soften at room temperature for quarter-hour if it chilled for longer than 4 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 325°F (163°C). Line giant baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Put aside.
- Pour the granulated sugar right into a small bowl. Scoop and roll dough right into a ball, about 1.5 Tablespoons (30–35g) in measurement, then roll within the sugar. Place 3 inches aside on the ready baking sheets (8–9 cookies per baking sheet).
- Bake for 14–16 minutes, till the sides of the cookies are set and small cracks are showing. The cookies might be puffy and nonetheless seem very delicate within the center, however they’ll deflate barely and proceed to set as they cool. Take away from the oven and permit to chill on the baking sheet for 10 minutes earlier than transferring to a cooling rack to chill utterly.
- Cowl cooled cookies tightly and retailer at room temperature for as much as 1 week.
Notes
- Make Forward & Freezing Directions: You can also make the cookie dough and chill it within the fridge for as much as 3 days. Baked cookies freeze nicely for as much as 3 months. Thaw in a single day within the fridge and convey to room temperature, if desired, earlier than serving. Unbaked cookie dough balls (earlier than rolling in sugar) will freeze nicely for as much as 3 months. Let sit at room temperature for half-hour, preheat the oven, then roll in granulated sugar. Bake as directed. Learn my ideas and tips on learn how to freeze cookie dough.
- Butter: Let the melted butter calm down for about 5–10 minutes earlier than mixing with the opposite substances. Don’t need to prepare dinner that egg with the recent butter!
- Cornstarch: Cornstarch helps promise a softer, thicker cookie. I extremely advocate it. I take advantage of it in my chocolate chip cookies and shortbread cookies, too. Be at liberty to depart it out for those who don’t have it.
- Make sure to try my prime 5 cookie baking ideas AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking instruments.
