These simple brown butter and cinnamon cookies may not wow in the looks department, but they definitely deliver in the flavour department! The nutty flavour of the brown butter forms a delicious background that complements the vanilla and cinnamon perfectly.
These cookies would make a great addition to a holiday cookie box, as they travel well and keep nicely. They can also be frozen. For me, I love these year-round alongside a cup of tea or coffee. Try dunking them in your coffee, biscotti style!
Ingredients and substitutions
A few notes about the key ingredients …
Butter – Unsalted butter is often recommended for brown butter as it gives you better control over the saltiness of your bake (browning can intensify the salty flavour). Salted butter also tends to foam more, which can make it hard to see the colour change of the butter.
That said, either salted or unsalted butter will work here. If you have to use salted butter, reduce the added salt in the recipe by 1/4 teaspoon as noted in the Recipe Card.
This is a visual summary of the steps to make this recipe. Always refer to the complete instructions in the Recipe Card below when making the recipe.
- Start by making the brown butter. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly.
- When the butter turns golden, immediately pour it into a small bowl to cool. It will need to cool about 1 hour, until cooled completely, but still liquid.
- Add the cooled brown butter and the sugar to the bowl or a stand mixer (or to a bowl with an electric beater).
- Beat the butter and sugar together, then beat in the eggs and vanilla.
- Add the flour mixture to the batter and mix until smooth and well incorporated.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap and pop it into the fridge to cool for about 30 minutes.
- Once cooled, use a cookie scoop to portion out the dough.
- Roll into balls, then roll in icing/confectioners’ sugar.
- Place the dough balls onto an ungreased baking sheet a couple of inches apart, then bake.
Recipe tips!
- You can make these cookies as small “button” cookies, using one scoop of the small cookie scoop. For larger cookies, use two scoops of the cookie scoop.
- The icing sugar will largely disappear while baking. It is intended to melt and create a crispy, sweet outside of the cookies. I dust them with additional icing sugar after baking.
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Ingredients
- 10 Tablespoons (140 g) butter
- 2 1/4 cups (282 g) all-purpose flour, spooned and levelled
- 1 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, **Reduce to 1/4 tsp if using salted butter
- 1 cup (200 g) white granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (45 g) light brown sugar, packed
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Icing sugar or white granulated sugar, for rolling
Instructions
- Tip! How you measure your flour matters, especially when making cookies! If you have a kitchen scale, use it to weigh the flour out. If not, be sure you stir your flour and spoon it into the dry measuring cup, levelling it off with the back of a knife.
- Start by making the brown butter. Add the butter to a medium saucepan and melt over medium heat. Stir constantly while the butter heats, watching for colour change from yellow to light golden, to a nice deep golden (not black) colour. As soon as it reaches that point, immediately pour the butter into a small bowl. Set aside to cool for about 1 hour, until completely cooled, but still liquid.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
- Once the brown butter has cooled, add it to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or to a large bowl with an electric beater. Add the sugar and cream it together with the brown butter at medium speed for about 2 minutes, until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla.
- With the mixer on low, spoon in the flour mixture and mix in until well combined. Remove the bowl from the mixer, cover the cookie dough with plastic wrap and place the bowl into the refrigerator to cool for about 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350F (non-convection/not fan-assisted). Have a large baking/cookie sheet ready and a bowl of icing/confections' sugar (or white granulated sugar) ready for rolling the cookies before baking.
- Tip! You can make small "button" cookies or larger cookies. For small button cookies, use 1 small cookie scoop of dough (about 1 Tbsp). For larger cookies, use two small cookie dough scoops of dough (about 2 Tbsp).
- Once the cookie dough has chilled, use a cookie scoop to portion out the dough. Roll into a ball. Roll the dough ball in the icing sugar to coat thoroughly and place onto the baking sheet a couple of inches apart.
- Bake the cookies 8-9 minutes for small "button" cookies and 11-12 minutes for larger cookies. Allow the cookies to sit on the baking sheet for 1 minute before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Tip! Much of the icing sugar coating will melt during baking. Its purpose is to make a sweet coating on the cookie for a nice, crispy outside. I like to dust the cookies with more icing sugar after they are baked for presentation. That is optional.
Notes
Hi! I’m Jennifer, a home cook schooled by trial and error and almost 40 years of getting dinner on the table! I love to share my favourite recipes, both old and new, together with lots of tips and tricks to hopefully help make your home cooking enjoyable, stress free, rewarding and of course, delicious!
These cookies are a new favorite in this household. Easy to make, pretty and delicious. The browned butter adds an extra layer of flavor and the texture is just what I like I a cookie. It’s temping to eat a whole pan straight out of the oven, but are even better if you wait until they are cold. Yummy Yummy Yummy
So glad you enjoyed them, Nina and I agree that the flavours are nicest once they have cooled. Thanks!
I made these this morning. They are SO delicious. Made them just as your recipe says, and before baking them, I pressed the balls down lightly with the bottom of a juice glass dipped in sugar. Thanks, Jennifer!
Sounds lovely, Mim! So glad you enjoyed them :)
These look delicious, Jennifer! Thank-you! I know a neighbour who would love these. When I make them I will definitely be sharing with her. :)
Thanks Susan, and these are great cookies to share :)