This snickerdoodle cookie recipe was first published back in 2012 and it continues to be one of my personal favorite and most popular cookie recipes on Ambitious Kitchen.
Apparently, this cookie has become so popular that Tasty (along with a few others) decided to steal the recipe; but trust me when I say that this is the original, real deal beloved brown butter snickerdoodles that I developed from scratch while living out in LA back when I was just 23 years old.
These cookies are simply perfect in texture and flavor. The outside is crispy, but the inside is gooey, flavorful (from that brown butter baby), and incredibly soft. Could you imagine eating these while sipping a chai tea latte?! Swoon!
So I know you probably have a million things to do this week, but perhaps you can add these delicious little cookies to your list too?
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original photos from 2012
What’s a snickerdoodle cookie?
If you aren’t familiar with what a snickerdoodle is, let me explain: snickerdoodle cookies are traditionally a sugar cookie rolled in a cinnamon-sugar mixture with the addition of cream of tartar in the dough for that bit of tang flavor.
They’re absolutely amazing, and I swear there’s just something about snickerdoodles that are cozy and comforting around the holiday season.
Ingredients in brown butter snickerdoodles
First off, let me say that these cookies are extraordinary. And when I mean extraordinary, I mean that they taste like no other snickerdoodle in the world. IN THE FREAKIN’ WORLD PEOPLE. Here’s what you’ll need to make them:
- Brown butter: these cookies require you to brown butter and trust me, it makes ALL the difference to a rich, chewy caramel flavored cookie.
- Dark brown sugar + regular sugar: I used dark brown sugar in my dough because frankly, it’s awesome and I find that a higher ratio of brown sugar vs. granulated sugar always makes a cookie more chewy and rich with that tiny hint of a caramel flavor.
- 1 egg + 1 egg yolk: the extra add provides moisture and a rich texture.
- Vanilla: always & forever.
- Greek yogurt: a tablespoon is all you need to help create an epic textured cookie with just the right amount of chew. Don’t skip it! Of course, sour cream is a great substitute.
- All purpose flour: this is the best flour for these cookies.
- Baking soda: essential to the cookies texture. Make sure your baking soda is no more than 3 months old.
- Cream of tartar: this creates a slight tangy flavor, which is a classic trait of a snickerdoodle!
- Cinnamon: no snickerdoodle cookie is complete without a healthy dose of cinnamon.
- Salt: adds additional flavor!
Do I need to use cream of tartar?
I know it seems like a strange ingredient, but cream of tartar is what gives snickerdoodles an amazing, soft texture because it prevents the sugar from crystallizing, and it reacts with the baking soda to make them puffy and delicious. Cream of tartar also has a very slight acidic flavor that pairs with the sugar that you’ll find in traditional snickerdoodles.
Can I make them gluten free?
I can’t recommend a gluten free flour swap in these brown butter snickerdoodles, however, I have an amazing grain and gluten free snickerdoodle recipe here!
Learn how to brown butter
If you don’t know how to brown butter, I’ve created a step-by-step tutorial to show you how to make the magic happen. It makes these snickerdoodles absolutely epic!
Tips for making the best snickerdoodles
- Follow the recipe. Do not use substitutions. This is a tried and true recipe and if made correctly, will easily become a family favorite!
- Use room temperature ingredients. Make sure your brown butter is cool enough to touch before using. I usually set it aside to cool for 10 minutes before making the recipe.
- Use ALL of the brown butter. Scrape every little bit of brown butter from the pan. We want that flavor!
- Don’t forget to add greek yogurt. If you don’t have greek yogurt, sour cream is a great substitute.
- Roll before chilling. If you want to make it easier to bake the cookies, I suggest rolling them into balls before chilling the dough. That way you can simply place them on the prepared baking sheet and bake! Up to you.
Jazz up these snickerdoodles
These brown butter snickerdoodles are, of course, incredible on their own, but I think they’d be DELICIOUS with white chocolate chunks or dark chocolate chunks mixed into the batter! Cinnamon sugar + chocolate is such an underrated combo.
How to freeze cookie dough for later
I LOVE freezing extra cookie dough because that way I can pop them in the oven whenever I want and it’s great when you want to bring something to a party or to a loved one’s house, but don’t feel like having a baking extravaganza. To freeze cookie dough for baking later:
- After dough is done chilling in the fridge for at least an hour, roll the cookie dough into balls and place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Chill the dough in the freezer for 30 minutes. This is known as a flash freeze.
- Once the cookie dough balls firm up, you can transfer them to a reusable freezer-safe bag or container. Cookie dough will keep well for up to 3 months.
- When ready to bake, simply bake cookies as directed in the recipe. You’ll likely just need to add a few extra minutes of baking time! Enjoy.
How to freeze baked cookies for later
If you want to freeze the already baked cookies for later, simply wait for them to cool completely, then transfer them to a reusable freezer-safe bag or container lined with wax or parchment paper. I like to place them in a single layer to avoid any cookies breaking. Cookies will keep well for up to 2 months. Once ready to eat, simply thaw out at room temperature and enjoy.
More cookie recipes you’ll love
- Incredible Gingerbread Oatmeal Cream Pies
- Key Lime White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies
- Death by Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
- Soft Brown Butter Ginger Cookies with Lovely Lemon Icing
- Salted Brown Butter Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies
Get all of my cookie recipes here!
If you make these brown butter snickerdoodles, please leave a comment below and rate the recipe — it means the world to me and helps others know how you enjoyed the cookies! xo.
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Brown Butter Snickerdoodle Cookies
Ingredients
- Dry ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Wet ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
- 1 ¼ cup packed dark brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon plain greek yogurt
- For rolling mixture:
- ¼ cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
Instructions
- First, brown your butter: add butter to a large saucepan and place over medium heat. The butter will begin to crackle, and then eventually foam. Make sure you whisk constantly during this process. After a couple of minutes, the butter will begin to brown and turn a nice golden amber color on the bottom of the saucepan. Continue to whisk and remove from heat as soon as the butter begins to brown and give off a nutty aroma. Immediately transfer the butter to a medium bowl to prevent burning. Set aside to cool for 5-10 minutes or until cool enough to touch.
- Once brown butter is cool, add all of it to the bowl of an electric mixer, along with the dark brown sugar and granulated sugar. Mix on medium speed for about 1 minute.
- Next, add in the egg, egg yolk, vanilla, and yogurt and beat on medium speed until well combined, smooth and creamy; about 1-2 minutes.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and salt in a bowl. Slowly the dry ingredients to the bowl of the electric mixer and beat on medium-low speed just until combined.
- Cover dough with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 2-3 hours or up to overnight. If you are super eager, place in freezer for 30-45 minutes, although I cannot promise the same results if you do this. Fridge is always best! If you desire a 'puffy' cookie, place them in the fridge overnight.
- Helpful tip: If you want to make it easier to bake the cookies, I suggest rolling them into balls BEFORE chilling the dough. That way you can simply place them on the prepared baking sheet and bake! Up to you. I simply roll them into balls, place on a plate or baking sheet and place in the fridge for a few hours.
- Once ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Once dough is chilled measure about 2 tablespoons of dough and roll into a ball. If dough is too hard to roll into a ball, you may need to let it sit out at room temperature for 10-20 minutes while your oven preheats.
- Meanwhile, mix 1/4 cup sugar and the 2 teaspoons cinnamon in a bowl. Roll dough balls in cinnamon-sugar mixture, then place on cookie sheet, 2 inches apart.
- Bake the cookies 8-12 minutes or until the edges of the cookies begin to turn golden brown. They will look a bit underdone in the middle, but will continue to cook once out of the oven. Bake longer if you like crispier cookies.
- Cool the cookies on the sheets at least 5 minutes. Remove the cooled cookies from the baking sheets after a few minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough. Makes about 24 cookies.
Recipe Notes
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
325 comments
Hi Monique…..I'm new to Ambitious Kitchen, but really am loving all your posts! I noted that you mention chai tea latte several times. I love the chai at the Indian restaurant, but have been greatly disappointed in all, yes all, the bagged chai teabags. I have even gone to the Indian market and purchased tea masala, boiled it with darjeeling and milk, and it still is not the same. Do you have a recipe?
