Brown Butter Snickerdoodles

These Brown Butter Snickerdoodles give the classic cinnamon cookie recipe a much-needed upgrade with brown butter, brown sugar, and a splash of bourbon. But don’t worry – they still have the classic snickerdoodle soft center, crisp edges, and cinnamon sugar coating you know and love!

So read on for the detailed tips and tricks to making brown butter and what to do if you have no cream of tartar. Or just grab your cinnamon, hit that purple Jump to Recipe button, and let’s make what I think is the best brown butter snickerdoodle recipe!

Background story

I’ve been baking treats for my weekly team meeting for a few years, and every one of my team members has a favorite. Lauren asked for peanut butter chocolate chip cookies for her dissertation defense, Andy always wanted brown butter Rice Krispie treats (the more over the top, the better), and Lisa loves anything red velvet. These brown butter snickerdoodles are for Maggie.

Snickerdoodle cookie ingredients

There are really no special ingredients to making these almost magical snickerdoodles. They just have an extra kick because:

• Brown butter adds rich, nutty notes.
• A high proportion of brown sugar adds butterscotch flavor.
• Bourbon brings caramel, oak, and spice undertones to tie it all together. But you can always substitute a teaspoon or two of vanilla extract if you prefer.

About cream of tartar

Cream of tartar is a potassium salt of tartaric acid. It’s commonly used to stabilize whipped egg whites in meringues, macarons, and homemade marshmallows.

For snickerdoodles, cream of tartar provides the acid to activate the baking soda and create chemical leavening. Nearly every other snickerdoodle recipe talks about how cream of tartar provides a unique tang that’s critical to snickerdoodle flavor.

But smart people like you and me know that baking soda plus an acid is baking soda. And you can make homemade baking powder with the same two to one ratio of cream of tartar to baking soda in pretty much every snickerdoodle recipe!

So I experimented with using baking powder in this recipe. And know what? Six blind taste tasters couldn’t taste any difference in tang or any other flavors!

So there’s no question you can make snickerdoodles with no cream of tartar. Replace the cream of tartar and baking soda with 2 teaspoons baking powder.

Recipe tips and tricks

I always start brown butter recipes with browning the butter so it has time to cool. The secret to browned butter is to ignore it while it’s melting, but pay close attention as the popping slows. I use a silicone spatula to stir those browning bits off the pan bottom and cook until they’re a medium brown.

Remove the pan from the heat and let cool until no longer hot to the touch. If you’ve gotten your bits very brown, I’d pour the brown butter into a Pyrex measuring cup to stop further browning.

This is when I measure the rest of my ingredients and line my baking sheets with parchment or a silicone liner. Combine the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl.

Once the butter is cool to touch, beat the cooled brown butter with the sugars until combined. Add the eggs and bourbon one at a time, beating a minute after each.

Mix in the dry ingredients on low speed or by hand until just combined. And now you have a choice.

You can scoop the brown butter snickerdoodle dough now and roll it in a bowl of cinnamon sugar and bake right away. You don’t need to chill the dough, but it’s squishy to roll around and transfer to your baking sheet.

Alternatively, you can scoop all of your snickerdoodle dough balls on a single baking sheet and freeze the dough for 15 minutes or more so it’s easier to handle before coating in cinnamon sugar. Either way, use a #40 cookie scoop or two spoons to make ~1.5 tablespoon dough balls.

You can freeze the snickerdoodle dough balls for up to three months. Just like with freezing my brownie crinkles or ube crinkle cookies, you do want to let the frozen brown butter snickerdoodle dough warm up some before rolling in cinnamon sugar so it absorbs as much cinnamon goodness as possible!

When you’re nearly ready to bake, preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C). Place the brown butter snickerdoodle dough on a silicone or parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing 2 inches apart – so no more than 12 on a single sheet.

Bake your brown butter snickerdoodles for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are set but the centers are soft. Cool on the pan for 10 minutes or so before transferring to a rack to cool completely.

Related drop cookie recipes

Love cookies? Check out some of my favorite cookies and brownies from the archives, like: