My Brown Sugar Cookies are SO soft and chewy! They have an incredibly rich and buttery flavor and are easy to make without a mixer. Recipe includes a how-to video!
Super Soft Sugar Cookies
If you’re a thin & crispy kind of cookie lover, hop over to my butter crunch cookies, because you won’t find anything of the sort here! My brown sugar cookies are some of the softest, chewiest cookies you’ll ever try. Made with all brown sugar for a rich flavor and added moisture, these cookies are great all year around but I’ll definitely be saving a spot for them on my Christmas cookie platter.
This recipe is a close cousin to my super soft molasses cookies, only with a much, much lighter molasses flavor from the brown sugar. They’re simple to make (no mixer required) and are rolled through a coarse sugar coating before baking for sweet and sparkly results.
Why you’ll love them:
- Easy: no mixer needed!
- So soft: thanks to carefully selected ingredients.
- Simple: just 10 ingredients.
What You Need
Here are the ingredients that make these brown sugar cookies super soft and chewy:
- Brown sugar. Generally I default to using light brown sugar in most of my recipes, but I like using a 50/50 split of light and dark brown sugar in this recipe. I talk more about using each type and the results you’ll have in the FAQ section below.
- Egg + egg yolk. An extra egg yolk makes these cookies so tender. Adding a full egg (instead of just the yolk) could dry the cookies out, so stick with just the yolk. If you don’t want to waste the white, use it to make candied pecans!
- Corn starch. One of my favorite ingredients in cookies, corn starch prevents the cookies from spreading too much and adds to their softness.
- Coarse sugar. You can use either regular white granulated sugar or a coarse granulated sugar for rolling. My grocery store sells an organic cane sugar that has big crystals, so I just use that.
SAM’S TIP: Let your butter cool before adding your sugar! Adding your sugar while the butter is still hot could melt the sugar and ruin your cookies (they’ll be greasy and spread all over the baking sheet).
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Brown Sugar Cookies
- Combine butter and sugar – Melt your butter, let it cool, then stir in your brown sugar.
- Stir in the eggs – Stir in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla.
- Add the dry ingredients – Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then gradually add them to the wet ingredients.
- Chill the dough – Cover and chill your dough for at least 45 minutes.
- Coat in sugar – Scoop 2-tablespoon sized dough balls and roll them between your palms before rolling in sugar.
- Bake and enjoy! Bake the cookies for 11-12 minutes and let them cool completely on their baking sheet before enjoying.
SAM’S TIP: Don’t over-bake your cookies! If you do, they’ll end up dry and crumbly instead of soft and chewy. I recommend taking them out of the oven when they look slightly underdone in the center so they can finish baking on the cookie sheet outside of the oven.
Frequently Asked Questions
The difference between light and dark brown lies in the molasses content (which, you might already know if you recall my post on how to make brown sugar). Dark brown sugar has approximately twice the molasses in it that light brown sugar does.
Using all light brown sugar will yield cookies with a lighter flavor (that’s not a bad thing!). They’ll be buttery with accents of vanilla and a soft interior, but a lighter molasses flavor. Opting for all dark brown sugar will give you a richer flavor and ever-so-slightly softer centers.
Use whichever you prefer, or a mix of the two!
This most often happens from having too much flour in the dough. Make sure you know how to measure your flour properly (using weights is more accurate than cups!) to avoid this happening in the future. However, hang onto your extra egg white. If you notice your dough is too stiff and crumbly after adding all the flour, it can often be saved with a bit of moisture and you can stir in that reserved egg white.
Yes! You can follow the instructions for sugar coated cookies in my how to freeze cookie dough post. They’ll keep for several months stored this way.
If you’re a big fan of soft cookies, you will also love my soft and chewy butter pecan cookies or my soft and chewy gingersnaps.
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
Brown Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter melted and cooled at least 10 minutes or until nearly back to room temperature, about 10 minutes
- 1 ¾ cup (350 g) brown sugar* tightly packed
- 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk room temperature preferred
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ¾ cups (350 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- Granulated sugar for rolling
Instructions
- Combine your melted (and cooled) butter and sugar in a large bowl and stir until well-combined.1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, 1 ¾ cup (350 g) brown sugar*
- Add egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and stir well.1 large egg + 1 egg yolk, 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.2 ¾ cups (350 g) all-purpose flour, 1 Tablespoon cornstarch, ¾ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ¾ teaspoon salt
- Gradually add dry ingredients to wet and mix until combined.
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap and transfer to the refrigerator to chill for at least 45 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper (if you don’t have parchment paper, bake directly on an ungreased cookie sheet).
- Once oven has preheated, remove your chilled cookie dough from the refrigerator and roll dough into approximately 2-Tablespoon-sized scoops (40g). Roll gently to form a ball and roll through granulated sugar until completely coated with sugar.Granulated sugar
- Place on prepared cookie sheet (space cookies at least 2″ apart).