I'm sorry I do not have a recipe for Chai Tea right now.
T2 has an amazing amazing selection of teas haven’t had a bad one yet I’m in love with their sticky honey chai.
Here’s a wonderful chai recipe I’ve made several times.
https://foodess.com/authentic-indian-chai-tea-recipe/
Added to my weekend list! Along with your pumpkin sauce enchiladas. I laughed out loud at the man bait comment. Too funny 🙂
I loveeee this blog. Why? Because you make awesome foods, awesomerrr. Case in point. ♥
These look so soft and chewy. Snickerdoodles are one of my favorite cookies. Thanks for sharing this great recipe. Will be bookmarking it for later. I also have too many butternut squashes on my counter.
Your weekend sounds like my DREAM weekend! And these cookies look ridiculously amazing. SO soft in the center. My dream weekend would probably also include eating an entire platter of these.
Sues
Oh my goshhh- the gooey center puts these over the top! I’ve always preferred soft cookies to crisp ones, and these look amazing!
Omg I’m new to your site, I enjoyed so much I signed up to your feed & got your brown butter snicker doodle recipe & made it these are the best cookies ever barely lasted 2 days at our home. Thank you
Wow! Looks like a bite size filled cake. 🙂
These were awesome! I didn’t have cream of tartar or cinnamon (and yet NEEDED to make these), and they turned out really well. I just substituted brown sugar for cinnamon. I’ve tried a few other recipes on your site, and they’ve always worked and have become favorites. Thanks!
I’m waiting for the butter to cool, and it’s hard to do, but I know I’ve gotta be patient! I’m sure I’ll be back to tell you how awesome these cookies were 🙂
They were soo delicious and much better than regular snickerdoodles! Thanks for the great recipe!!
yum
Nice site Monique!
Does the butter need to cool completely before mixing with the sugars?
Only a bit (about 5 minutes)!
Thanks!! I did just that and they were DIVINE!!!! I also made your Better For You Banana Muffins at 2am because I just couldn’t wait after seeing how well the snickerdoodles came out 🙂 Thank you for such fabulous recipes!!!!
our of curosity, what does the strained yogurt do for the cookie dough? a little extra mild protien
so when do i use the brown sugar?
Hi Taylor! As stated in the directions, you mix both sugars with the butter and peanut butter. Enjoy.
Re – response to Taylor
Where does the peanut butter come in?
Sorry about that! I think I was thinking of my peanut butter chocolate chip cookies 🙂
Hi Monique!
I just made these cookies. The batter was delicious, but my cookies came out flat, not thick and chewy like your pictures showed. Any tips for next time?
I had the same issue. I think it’s because I didn’t chill the dough for long enough! Did you chill for at least 30 mins?
I chilled it for 30min and mine completely deflated as well, and did not puff up at all. They are completely flat.
I just made these and am having the flat issue too. We chilled them for 30 minutes. We have the dough for the Browned Butter Nutella Sea Salt cookies made and chilling. I think I’ll leave them in the fridge overnight in case its a chilling issue…
Hmmmm… I see that this is happening a lot and I’m not quite sure why. Here’s my suggestion: leave out the yogurt and the extra egg yolk. Also make sure that the dough is completely chilled (really cold) before you bake them! I’ll need to retest this recipe to see what’s going on.
Are you leaving them chill long enough? Her recipe says 2 hrs in the fridge for best results.
Came to the comments because my cookies turned out flat as a pancake when they came out of the oven too. I chilled my dough overnight for 12 hours and they were cold when I rolled them. They are delicious but hoping to troubleshoot for a fluffier cookie to bring people. I might try without the yogurt and add some extra basking soda or powder.
Hi! So strange – were all of your wet and dry ingredients measured correctly? It sounds like there could have been too much of the wet ingredients or not enough flour. Also, be sure your baking soda is fresh!
My cookies also came out flat. They were still delicious but I would like the softer version better. I did chill my dough for 45 min. Not sure what I need to adjust to fix this. Thanks for any tips or suggestions!
Hi Amber, was the dough cold when you rolled the balls?
These look delicious and I can't wait to try them. I'm a sucker for snickerdoodles. They are what I buy every time we go to a cookie shop! I am curious about the brown butter. I've never heard of brown butter and I'm wondering if there's a certain place to buy it? Can you tell me if it's sold at Walmart or would I need to find it a specialty grocery store?
You make the brown butter. Its just butter cooked 🙂
Hey there Mandy. I saw your post and thought I would go ahead and reply to you. Brown butter (or browned butter) is a secret ingredient that I use a lot! It is not something that you buy but rather something that you make. It is simply regular butter that has been melted and allowed to brown on the stove. The small bits of milk solids etc. cause the butter to turn a lovely golden brown and really intensifies that wonderful buttery flavor that we all love. Just be careful to watch the butter carefully as you cook it over medium heat, it will burn if not taken off the heat at the right time. I hope this helps.
Hi Monique!
I love your blog and cookies. I’m confused at step 4 though, roll them into balls, flatten them, and then roll them in sugar mix? I’m not sure when I should flatten them?
My cookies came out completely flat last night when I made them. I chilled them for 30 min, but noticed they weren’t that cold and the dough was still very soft- how cold should they be? And could that be the reason they came out flat?
Thanks!
just put the dough in the fridge…it's much much softer then regular snickerdoodles, I'm worried it will be hard to handle but it sure does taste yummy! the dark brown sugar is devine.
The weather has a great effect on baking. If its still too soft when you take it out of the fridge, add a little flour.
it was fine but after baked they are totally flat! very yummy though
Yes the dough was cold.
I seemed to have the same issue as many others – my cookie were beautiful and puffy with two minutes left on the time – and when I went to pull them out they had flattened out into thin discs. I had such high hopes as the pictures showed these puffy soft looking cookies. They were crispy and thin even though I did not overbake them – and my dough was super cold from the 3 hour refrigeration.
Hi Jill!
Can you tell me if you left the cookies in rounded balls? Or did you flatten them at all? Let me know.
The dough for this ended up being much like the Nutella Stuffed Brown Butter Cookies – too crumbly to almost even work with. I followed the recipe exactly, chilled it for 2 hours. I didn't have any issues with flat cookies, they are plump but almost grainy in texture from… I don't know what! I love the brown butter and brown sugar flavor in it. I rate it 4 out of 5 – will make these again and maybe tweak a bit next time with the fats. Thanks!
Hi Amber! It's odd that you would have this problem. Obviously I need to do some investigating as to why there are so many troubles. The Nutella Stuffed Brown Butter Cookies should definitely not be like that though, I think that you need to thaw the dough for 10 minutes outside of the refrigerator if you have troubles with crumbly cookies.
It's very likely it has nothing to do with your recipe at all – along with the other troubles. Thanks for the reply and again, I thought they were quite good! I'm making the nutella stuffed cookies this weekend for a holiday party at my house. YUM. I hope you have a lovely holiday. 🙂
I had the same problem, then I read the recipe a little more carefully and realized I only used one egg yolk and a teaspoon of greek yogurt vs 1 egg and 1 yolk and a tablespoon of yogurt. Made all the difference! hope this helps 🙂
I left the cookies in rounded balls. However, I only made the one cookie sheet full since they came out so flat! I had made the dough on Saturday, so I left it covered in the refrigerator until Monday, then decided to try them again. It was harder to make balls because the dough was harder, but after rolling them in sugar and baking for 8 minutes, they came out just like your picture. Couldn’t believe it. The dough certainly was cold from 2 days in the refrigerator. And the cookies tasted like they looked – crispy outside and soft and chewy inside. Go figure!! I thought 3 hours was enough chilling, but apparently the extra 2 days made some kind of difference. So next time I make them I will definitely plan for extra chilling to see if I get the same result.
Good to know! Thanks Jill. I’m going to adjust accordingly. I have a feeling that because I put mine in the freezer for a few hours, they ended up puffing up more.
I saw this recipe and just had to make them. i followed the recipe exactly and the cookies spread out and came out very flat and thin. i chilled the dough for 3 hours. texture was soft and taste was good but still the flat issue bothers me.
