This Brown Sugar Cookies Recipe creates soft & chewy cookies with crisp edges and the most incredible brown sugar flavor.
Family Favorite
The Cookies That Made Me Forget About Chocolate Chips!
I love chocolate, and chocolate chip cookies are one of my favorite treats. Honestly, I’ll eat just about any cookie as long as it’s packed with chips!
But my son? He never got that same love for chocolate chips. Every time I bake cookies, he picks the chips out. So, I came up with a chip-less cookie that’s all about the brown sugar flavor.
What I thought would be his favorite cookie has turned into one of mine too! These cookies are soft, chewy, and completely delicious.
They’ve got a rich, caramel-like flavor I can’t get enough of. And my son? He loves them just as much.
Ingredients
| Ingredient | Swap or Tip |
|---|---|
| Butter | Use salted butter but reduce added salt slightly |
| Brown Sugar | Light or dark both work (dark = richer flavor) |
| Egg + Egg Yolk | Save extra egg white for breakfast wraps |
| Molasses | Can skip for lighter flavor, but cookies will be less chewy |
| Cornstarch | Skip if you don’t have, but texture won’t be as tender |
| Sugar Coating | Use turbinado sugar for more texture |
Quick Tip
Have you heard of “boneless cookies”? Some say they’re chocolate chip cookies without the chips, others say they’re soft with a gooey center. Either way, these Brown Sugar Cookies fit the bill—chip-less, chewy, and extra soft from molasses.
How To Make Brown Sugar Cookies
- Melt Butter and cool slightly.
- Mix Wet Ingredients: whisk butter, brown sugar, eggs, molasses, vanilla.
- Add Dry Ingredients: stir in flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, salt.
- Shape & Chill: scoop dough into balls, roll in sugar, chill 45–60 minutes.
- Bake at 305°F for 9–14 minutes, until edges are set and centers are soft.
Brown Sugar Cookies Recipe Tips
- Chill the Dough: Helps cookies keep shape and texture.
- Fresh Leaveners: Use fresh baking soda and powder for best rise.
- Measure Flour: Too much = dry, too little = flat. A scale helps.
- Watch Bake Time: Slightly under-bake; they firm up as they cool.
- Molasses: Adds rich flavor and keeps cookies extra chewy.
Storage
- Room Temp: Store this baked brown sugar cookies recipe in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
- Freeze Dough: Freeze dough balls on a pan until solid, then bag and store up to 3 months. Bake from frozen with a few extra minutes.
More Delicious Cookie Recipes:
Desserts
Cornmeal Cookies
Desserts
Circus Animal Cookies
Desserts
Brown Sugar Pop-Tart Cookies
Desserts
Lemon Cookies
Brown Sugar Cookies
Video
Equipment
Ingredients
- 16 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1-1/3 cups light brown sugar tightly packed
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk discard or save the whites for another recipe
- 2 teaspoons molasses optional, see note 1
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda sift if clumpy
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 2-3/4 cups flour see note 2
- 1/2 cup Demerara sugar or granulated sugar, see note 3
- 1 cup English Toffee Baking Bits optional
Instructions
- Melt butter in a microwave-safe bowl, then refrigerate for 3–5 minutes to cool to room temperature. Once cooled, scrape the butter into a large bowl with a spatula.
- Add brown sugar to the cooled butter. Whisk together for 1 minute, then add the whole egg, egg yolk, molasses, and vanilla. Whisk briskly until the mixture is very creamy and emulsified.
- Add the cornstarch, salt, baking soda, and baking powder directly to the wet ingredients and whisk to combine. Add flour (see note 2). Mix with a wooden spoon or hand mixer until no dry streaks remain. If using toffee bits, gently fold them in. Cover the dough and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Measure dough into 2-tablespoon (40-gram) balls and roll in Demerara or granulated sugar. Place on a plate, cover, and refrigerate for 45–60 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Space dough balls on a lined baking sheet (6 per sheet), and bake for 9–14 minutes. (I love these best at 10 minutes.) Cool on the pan for 3–5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
The cookies taste great but just like the other comments they didn’t spread, stayed more or less like the original balls, they didn’t flatten out into a cookie like yours. Should they be flattened with a fork maybe before baking? How come yours are so different? Please advise.
Thank you
It sounds like you may have packed in the flour too much! If you have a food scale, weigh the flour. If not, I’d try spooning the flour into the measuring cup and leveling it off with a kitchen knife. If there is too much flour, cookies don’t spread. Too little and they spread too much!
Is the oven at 305?
350, I updated it! Sorry about that!
I love your recipes and the detailed instructions you provide. I made these cookies and loved the flavor however I almost over baked the first pan from expecting them to spread out more. Like the other comments, my cookies also did not spread out. I’ll definitely try this recipe again.
I’m so thrilled you enjoyed these! Thanks Staci! 🙂
The recipe said they would spread a lot. Mine did not. I like the cookie. It is both sweet and a little salty.
They were delicious! My cookies did not spread though. They stayed puffy!
So glad you enjoyed these! 🙂 Thanks for the comment!