- Bake on 350F (175C) for 8-11 minutes. The centers of the cookies may still seem slightly underbaked — allow cookies to cool completely on cookie sheet to finish cooking there, cookies will be too fragile to move while hot.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Note: This recipe was originally published in 2018. The recipe remains the same but I have updated the post to include more information and be more helpful in 2022.
Borvig
Fly ass sugar cookies. Added butter toffee bits. Mad dope. Great job
Beth
These were very easy to make. The only downside is I couldn’t roll them into balls because my dough was too sticky.
Sugar Spun Run
I am so happy that you found the recipe easy to make. If your dough was sticky, it may have just needed a little bit more flour added to it. The dough will be tacky but should be manageable to work with and roll. Thanks for commenting. Enjoy! 🙂
Linda Leatherwood
I was introduced to Brown Sugar Cookies a couple of years, but was never able to find a recipe that was just right, until now. I made these yesterday and they are awesome. Made 3 dozen, took to neighbors and came home with 10 cookies. They loved them too!!
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you, Linda! I am so happy that the cookies were such a hit! 🙂
Faith
Are these cookies frostable? I was thinking on skipping the sugar coating part and just baking them, and then frosting them afterwards.
Sam
They’ll be pretty sweet but you can add frosting. Enjoy!
Beth W.
Can I mix this cookie dough, and freeze to bake the cookies at a later time?
Sam
Hi Beth! You can freeze the dough, but I recommend scooping it into little balls, wrapping those individually in cling wrap and then storing in an air tight container. 🙂
Clare
Move over normal sugar cookies and make way for these brown sugar ones!! I made these this weekend and they were a hit with my family! These make for a wonderful “spring” (i.e. lighter) version of your molasses cookies (which we also looove in this household)!
We may add a few toffee bits in the future (and make it a very subtle version of your butter pecan cookies).
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed the cookies, Clare! I bet the toffee bits would be an excellent addition. 🙂
Adamari
made these for my culinary class and everyone loved them!! this recipe is soo good!!
Sam
I’m so happy to hear that they were a hit!! Thank you so much for coming back and letting me know how you enjoyed them! 🙂
Kimberly Stevens
I never comment on recipes or things I try on Pinterest and maybe I should be better at this, but HOLY COW this has got to be one of the best cookie recipes ever! These are awesome, chewy, delicious, and just the right combination of salty and sweet. My only complaint is that the recipe doesn’t make enough cookies. Next time definitely doubling. YYYYUUUUUMMMMMM!!!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them, Kimberly! I always have to make a double batch if I expect to get any before my husband devours them! 😂
M
So do we take them out of the fridge or freezer after chilling for 45min?
Sam
Fridge! 🙂
Lema
Followed the recipe but mine didn’t spread out like that and were terrible crumbly and hard to ball as dough. Still tasty, though. I’m going to try a little less flour next time.
Sam
Hi, Lema. I have not had this issue before. Have you ever tried baking with a scale? It’s a real game changer. It has helped me SOOO much.
Kerry
These are my new favorite cookie!!
Sam
So glad you enjoyed it, Kerry!
Jen
Hi! I made them and they taste amazing but they aren’t as flat as you made them. 🙁 What could be a way that I can make them flat like yours?
Thanks!
Sam
Hi Jen! Did you use cups or weight measurements? If you used cups is it possible that the flour was measured a little too heavily? If you scooped the flour into your measuring cup you might have ended up using too much, I’d recommend spooning the flour into your measuring cup and then leveling it off with a flat edge (like the back of a knife). I hope that helps!
ZNA
These look and sound delicious. Thank you for sharing. What is the purpose of the corn starch? And would adding a tsp of cinnamon change the consistency of the cookie?
Sam
The corn starch keeps them from spreading too thin while also keeping them soft and chewy. The cinnamon would not change the consistency and it sounds like a great addition. 🙂
Liz Mueller
Can’t wait to make these- thanks
Sam
I hope you love them, Liz! 🙂
Mikaru86
Those look amazing. I’ll have to try them soon 🙂
Sam
I hope you love them, please let me know what you think if you try them out!! 🙂
Mikaru86
I sure will. I also currently have a backlog of ~250 pictures I need to sort through and upload for another feedback post XD
Joanne
I made the recipe exactly as shown, they did not flatten out I had to press them down , they stayed in a dome and raw in the middle
Sam
Hi Joanne! That’s very odd. Did you use weights or cups to measure your flour? My best guess would be that too much flour was used, if you use cups I recommend stirring up your flour and then scooping it into your measuring cup then leveling that off rather than using your measuring cup to scoop your flour. Another possibility could be that your baking soda might have been bad? I hope that helps, but I’m happy to help troubleshoot further if at all possible. As for staying raw, they must’ve just needed a bit more time to cook, maybe because they stayed balled up, but all ovens seem to run a bit differently and maybe yours just needs a little more time.
Lori
the altitude at which you live could also effect the cooking time. I live at 4700 ft above sea level and I left them in for around 11.5 mins. they turned out great hope this helps