Unfortunate! The dough needs to chill overnight for puffy cookies!
So awesome to meet you this weekend! And these cookies – to die for! You had me at brown butter 🙂
i just made these and they are delicious!!! i chilled mine for 3 hours, and they came out just like yours. when i was rolling them into balls i thought, “maybe i should re-refrigerate/freeze them in ball form for a little longer” because they didn’t feel super cold to the touch. either ways it really doesn’t matter because they turned out awesome. thanks- i will impress many with your recipe 🙂
I made these today: they are OUTSTANDING. The rich, nutty, caramel flavor makes this the best snickerdoodle ever (Husband also proclaimed it the best!). The only thing I did differently was to use vanilla sugar instead of regular sugar to roll them in (was AWESOME). In the future, two things I’d do differently: 1) scoop the dough into balls before chilling. The dough was so stiff after chilling overnight that it was time-consuming and tiring. 2) scale back the cream of tartar just a smidge, maybe to 1 1/2 tsp. The tangy aftertaste is just a hair too tangy for me, though the initial flavor and flavor on the palate are just perfect. Great recipe!!!
Second vote for decreasing the cream of tartar. We were trying to figure out why the cookies were so tangy and tart!
WOW… What an excellent snickerdoodle!!! These are fabulous!! I baked a batch this morning as a trial for my Christmas Cookie Swap and these are definitely the ones that I’ll be baking and sharing with everyone. They are so flavorful and the consistency is like no other snickerdoodle that I’ve ever had… SO GOOD!! Thank you for sharing such a divine treat 🙂
Glad you loved! 🙂
hi monique! these are the best snickerdoodles I have ever tasted… and that's saying a lot! I have some questions for you!
1. I premade a big batch of brown butter. should I still use 1 cup of brown butter or less (to account for evaporation etc when cooking the butter)?
2. I want to make a ton of cookie dough & then freeze it for later. is this a bad idea? (if not, should I still bake for the same time & temp?)
3. I'm going to ship some cookies to friends for the holidays. how long do they last once baked?
thank you so much for your awesome recipes! I come to your blog all the time & love trying all the yummy things you post!
Hi! That's a really good question! I would say use about 3/4 of a cup. Or alternatively you can measure out how much butter you have now and figure out how many sticks you used to convert.
2. Freezing is a great idea. I would thaw out the dough a bit before baking so that you are able to roll them into balls. They may also need more time to bake.
3. They will last 4-5 days in an airtight container, but of course are best served warm. 🙂
I wish I had read this comment sooner…LOL. I made a double batch (4 sticks) of the brown-butter, because I was planning to make both the snickerdoodles and the nutella-stuffed chocolate-chip + sea salt. After the browning, there definitely seemed to be less than 2 cups after I started to measure out the 1st cup for recipe #1. I sort of wondered if I should just divide in half or stick with a strict measuring cup…I was in a hurry to get to a cookie exchange so I opted to just make the choc-chip cookies, with a full cup of brown-butter (measured as a liquid) and they came out AMAZING! ! Glad my little "experiment" wasn't a disaster. (Mine were on the flatter side, but I blame user error on that one, as it's the first time I've baked in at least 5 years). Thanks for all the recipes- LOVE these cookies & your site! 🙂
Bringing these babies to a holiday cookie exchange tomorrow! My kitchen smells spicy and buttery and luscious now as they're baking. A couple of notes:
– I'm a total sucker for cloves, so I added some to the dough as well as a pinch of ginger. Delicious!
– Maybe it's because I used baking powder by mistake, my cookies are holding their rounded tablespoon shape very nicely. They're just little nuggets of chewy, cinnamony goodness – I like the look!
– Nothing wrong with a sweet cookie, but I added a little salt to the cinnamon-sugar coat at the end just to take a little of the sweet edge off.
Wonderful flavor! I followed the directions very carefully and chilled the dough overnight for good measure. The cookies are DELICIOUS but thin as can be. I am thinking that I will try using baking powder the next time rather than the cream of tartar. The flavor is amazing but a thicker cookie would be preferable. I will definitely make these again.
don't replace the cream of tartar. that gives it the tangy Snickerdoodle flavor. I am making these today so can't offer advice on the flatness but you don't want to omit the cream of tartar.
Hi Monique, I love everything about your blog. I had never heard of snickerdoodles but decided to give it a try when I saw your pictures and guess what, I just browned butter for the first time! I sure smells good. I have a question: can we freeze this kind of cookie (or the nutella-stuffed ones) on the pan just before baking and bake them straight out from the freezer to have fresh cookies rapidly? Thank you!
You can, but make sure you thaw out the dough a bit before baking. 🙂
Thanks, these cookies are awesome!
Hi! I made these cookies yesterday and Omg they are amazing!! I think I'm addicted, lol. I never had a snickerdoodle before and I was never quite sure of what they were. And then from the name alone, they seemed complicated. I wrong- so simple and so yummy! Thank you for the recipe! 🙂
I just got a great idea for something you can make for NYE – Magic Bars! Look them up…
I saw several comments about flat cookies. Could it be due to using “old” ingredients? E.g. Baking soda that has been sitting around for awhile…
I just mixed up my dough! I put it into the freezer since I won’t be baking until closer to Christmas. But let’s just talk about browned butter… Oh my gosh! The smell… I can’t even describe it! Lol!
This was my first time browning butter. I wasn’t sure that it was ever going to turn but all of a sudden there was that heavenly (caramel) nutty smell you described! Nomnomnom! I can’t wait to bake these up!!!
Just wanted to comment that if your cookies are coming out flat…High altitude and how you measure can make a difference…you can add a little extra flour, about 1/4 to 1/2 cup extra (what my mom does for high altitude) and I always add about that much to add “puffiness” to cookie recipes that come out flat 🙂
We live in high elevation, 5,800… and sometimes we need to tweak baking recipes to battle the elevation. Are you in high altitude, so I know whether to tweak or keep the same. Thanks – Kari
I am not in high altitude. Sorry Kari!
I followed your recipe exactly and refrigerated the dough overnight. Dear Lord have mercy. They were PERFECT. You are genius. I think it definitely needs the overnight cooling from what I can tell. But wow, these are absolutely AMAZING.
These recipes look AMAZING! Just curious…any suggestions for making these, and any of the other cookies, gluten free? I tried the Nutella-stuffed chocolate chip sea salt with King Arthur gluten free flour, but they turned out flat, flat, flat…and runny! I prefer to go gluten free, so any input would be so very much appreciated:)
Oh, my goodness! I don't normally do any baking but this sounds like something I am going to have to try!
Made these today!! AMAZING!
We love snickerdoodles, so I decided to try these—-followed the directions to the letter (thanks for including the butter tutorial!) and they are terrific! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
What is the yogurt for? I don’t have any so I’m leaving it out, but hoping its not the secret ingredient or something .
Keeps them soft and chewy!
These cookies are ahhhmazing! I just made them the other day, and posted about it on my blog (http://thefatcamel.wordpress.com) They were gone in less than a day!!
I do have to mention that it does take more than a couple of minutes for the butter to brown and was worried I was doing something wrong when it didn’t brown quickly! Also, reading some of the other comments about refrigerating it for 30 minutes not working, I can saying leaving it to chill overnight definitely works because my cookies were puffy and had depth to them. Delicious. delicious. delicious. I will definitely be adding this to my fav cookie repertoire! : )
I made these cookies for a cookie exchange and they were AMAZING!! They are my new favorite cookie!!
These cookies were amazing!!! My family said they where better then my grandmother’s! I was a little worried they would flattten according to the other posts so I used a teaspoonof cream of tarter and a teaspoon of baking powder. They were fantastic!! A new family recipe! Thank you!!
Eating these as I type…UNBELIEVABLE flavor!!! Fabulous! I’m a huge snickerdoodle….ok, cookie fan…but they’ve gotta be awesome for me to make more than once. Better believe this will NOT be the last time I make these! Thank you for the recipe 🙂
PS…making these as a gift…sure hope a few make it into the box!
Just made these today. I am not a fan of traditional Snickerdoodles because they have the taste of sugar cookies, which I don’t like. I love brown butter in cookies which is why I decided to give these a try in the first place. The combination of brown butter and dark brown sugar is incredible!
