These salted brown sugar cookies are the perfectly chewy and slightly crispy cookie loaded with sweetness from the brown sugar and a bit of salt for balance!
SALTED BROWN SUGAR COOKIES
If you love a sugar cookie you are going to love these salted brown sugar cookies. There's an elevated level of sweetness from the brown sugar, but then the salt flakes on the top pop and give it the perfect salty to sweet balance that we all seem to love.
They're nice and chewy from all the brown sugar, but then they have a subtle crisp edge that I find necessary when making a cookie. So basically you can't go wrong with these cookies!
INGREDIENTS NEEDED
- Flour
- Baking Soda
- Salt
- Cornstarch
- Butter
- Dark Brown Sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla
- Sugar for Rolling
HOW TO MAKE SALTED BROWN SUGAR COOKIES
- Preheat oven to 375 F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Melt butter and allow to cool slightly.
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and cornstarch. Set aside.
- Place the butter and brown sugar in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Add egg and yolk and mix on low until smooth, about 30 seconds. Beat in vanilla.
- Slowly mix in dry ingredients, being careful not to over mix. I usually stop when I still have some flour remnants around the bowl.
SCOOPING & CHILLING THE DOUGH
Grab a cookie sheet and piece of parchment paper. Yes parchment, the cookies spread less on parchment than they do on a sil-pat. Not to mention there is no clean up required.
Scoop the dough into large cookie dough balls using a ¼ cup ice cream or cookie scoop. Of course you are welcome to make them smaller, but why? Then you have to keep thinking how you ate 3 cookies instead of 1. Larger cookies also lend themselves to more crispy edge with a larger gooey center.
Cover your cookie sheet with a lid if you have one, or some saran wrap will do just fine. And chill those beauties for 24 hours if you can wait. Even just a few hours will help, but the more chilled the dough, the less the cookies will spread, and the more those flavors are going to come together.
LAST MINUTE “BEFORE YOU BAKE” THOUGHTS
Whether you are taking your cookie dough balls out of the fridge after their time chilling, or you threw some of the balls in the freezer because you weren’t committed to making 24 cookies at one time, you do not need to let them sit out before baking. I usually grab the cookie dough out at whatever point I am turning my oven on to preheat.
Line your sheets with parchment. Roll your dough balls in sugar and place 8 cookie dough balls per sheet. You want to make sure not to over crowd because then they might run into each other and those perfect circles are a little harder to achieve.
Grab your flaked salt and sprinkle those cookies to your hearts desire. Don’t be scared. You aren’t rolling them in salt. I promise a nice pinch won’t be over doing it. And those little flakes that fell off the top.. you’re really going to thank me later for those. They’re going to stick to the crispy, buttery bottom of your cookies and when you discover them as you’re biting you’ll know just what I mean.
Feel free to sprinkle a little more salt on the top after they bake if you’re feeling like you can’t see enough. I usually do.
OTHER POPULAR COOKIE RECIPES TO TRY:
Salted Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Brown Butter Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Lemon Coconut White Chocolate Cookies
For more yummy treats follow me on instagram @thesaltedsweets. And be sure to tag me and comment below if you make them and love them as much as I do.
Salted Brown Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 2¾ cup (385 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) salt
- 2 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 cup (227 g) melted butter, cooled
- 1½ cups (330 g) dark brown sugar light can also be used
- 1 large egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar for rolling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Melt butter and allow to cool slightly.
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and cornstarch. Set aside.
- Place the butter and brown sugar in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Add egg and yolk and mix on low until smooth, about 30 seconds. Beat in vanilla.
- Slowly mix in dry ingredients, being careful not to over mix. I usually stop when I still have some flour remnants around the bowl.
- Scoop the dough into large balls, I like to use a 4 tablespoon cookie scoop for these. Roll in sugar, and sprinkle tops with flaked salt.
- Place 8 cookie dough balls on your lined baking sheet. Bake the cookies for 12-13 minutes. You're looking for a nice golden brown around the edges, and some crackling along the top. Be careful not to over bake, or you will lose the chewy factor we are going for. Sprinkle with a little extra salt after baking if you're into salt like I am.
Allison
Hey Brooke, how many grams of flour are in these cookies?
brooke
so sorry.. I forgot to post the grams here. 385 for the flour.
Jackie
Hi you say 385g for the flour here but 343g in the recipe. Which is it? Thank you
Brooke Homec
It's 385!☺️
Hunter
The best! My husband is picky about his cookies and he said these are his favorite.
brooke
Yay!! Thank you so much!
Sophie
These are AMAZING! Soooo chewy with lots of flavor!!
Lindsay
These were a big hit at our house! The only problem is they were eaten too fast!
Ellie
Made these for my baby kids and the three yo said these were the best cookies ever.
Thanks so much for all the yummy baking & I can’t wait to try many more recipes!
Cami
Perfection! Made these for a family gathering and they were gone in 5 minutes!
Tyler
These are right up my alley
Richelle
Can you use light brown sugar
brooke
yes, that would be totally fine.
Tyler
Yeah I think this going to be my new favorite cookie… now how to get Kim to make them for me🧐
Mackenzie
Substitute for cornstarch? Or is it integral to the recipe?
brooke
It helps keep the cookies lighter and fluffier, but you can skip if you can't get it.
Hannah
Could you use brown butter in the place of the melted butter?
brooke
I wouldn't. Because browning the butter actually evaporates some of the liquid it would change the consistency of the cookie and may not be as chewy.
Becki W
How long can these be frozen for before baked? If I made today to bake next week, will that be ok?
brooke
yes, the cookie dough balls can last for a few months in the freezer, or a few days in the fridge.
Megan
Making these now and am soooo excited! Am I missing where we add in the vanilla? Assuming it goes with the egg/yolk!
brooke
Yay!!! Yes, it says right after the egg and yolk.
Kim
So yummy!
Pauline
Thank you for recipe! it was incredibly delicious!
brooke
Thank you so much!
Julie
My absolute favorite cookies. Made these for my family’s Thanksgiving and everyone was obsessed with them. So chewy and delicious. The brown sugar makes them so much more flavorful than a regular sugar cookie and perfect for the holidays (or any random weeknight you have a cookie craving).
Cookiemonster
I love these cookies so much! A friend makes them and I tried to do it (admittedly a terrible baker) and they keep turning out very puffy. What could I be doing wrong? I tried weighing the flour the second time and they were a bit better. I still can’t get the more dense chewy, any tips?
Brooke Homec
If your flour was measured correctly then you might be over mixing your dough. Next time make sure you mix the flour until it is just combined. It's hard to be able to tell exactly without seeing them, but that would be my guess.