As a note to those who have had problems with flat cookies: I am in Utah so I am always having to adjust recipes for high altitude (which for cookies usually means increasing the flour by 1/4 cup for every 2 cups in a recipe). The dough for these cookies looked right, so I decided not to add additional flour and see what happened. I increased the oven temperature by 15 degrees (something I find fixes the “flat cookie” issue as well) and baked the first pan. The cookies came out perfect! So, if you’re having a “flat cookie” problem try increasing the flour by 1/4 cup and increasing the oven temp by 15 degrees.
I’m sorry if this was already posted, but is there a significant difference between using dark brown sugar vs light brown sugar? Thanks for this awesome recipe!
Brown sugar has a higher molasses content, thus produces a rich, flavorful cookie. Either would work though.
These are AMAZING I refrigerated for 3 hours and had no problem.. Use fresh baking soda!
I wanted to let you know I just made these and I made them gluten free with a gluten free flour blend I mixed. It is phenomenal! No way you would know it's gluten free. Love this recipe, thanks!
Perfect!
4th time making this recipe in 2 months. Countless shares to friends and family of the recipe. Snickerdoodle Perfection!
Okay, so I made the dough last night..love the brown butter by the way. I am baking the cookies after work. the dough has been in the fridge.( I followed the recipe to the T) Is it normal that the dough is very loose? I mean, I tested it. I can ball it up, but it is supposed to be like that right?
my dough is so dry and crumbly, I followed recipe exact…what can I do
I think you may have overmixed the dough! Try again!
any substitute for the greek yogurt? excited to make these asaphave everything at home besides greek yogurt 🙁
Sour cream!
Made these, nearly died of anticipation while chilling overnight, test-baked a few, devoured them, served them warm to friends, was given title of greatest baker in the whole wide world! Thanks for a delicious recipe!!
The only issue I had with flattening was when I accidentally dropped my test-baked cookie sheet rather hard on the stove after pulling from the oven. They went from puffy to flatter than a pancake in less than a second. 🙁
These cookies are THE BEST THING I HAVE EVER EATEN! I love everything about them. They smell wonderful, look delicious, and taste divine! This recipe is a keeper!
There really aren’t even words for these little gems of heavenly goodness. Thank you, thank you for creating these and sharing them with the world. I “cheated” with the freezer method and just let the dough warm a teensy bit before I started rolling it into balls. Worked perfect! Pillowy, chewy happiness! Oh Oh…I also ground just a smidge of sea salt onto each one. Perfection!
Glad you enjoyed them Holly!
My daughter made them while I was visiting her family of 6 & everyone of these delicious cookies were gone within minutes of leaving the oven. I have to say that they are by far the best Snickerdoodle Cookie I have ever eaten! A side-bar to this comment is the fact that my daughter lives at a high altitude & has never made a successful Snickerdoodle Cookie there until she made these!
Where are my SNICKERDOOLES
Mine too. I've had the pleasure of having some before. Yum!
Amazeballs! so delicious, I substituted GF flour in and they rose as they should have and are super tasty. So far no one has guessed they are gluten free 😀
Oh my goodness….these little gems are DELICIOUS!! I followed the recipe exactly, and when I pulled them out of the fridge, thought something had gone wrong. I basically needed a chisel to get the dough out, but worked it into balls, dipped in the sugar mix and baked. They came out fluffy and soft and wonderful. I’ve already eaten 4 and they came out of the oven 5 minutes ago!! Oh, and this was also my first attempt at brown butter…good instructions, and I’ll definitely be using it again!
Just pulled them out of the oven and it went straight in my mouth! These are so delicious! The best snickerdoodles I have ever made! Thank you Pintrest for sending me to you!
Hey Monique, these cookies were awesome and people loveeeeed them!! I didn’t have a problem at all with them being flat. The only complaint I kinda got was how sweet the cookies were. Do you think it’s possible to dial down the sugar and still get the same great results? Thanks so much!!
Most definitely! Cut it by 1/4 cup if you’d like.
My cookies were nothing like the ones in the pictures 🙁 I put the dough in the fridge for 3 hours and it was as hard as a rock! I couldn’t shape them properly so they came out of the oven literally like little rocks, all round and kind of hard. They were ok but I was disapointed. Maybe I’ll try them some other time.
The reason you are having an issue is because you aren’t allowing the dough to thaw out. Leave it out of the fridge for 15-20 minutes then bake.
Ohhh…I thought the dough had to be cold. I’ll do that next time. Thank you !
Just wanted to say that these are THE BEST cookies I have EVER made… In the past month I have made this recipe 3 times…. I tried the nutella stuffed choc-chip cookies and those were my boyfriends fav! BUTTTT I'm telling you, these snikerdoodles are on my mind all the time- SO PERFECTLY YUMMY- Monique you are a cookie god! will be trying more of your recipes 🙂
I made these tonight… Seriously delicious! Super simple easy to follow recipe (even though I’m not the most active baker). I did cheat a bit and cooled the dough in the freezer but found no difference. They came out perfectly. I think that other people who have had issues with crumbling cookies may have just over cooked them? I didn’t really follow the set time but just watched for the bottom edge to turn golden brown. They did seem a bit under done when I took them out initially but when they cooled they were perfect! These cookies really are like nothing else. If you like gooy or soft cookies these are for you! I have a feeling these are going to be my new go to dessert. Defiantly something I will crave! Oh and the cream of tartar adds that perfect tart-ish balance! I know Iv said this but I can’t believe how good these cookies are. Make them now! Make a double batch. You’ll be glad you did. 😉
I made these tonight… Seriously delicious! Super simple easy to follow recipe (even though I’m not the most active baker). I did cheat a bit and cooled the dough in the freezer but found no difference. They came out perfectly. I think that other people who have had issues with crumbling cookies may have just over cooked them? I didn’t really follow the set time but just watched for the bottom edge to turn golden brown. They did seem a bit under done when I took them out initially but when they cooled they were perfect! These cookies really are like nothing else. If you like gooy or soft cookies these are for you! I have a feeling these are going to be my new go to dessert. Defiantly something I will crave! Oh and the cream of tartar adds that perfect tart-ish balance! I know Iv said this but I can’t believe how good these cookies are. Make them now! Make a double batch. You’ll be glad you did.
Wow I have to put these cookies on my to do list for next weekend. I’ve never eaten snickerdoodles before so I think now is the perfect time to get to know them. Thanks for sharing!
I made these and the nutella stuffed chocolate chip cookies. Even the dough was AMAZING! I will never make cookies without brown butter again! Thanks so much!
I am most definitely making these this weekend! ♥♡♥
I have a weakness for snickerdoodles. These look incredible. Hoping to bake a batch for our family Easter dinner this weekend!
I made these substituting sour cream for the Greek yogurt. I chilled them overnight so the dough was quite cold, but they still came out flat. Could the sour cream make that much difference?
I made this, and they turned out so delicious! The brown butter adds sort of a toffee kind of taste, that is really lovely. The only thing though, is that they didn’t come out as puffy as yours, even though I chilled it over night! Not sure what I did, but they still turned out great. Thanks for the recipe, I blogged about it, so check it out if you’re interested! I absolutely love your cookie recipes. http://aroundleglobe.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/brown-butter-snickerdoodles.html#more
They look lovely! Make sure your baking soda and cream of tartar is fresh. A lot of people have had different results with these, so I think it’s an oven thing and depends on which ingredients you use.
Made tonight. They were so good! Didn’t have the Greek yogurt so put in both eggs. My butter seemed to take forever to brown but it was soo worth it!! Yum!
I just wanted to say that these are hands down my favorite snickerdoodle recipe. I’ve made them 3 or 4x and just came back to find the recipe to make them again!
Happy to hear that Lauren! 🙂
these are tasty! we chilled the dough for 3 hrs and they came out of oven very flat. maybe a little extra flour next time? i have been adding an additional 1/4 c flour to my choc chip cookie recipe. i have been buying unbleached, unbromated flour and wondering if that works differently? my son called them french toast cookies!
First off, these are delicious, but I prefer my snickerdoodles with a little more height. Mine were very flat once cooled, not like the picture. I chilled the dough for 5 hours and followed the recipe exactly. :/
If I might add my 2 cents… I weight my flour and 2.5 cups is supposed to be equal to a little more than 10.5 oz (4.25oz/cup). But, if the recipe was made by simply scooping and packing flour into a measuring cup, then there is definitely more than 10.5 oz of flour in this recipe. Although, I suspect the recipe actually has a too much butter (*gasp* I know) and needs the full 2 eggs. I think browning the butter and using brown sugar is genius, but next time I am going to use 1.5 sticks of butter, 2 eggs, and reduce the brown sugar to 1 cup. I think all of these things will make for a slightly taller cookie.
Thank you for your recipe and I hope you don't mind me playing with it a bit!
Just made them and am bringing them to work tomorrow…but I really want to keep them for myself. Divine.
I would love to send these to my boyfriend who is currently serving abroad… how long do you think the shelf life is on these?
Is it okay to omit the plain greek yogurt?
I took it out and subbed in fat free sour cream! worked just as well =)
OMG these look amazing! I will definitely be adding this recipe to my “to-do” list this weekend! YUM:)
OH MY GOOOOOODNESS.
these cookies
are
so good. I made them for my new neighbor and then ate them… Does that make me a bad person? I’m making more, so maybe they cancels it out, but seriously- these were so perfect. They came out chewy, a bit crunchy, and the slightest bit soft. But mostly chewy with a crispy edge which is my ideal cookie. I let them sit overnight. I was concerned about the dough because it slightly resembled silly putty when I put it in the fridge, but it turned out great. Also, it took my forever to brown the butter, but it was sooo worth it. It smelled amazing and really adds depth to the cookie. I am addicted. Thank you forever for this amazing recipe. <3
Glad you liked them, Samantha! 🙂
For those that had them get flat. Do you love above 4000 ft or was it old flour?
How much of a difference does it make if you chill them for 30 minutes in the freezer than in the fridge?
Try replacing the flour for almond flour. Literally heaven. <3
I just finished mixing up the dough for these cookies, and it took EVERY ounce of willpower I had to put the bowl in the fridge instead of eating the entire batch of raw dough! I have NEVER made a dough that smelled so heavenly. If the cookies taste half as good as the dough smelled, then they might just be the best things I’ve ever made. I can’t wait to get up tomorrow and make them! THANKS for the recipe!!
I found this recipe on pinterest, and tried it. I don’t normally comment on blogs often, but I must say that this THE BEST snicker doddle recipe I have ever made or tried! Everyone I served it to at several different occasions felt the same and after one bite declared “These are so amazing! How did you make these?! I need the recipe!” Needles to say, its a favorite at our house and everywhere else. Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe! Forever it you debt!
That makes me so happy. Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!
I don’t generally leave comments but I thought that it should be known that this is the BEST snickerdoodle recipe ever! I made these for my husband who fancies himself a food critic and he said that it was the best cookie he has EVER tasted- wow a big statement coming from Mr. Picky. I followed the recipe EXACTLY (refrigerated the dough for 5 hours) and it yielded perfection. Thank you!
Do you know how it is to work with dough that is rock solid??? Too much work for cookies hope they are worth it.
Hi Lydia! You have to thaw the dough out a bit before baking the cookies.
They are most definitely worth it! No need to be condescending
Yayyy well for some reason, I’ve never made cookies before this recipe. I’m not sure why, but I’ve just never had the desire to, even though I do love cookies. Anyways, my friend’s birthday was yesterday and I made these because her favorite cookies are snickerdoodles. Made it Sunday night, and threw the dough in the fridge (pre-balled so I wouldn’t have to face the rock hard dough that commenters have talked of) until Tuesday morning. They turned out great! Super delicious, and so many people told me that they were the best homemade cookies they had ever tasted (basically everyone thought my friend had bought them at a bakery). And can I just say that the aroma of the melted butter was absolutely insane? Never mind the smell once the butter and sugar were together, oh my lord. Sooo good.
Well anyways, thank you for making my first cookie-baking experience such a good one 🙂
Awww that’s awesome! Thanks for sharing!
I’ve noticed sometimes if I over mix a dough or batter, the end baked product can be crumbly or grainy. The ingredients don’t combine properly when this happens. There can be a fine line when all the sudden you’ve gone from perfectly mixed to “oops.” Sort of like breaking a sauce and learning how to correct that … well all learn from our technical hiccups!
I had these at a cookie swap on Monday, and they are to-die-for. Can’t wait to make them.
has anyones tried a dairy free version? I don't eat dairy would soya yogurt be ok?
I was going to make these for a cookie exchange at work. Made everything by the recipe and let it chill over night. The dough is A BRICK. HARD AS A ROCK. So now, I have no clue as to what to make for tomorrow. GREAT.
Hi Jessica! All you need to do is wait for the dough to thaw out a bit. Try letting it sit out for 30 minutes. Then you should be able to work the dough with your hands.
That would be fine.
I made the Nutella stuffed cookies along with these and ran into the same problem. I probably didn't even have to wait the 30 minutes–like 15 or so and was able to work the dough to soften it up. BTW, your workplace will LOVE you. These cookies are really awesome–I just had one off the cooling rack. WOW.
Made these this morning and could quite possibly be THE BEST cookie I have ever tasted!! Definitely makes a huge difference in using dark brown sugar vs. light… go with the dark! I made them just as the recipe was written, chilling the dough for three hours, and they baked up wonderfully! Thanks so much for a new favorite!
these are the best cookies I’ve ever made. ever.
I made these for a cookie exchange tonight. But, I think I maybe screwed them up….the dough is more like a shortbread….really crumbly. Does that sound right? I haven't actually baked them yet, they're still chilling
Well the cookies in the pict look amazing… If you used the same recipe as the cookies in the pict, I'm going to guess that Kaylynn helped you bake the cookies after memorizing the recipe. Hahaha
When I made these, they flattened out. What did I do wrong? Usually I don't have a problem with baking.
I chilled them for 4hrs and they also came out super flat. Do you think a tad more flour and/or baking powder would help? Other than that, they TASTE TERRIFIC! Thanks so very much for the recipe!!
These are the absolute BEST Snickerdoodles I have ever had!! My dough was a little moist, so I added about 1/4 cup additional flour. Of course I needed to bake them right away to take to an event, so I flattened the dough out between waxed paper in 2 discs and put them in the freezer for about 15 minutes before I started rolling them in the cinnamon & sugar mixture. They baked up perfectly! The browned butter makes the flavor SO decadent!
The secret to ANY cookie is soft but COOL butter. I would (next time) put the butter to chill and then again allow to soften to the touch by sitting at room temperature. Hopefully it should help with limiting any extra moisture as mentioned in other comments. Good luck! 😀
LOVE this cookie recipe! Thank you! Thank you! This is the first time I've ever made Snickerdoodles &these were the BEST ANYONE has ever tasted! They disappeared so fast I'll have to make more tomorrow. Mine did not turn out flat like others have said but I don't know why. ONE THING – I kept them in balls before baking and barely flattened the top. Maybe that's why but don't know for sure. No matter- you are LOVED for sharing this recipe!
I love snickerdoodles and I want to try your brown butter version! One question: I’m really curious about the Greek yogurt. Why did you add it? I only eat lactose-free yogurt, and it’s no problem for me to sub that in, but I’m just wondering what purpose it serves. Thank you so much!
It keeps them moist and chewy. But they would also be fine without it.
These were delicious!! I chilled my dough overnight and they looked just like the picture 🙂 Thank you, Monique!
How many cookies does this recipe make?
I feel like this is probably a stupid question, but I need to ask. Can I make this egg free? Somehow? I’m in love with these cookies and I want to give them to a friend who is allergic to eggs. Help would be nice. Please??
Try using a flax egg. 1 tablespoon flaxmeal + 3 tablespoons water.
Planning on trying to make these tomorrow. I haven’t baked anything in a month or so and I’m itching to get in my kitchen and make cookies, especially with the snow coming my way. Can I use plain yogurt or should I just leave it out all together?
You can leave it out or use plain yogurt!
These came out amazing. I’m going to need to make them again this weekend because we can’t keep our hands off them
Thinking of trying these or the Nutella Brown butter cookies for a cookie swap. I need 6 dozen…how many does this recipe yield?
These are very tasty, thank you for the recipe! I got 42 cookies from my batch. I personally found the dough a bit difficult to work with though (and I consider myself to be a good baker). I wish I’d read all the comments first. Next time I would definitely roll the dough in balls before chilling – it seems pretty pointless to chill the dough and then take it out to soften before rolling it into balls. I chilled my dough overnight and it was a lot of work to get it to form balls. I’d also consider rolling the balls in the cinnamon/sugar mixture because mine were so dry (and I did not overmix the dough at all) that it wouldn’t stick. I ended up having to roll the balls in melted butter to get the cinnamon sugar to stick (quite tasty, but a bit of a pain). Oh, and I think I’d use 2 full eggs if I made these again because I think that contributed to the dry dough and the cookies falling apart so easily once they were baked (and they were not overbaked at all either). Lastly, all of my cookies were pretty flat, even when I didn’t flatted the dough balls and chilled them again before baking. Like I said though, they still were very yummy!
Oops, I meant to say that, “I’d also consider rolling the balls in the cinnamon/sugar mixture before refrigerating…”
hello how many servings does this make!
Hi! These should make approximately 30 cookies.
Love these cookies! I haven’t made them lately, however and I don’t remember how many this recipe makes. Can anyone help me out with the yield? Thanks!!
How many cookies does this recipe make? I need 3 dozen for a Christmas party and really wanted to make these!
This should make 24 large cookies. Or 30 medium.
I left this dough in the fridge over night (wrapped of course) as you suggested and the dough was rock hard and not usable in the morning.
You just need to let the dough sit out a bit (maybe 30 minutes). Also using a cookie scoop should help. Think of the dough as hardened butter, just needs some time to soften up.
I just have to say thank you for the recipe. This one is a keeper. I made it this year for Xmas and I think it’s the very best cookie I have ever made. Perfect. No changes.
Hello Monique! I just wanted to tell you how much I love both your blog and Instagram! Your posts and recipes are both entertaining and delicious! I have made this recipe twice now for the holiday season because one batch was not enough! These cookies are so tasty and the brown butter really makes them special. Thank you for the very helpful tutorial because I had never browned butter before! Keep doing what you’re doing because it’s amazing! Have a happy holiday season 🙂
I just made these cookies. WOW! the brown butter makes all the difference. So tasty and yummy. There were two things I was a little confused about. You state 1/2 cup sugar in ingredients and then for the sugar cinnamon mixture you add 1/4 sugar. I assumed this was in addition to the 1/2 cup in the cookies. Turned out fine. Also you don’t state whether a greased or ungreased cookie sheet. I sprayed mine with pam just in case. I added mini chocolate chips and a 1/4 teaspoon each of ground cloves and nutmeg.
The flavor of these is very unique and amazing. Everyone loved them. I chilled mine in refrigerator for 5-6 hours. They came out slightly less puffy than the ones pictured. So i’d say overnight is probably best.
Can I roll dough into balls then chill?…
There is a cardamom snickerdoodle that is super delish
Do you use convection oven?perhaps reason for puffy/flat cookie?!?
How many cookies does one recipe make?
About 24!
Thank you
I made these today and they came out perfectly. I refrigerated the dough overnight and baked them for 10 minutes. They were nice and puffy and did not spread out.
I’ve made these several times now, and absolutely love them. One change I made is to form them into balls and roll them in the cinnamon sugar BEFORE chilling, since the dough was so hard after chilling. This simple change made the rolling MUCH easier, and the cookies still had the soft chewy center. Great recipe!
I was worried at first because I had only about 1 3/4 sticks of butter left and I wasn’t sure how the cookies would turn out since the lack of butter made the dough a little dry. However, I found that I only had to chill it for about half an hour and the cookies did not flatten out at all! They were perfectly puffy but not dry at all, they turned out better than I expected. They have a nice crispy outside but when you bite into it they are just so soft and moist on the inside! So for everyone that is having a difficult time because their cookies are flattening out I would suggest using either a little less of the liquid ingredients or adding a little bit more dry ingredients so that the Dough is a bit dryer if you want perfectly puffy cookies, amazing recipe thank you!
So glad these worked out for you! Yes – when I make them I get that amazing puffy texture, too. The best!
Looking forward to baking these for my man (trying to ween him off of his die-hard obsession with his mom’s snicker doodle recipe)! Have you tried this recipe with any other flour substitutes, like almond or coconut flours?
I hope he loves these! I haven’t tried this one with alternative flours, but my newer snickerdoodles use almond & coconut flour 🙂
YUM! These Snickerdoodles look so delicious and easy to make.
Yes! I hope you get a chance to try them!
Hi. I may have missed reading this but what is the yield for this recipe?
Can this be made with a gluten free app purpose flour?
I think so. You might need to use a little less, but you’ll have to experiment and see what works best.
I just wanted to tell you these are my all time favorite cookies. Sometimes I go with the recipe exactly, sometimes I add a little cardamom and ginger. They’re fabulous either way. Add a chai latte and a rainy day and it’s my idea of perfect.
So happy to hear that Gina! Love the idea of making the chai flavored (and adding a chai latte 😉 ).
I made these Brown Butter Snickerdoodles exactly as written and refrigerated the dough overnight. The dough got so hard that I had to let it come almost to room temp in order to form it into balls. Immediately after they baked the flavor and texture was good but twenty-four hours later they were hard as rocks and not at all palatable. I won’t make these again.
With all cookie dough, usually you should wait for it to come to room temperature before rolling into balls. I’m not sure why they would turn hard unless they were overbaked and/or not properly stored. Sorry you had an issue!
The post perfect puffy, chewy, delicious snickerdoodle. Browned butter is a great touch. I even had a coworker who normally isn’t a “sweets person” say she went for seconds!! Delicious.
So happy to hear that! One of my favorite cookies.
**PRO TIP**
Whisk an ice cube into the browned butter to help cool off a bit quicker and it also adds back some of the moisture that was lost in the process 🥰
I’ll have to give that a try sometime! Just wouldn’t want it to water down all of that caramel-y flavor 🙂
You don’t lose any flavor whatsoever. I also bake at a higher temp 375 and I don’t get ANY flattening 💖 Kenji Lopez has the best article about chocolate chip cookies where he breaks down every single aspect of a cookie recipe which is genius
Amazing…literally to die for. I make these all the time and they are such a hit! Any suggestions on how to make these into pumpkin snickerdoodles? I have been having my family request those and I’m just not exactly sure how to add that in there.
So glad you love them! Perhaps you could alter this recipe: https://www.ambitiouskitchen.com/brown-butter-nutella-stuffed-pumpkin-chocolate-chip-cookies/. Let me know if you give it a shot.
I use brown butter in my chocolate chip cookies and it really does make a HUGE difference. I’m looking forward to trying these after I’ve recovered from my Thanksgiving pie coma.
Isn’t it the best?? Hope you love these ones!
These cookies are a fan favorite both at home (I’ve got three boys and they’re all cookie monsters like their mama) and at work. They come out perfectly EVERY time as long as I build in the time for the dough chilling. They far surpass the flavor of a classic snickerdoodle – brown butter makes everything better. To punch up the flavor even more, I use Sonoma Syrup Co’s Vanilla Bean Crush vanilla extract and King Arthur Flour’s Vietnamese Cinnamon. These little details really bring out the best in these perfect little cookies.
So happy to hear that, Julia! I’ll have to try out that vanilla extract and cinnamon – sounds delicious!
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Hello! These look soooo good! Do you think I could substitute plain Skyr for the Greek yogourt? That’s all I have on hand and I would love to make these today as we are under a snowfall warning and these scream “comfort food” all the way! Thank you!
Yes, I think that would work just fine! Enjoy!
I made these two days ago and were so fantastic! I don’t think I’ve ever had a snickerdoodle before but these were amazing. The smell of the brown butter was…mmmmm! Thanks for the awesome recipe!
I did add a rounded 1/2 cup of butterscotch chips to the batter.
Delicious! Butterscotch chips sound amazing. You’ll have to try these next 🙂
These are amazing!!! I always have trouble making snickerdoodles but you make it easy!
You da best girl!
I’m so happy you found these ones!! So delicious 🙂
I have made these twice now, and while they are delicious the first day, I have found them to be grainy and crumbly the second day onwards. Any advice?
I’m not sure why that would happen. Are you storing them covered in a container? It sound of sounds like they are drying out — however I’ve never had an issue with them being grainy. I do recommend to check how you are measuring your ingredients because they definitely shouldn’t be dry!
I’ve made this recipe throughout the years since back in ~2012/2013 when you first posted it. Every time I’ve made it, it’s been a true hit…. from sitting in my college apartment with my roommate eating the entire batch in maybe 2 days (we couldn’t stoppp) to giving them out to my coworkers a couple of years ago and everyone asking for the recipe.
thank YOU for the original recipe, you were spreading the browned butter love before it became so widespread!
So so happy to hear that, Kelly! The OG of brown butter snickerdoodles 😉 Hope you continue to cherish these as much as I do!
I want to preface by saying that these cookies taste absolutely amazing. I probably ate 5 cookies worth of dough before even baking because I couldn’t get enough of it. However, I wish I hadn’t chilled the dough at all. After chilling for 2 hours and letting the dough get back to room temp it was so dry that the cinnamon sugar wouldn’t stick to the dough. I ended up adding a couple tsp of water and had to work with the dough to warm it back up. Even then the cookies barely spread when baking. As ugly as they are at least they’re still delicious, but I want to try this again without chilling.
I’m sorry you had an issue! It sounds like perhaps it could have been how you were measuring it, or perhaps you didn’t properly cover your dough. This recipe has been made and LOVED by hundreds of people over the years, so I really encourage you to try again!
So, I found these babies a while ago (through your brown butter chocolate chip cookies), and they are my favorite recipe. I just made them for a friend and her boyfriend. It’s been about a week since I made them AND THEY ARE STILL SOFT!!!! I’m not used to my cookies lasting so long (my friends were showing great restraint) so I had no idea they would still be so soft after so many days!! Fantastic recipe
Amazing! These + the chocolate chip cookies are my all-time favs 🙂 perfect for keeping for awhile if they last that long!
These were great! With one minor exception. Two teaspoons of cream of tarter makes the cookies quite tart and acidic. If you prefer your snickerdoodles NOT sour, try 1/2 teaspoon instead. 🙂
2 teaspoons is what’s in a typical snickerdoodle recipe! 🙂 but it’s all personal preference — feel free to reduce as necessary.
The snickerdoodles I didnt know I needed. The brown butter and brown sugar are game changers. I do think getting them the right level of softness is a little tricky but I didnt have a problem checking on them often. I did have a hard time getting the sugar/cinnamon to stick but I think mine were too frozen. Maybe try rolling them in the coating before freezing!
So delicious! And yes, feel free to roll them beforehand 🙂 glad you loved them!
These were amazing! I made a batch and got more out of it than the recipe said but my cookies were probably smaller. Everyone who tried them loved them. SO much better than even regular snickerdoodles- the browned butter really takes them up a notch!
These cookies are freaking amazing! They’re my new favorite recipe, and I thought I was a die hard chocolate chip lover… the browned butter flavor really shines through this simple snickerdoodle. I was impatient and baked the first batch after a 30 minute freeze, and the cookies were delicious but a little flat. The remainder of the dough I baked the following day after chilling overnight and they are perfect.
The best! I’m so glad you tried these ones!
After leaving the rolled cookie dough balls in the fridge, they’ve lost some of their oil and the sugar mixture won’t stick. How can I help the sugar mixture stick?
Let the dough thaw to room temperature, then roll in cinnamon / sugar 🙂
These cookies are really soft and chewy and taste wonderful with a glass of milk. I substituted cream of tartar with lemon juice and it worked just fine. I also substituted the yogurt with sour cream. The brown butter was a game changer. Overall these cookies are amazing and fun to make.
Oh my heavens, these are absolutely divine!! I ended up baking mine for like 14-15 minutes because they were still jiggly after 12. They are perfectly crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside. Hands down best cookies I’ve ever made/eaten.
Perfect! Glad you enjoyed!
Do the eggs need to be at room temperature?
Yes I’d recommend to use ones at room temp 🙂
Thank you for the recipe. I have two questions:
1) How do you measure the flour?
2) I followed your advice to make the scoops of dough and then refrigerate. Should I be rolling the scoops in the sugar and cinammon mixture before the chilling or just before the baking of the chilled dough?
Check out my tutorial on how to measure flour here! I scoop it into the measuring cup and then level it off with the back of a knife. Then I’d recommend rolling the cookie dough balls in the sugar mixture just before baking the chilled dough 🙂
I’m gluten sensitive. I made with gluten free a-p be flour without xanthan gum will they turn out OK? Should I add 1/4 tsp xanthan gum? I probably will. Looks great.
Hi Jill! I don’t bake with xanthan gum and haven’t tested a gluten free version of these so I’m not sure that they’ll turn out. Sorry!
The perfect snickerdoodle! Seriously, just so good. Obviously, the brown butter flavour is great and the addition of greek yogurt makes chewier and more complex cookie.
I used regular (salted) butter and eliminated the additional salt and had no problems browning the butter. I didn’t have any dark brown sugar so I used only medium brown sugar instead of a mix with white.
I was short on time, so I put the dough in the freezer for about 30 minutes, then rolled it into balls and refrigerated it for another 30. I found letting the dough balls sit for just a couple minutes helped the cinnamon sugar mixture adhere better.
Perfect! So glad you loved them!
Oh my wow. I had been craving a snickerdoodle cookie for so long, and I knew Monique would have the perfect recipe. I wasn’t wrong!! You can’t really mess up a snickerdoodle, but dang these are IT. Make them!
Amazing! So glad you loved them!
These make your entire house smell amazing, and the brown butter definitely elevates the snickerdoodle to a new level. So good.
Absolutely! Glad you loved them!
I’ve not made anything yet but I’ve read your recipes tonight and am excited to get started!
I hope you find new ones you love!
I made the cookies with and without white chocolate both for very delicious I can’t make enough Everyone that has tried them wants more so I guess I have to keep making more thank you very much for the recipe 5 stars in my book
Love it! So glad these are a hit!
My new favorite cookie! Anything browned butter I am here for. Did not have cream of tarter and used baking powder instead and they turned out great! Sending these as a gift to a soldier who can’t come home for Christmas. He is going to love them! Making more so I can send to other family. Great recipe and instructions! So flavorful!
Perfect! And what a wonderful gift. I hope he loves them!
AMAZING!!!! I sub’d cream of tartar for lemon juice and Greek yogurt with sour cream because that’s what I had on hand. These cookies are bomb!
Perfect! Glad you loved them!
I wasn’t expecting much to be honest, but these are DELICIOUS!! Definitely roll the balls before refrigerating.
Glad you loved them!!
These cookies are AMAZING! Monique has done it again! Copied the recipe exactly as is because that is what you do and let me tell you people were freaking out over these. Monique not only delivers on the healthy goods but also on the baked goods. TRUST.
So happy to hear that!!
I think the cookies tasted fantastic, however, there is one thing I would mention in the directions. After cooling the dough balls in the fridge, I assumed they would be ready to pop in the oven. They were rock solid and way too cold. I think by mentioning to warm a bit in room temp (maybe 20 mins or so), might help someone who did the same exact thing as me. And maybe you did mention it, and I just didn’t see it….might’ve happened. 🤷🏻♀️ Don’t get me wrong, the recipe is great, but putting cold, hard dough in the oven doesn’t make for evenly cooked cookies. I will definitely try this recipe again with room temp dough.
These are so delicious! I followed the recipe exactly and rolled them into balls before placing in the fridge. Definitely helped having them rolled already after they came out of the fridge
Perfect! Great idea 🙂
WOW and more WOW!!!! Just made this recipe and I am incredibly impressed by the outcome. The instructions were simple and easy to follow. The chewiness in the middle is absolutely perfect and delicious. Like a taste of heaven. Definitely will be making again and sharing the recipe. Thank you thank you!!!
Amazing! So happy you loved them!
So good! I made these for Christmas and the dough was easy to work with and the cookies came out wonderfully!
One of the cookie recipes I baked for the holidays… then I baked them again because they were gone SO fast even with all of the other sweets we had around. Surprisingly SO easy to prep – homemade dough can be intimidating but this is so approachable! Brown butter changed the game. A fan favorite for everyone.
O. M. G. She wasn’t kidding when she said these were the best cookies. I’ve made them 10 times since she posted this recipe, and everyone who has tasted them RAVES about them. Amazing!!!
These cookies are very, very good. They’ve become a staple in my annual cookie giveaway.
I’m so glad!!
Wow. Wow. Wow. I kid you not.. the most amazing cookie recipe I have ever encountered. This is a must keep forever recipe!! I couldn’t believe how good this cookie was. Mouth wateringly delicious. Chewy in the middle and just a perfect texture. Yum yum!!!
So happy to hear that!!
I’m learning that browning butter really ups the game in any recipe. These are so delicious! They came out so soft and flavorful. Thank you!
Yes, it’s a truly magical ingredient! Glad you loved these!
A sweet friend made these for me when I just had come home from the hospital with my son and they are hands down one of the best cookies I’ve had! I’ve since made them myself and they are incredible – worth the bit of extra work for sure!
I have made these more times than I can count! They’re my go to cookie to gift as they’re different and special. They freeze really well too!
As promised, these cookies were indeed the best snickerdoodles we’ve ever had, deemed so by my snickerdoodle-fanatic fiancé. I don’t like snickerdoodles much to begin with, but even I have found myself sneaking back to the cookie tin for “just one more.”
Great job!! We love all of your recipes.
Omg yaaaay! So happy that you guys loved these! Thanks so much for leaving a review 🙂
I converted this recipe to include sourdough starter and it was the best Snickerdoodles ever!!
Omg LOVE that!! Such a fun idea to incorporate the starter. Happy you loved these!
When freezing these to bake later, do you also roll them in cinnamon sugar and then freeze? Or roll them into balls, freeze and then when ready dethaw and roll in cinnamon sugar?? Help!
The texture of these is amazing and the nuttiness smelled incredible while both rolling and baking! Like others, I might scale back the cream of tarter next time to 1.5 tsp. for less of a cream of tarter punch. I did the 45 min. freezer cheat and baked for 12 min. For dairy free folks – I did a ton of research and it seems that the only commercially available vegan butter that can brown (in a good way) is Miyoko’s, which worked perfectly! I subbed a TBSP of dairy-free milk in place of the yogurt and it all seemed to work and still look like the photos!
Thanks so much for sharing all of this, I’m happy to hear the Miyokos worked well and that you enjoyed them!
Excellent taste, I’m just wondering if anyone has any idea why my cookies were extremely flat. I followed the recipe exactly. Otherwise, they are great.
Hi! Did you let your dough chill before baking?
Incredible!! I made these to share with coworkers for Christmas and was able to tell everyone how amazing this whole website is! I can’t wait to make more!
Can cream cheese be substituted for the yogurt? I have neither plain yogurt nor sour cream. Thanks!
Hmm I haven’t tried it but since it’s such a small amount, it might work! Let me know if you try it 🙂
The best cookies ever! I make them every year for friends and family. They are a huge hit.
I often roll the dough before chilling… I also let them chill over night (about 8-9 hours). This has made them perfect every single time.
Easily my favorite cookie!
I’ve been making these cookies for years and they are phenomenal. Definitely worth keeping in your rotation! Thanks for this recipe!
This recipe is amazing!!! I followed the suggestion and left out the Greek yogurt. They turned out perfectly and were a big hit with my extended family and most importantly, my 10 year old because she loves Snickerdoodles and The Brown Butter Cookie Company. I rolled the dough prior to refrigerating overnight. When I took the dough out to bake I put a tiny amount of coarse sea salt on top. Next time I will gently press the sea salt into the dough prior to refrigerating.
This is the best cookie I have ever had. From a bakery or homemade. Brown butter takes it to the next level
Hi, I’ve made these several times and they always turn out great. I want to make them again but only have light brown sugar. Will that effect the outcome?
Light brown sugar will work in here!
Thank you! I made the dough last night, chilled it overnight, and baked the cookies this morning. They tasted awesome but were very flat. I have made these several times and this is the first time they were flat and not puffy,
Hi! So strange… Any chance your baking soda is old?
I’ll be making these later in the week, but I wanted to comment how much I appreciate that you separated the wet from the dry ingredients. It is so much easier to bake with when ingredients are listed in the order they are used! Your tips are very useful for me. I also like the addition of plain Greek yogurt. Thank you for this recipe!
of course! Thank you so much for your feedback, it means a lot. Enjoy this recipe, I hope you love it ❤️🙂
These are incredible! I ended up freezing the balls and cooked for 14 mins came out perfect!
Yum! SO glad you are loving this recipe!
Amazing. Added a few tablespoons of rosemary and it was a welcome addition
Lots of love for these cookies I sent my husband to work with. The browned butter adds a whole next level depth of flavor to this cookie. A bougie snickerdoodle.
These cookies are amazing 🤩
WOO! Glad you are loving these cookies!
Hi there! These taste great but they do not look as good as yours. I refrigerated the dough balls overnight and had to wet them to get the cinnamon and sugar to stick. They’re very crackled looking and spread unevenly. Any idea why that would happen? They have a nice bite but they’re not what I was hoping for in terms of that lovely snickerdoodle look. I followed the recipe precisely. I’d love to try again so if you have a suggestion please let me know. Thanks!
Hi! Sorry to hear that (but glad they tasted good!) The bit of water may have impacted how they baked up, and I’m wondering if they were too cold when they went into the oven, which could have affected how they spread. Sometimes if I chill my dough overnight in the fridge, I let them “thaw” for about an hour on the counter before baking, which really helps them to spread evenly. Next time, you can also roll them in the cinnamon sugar before chilling the dough balls. Hope this all helps!!
When you freeze the snickerdoodle dough balls. do you roll them in cinnamon sugar before or after you take them out?
Hi Sarah – You will want to freeze the cookie dough before shaping into balls and rolling in the cinnamon sugar. Enjoy!
I am a baker and just make these. There are amazing. I didn’t have dark brown sugar so added molasses and they were delicious
YUM! So glad you gave these a try and they turned out amazing for you, Tina!
My cookies are coming out super flat 🙁 i chilled them overnight too. What am i doing wrong?
Is your cream of tartar and baking powder fresh?
Wow! This cookie is DELICIOUS! The browned butter adds another layer of flavor that takes the Snickerdoodle to another level. I chilled the dough in the refrigerator overnight, and although I rolled the dough and kept it refrigerated until it went into the oven, all of my cookies came out of the oven nicely domed and cooled to a very flat cookie. I varied the size of the cookie as well as the length of time in the oven. Any suggestions as to how to make them end up a little thicker like your picture?
Hi Rick! I am SO glad you loved these cookies and they turned out great for you! What size did you make your cookies? Also, was your cream of tartar and baking soda fresh? This will make a difference in the fluff of your cookie.
I would love to make these and freeze the dough to bake for Christmas. I have read the cookie freezing post but due to the rolling in sugar part and also the seemingly touchy finish point to get a soft cookie, I’m wondering if I should thaw the dough in the fridge overnight or something? Any particular tips for freezing this recipe would be welcome by anyone who has tried it!!
Hi! You can absolutely freeze the cookie dough as written within the blog post 🙂 You’ll just need a couple extra minutes when baking them from frozen!
Amazing recipe! I didn’t have Greek yogurt so I just did two whole eggs instead of one whole and one yolk and they came out amazing!
Please add the chill time to the total time at the top. I don’t always read the full recipe, and I almost mistimed this. Help those of us who just skim. 😀
That being said, this is one of my most requested cookies ever. I’ve been making them since 2012-2013 (despite the date at the top). I follow the recipe but add a little nutmeg to the cinnamon in the dough.
Just updated – thank you! Glad they’re a favorite!