Best Brown Butter Cinnamon Crinkle Cookies Recipe for Cozy Fall Baking
Soft, chewy brown butter cinnamon crinkle cookies with a nutty caramel flavor from browned butter and a cracked sugar top. Ready in about 45 minutes of active time plus a real chill, makes about 30 cookies, and the chill time is the one step you cannot rush.
There’s a certain smell that takes over the kitchen when butter goes from melted to browned, nutty and a little toasty. That smell is the whole reason these brown butter cinnamon crinkle cookies exist. The browned butter turns a plain cinnamon cookie into something that tastes almost caramelized, even before the cinnamon joins in.
These came together on one of those first cool days of fall, when a cinnamon-anything just sounds right. They have the classic crinkle look, cracked white sugar over a soft cookie, but the flavor underneath is deeper and warmer than a regular sugar cookie thanks to the browned butter.
One thing worth knowing up front: the dough needs more chill time than you might expect. Readers who tried similar brown butter cinnamon crinkle cookies recipes found that a short chill left the cookies without their signature crackle, while a longer rest in the fridge gave a proper crinkle every time.
Why You Will Love This Recipe
- Nutty, caramel-like flavor from browned butter you will not get from a regular cookie
- Soft chewy centers with a classic cracked sugar top
- One bowl, no mixer needed
- Dough can be made a day ahead, which actually makes the crinkle better
- Makes a big batch of about 30 cookies, great for sharing or freezing
- Smells like fall the second the butter starts to brown
Ingredients
- Unsalted butter: 10 tbsp (1 stick plus 2 tbsp), sliced
- All-purpose flour: 2 1/4 cups, spooned and leveled (packing the flour is the most common reason this dough turns out dry or crumbly)
- Baking powder: 1 tsp
- Ground cinnamon: 1 1/2 tsp
- Kosher salt: 1/2 tsp
- Granulated sugar: 1 cup
- Light brown sugar: 1/4 cup, packed
- Large eggs: 2
- Vanilla extract: 2 tsp
- Powdered sugar: 1/2 cup, for rolling
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Butter: unsalted is best here so you can control the salt. Brown it in a light-colored pan if you have one, so you can actually see the color change instead of guessing by smell alone.
- Flour: spoon the flour into the measuring cup and level it off with a knife. Scooping straight from the bag packs in extra flour, and that extra flour is the single biggest reason this dough turns out dry, crumbly, or hard to shape.
- Cinnamon: 1 1/2 teaspoons gives a noticeable cinnamon flavor against the browned butter. If you want it stronger, you can go up to 2 teaspoons without changing the texture.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Brown the Butter
Melt the butter in a light-colored saucepan over medium heat, swirling the pan often. It will foam up first, then the foam will settle and small brown flecks will form on the bottom as it turns a deep amber color and smells nutty, almost like toasted hazelnuts. This usually takes 5 to 7 minutes, longer than you would expect for melted butter, so do not rush it off the heat the moment it melts.
Step 2: Cool the Butter Completely
Pour the browned butter into a large mixing bowl, scraping in those browned bits from the bottom of the pan since that is where most of the flavor is. Let it cool at room temperature for 15 to 20 minutes until it is no longer warm to the touch. Mixing in warm butter is another common reason the dough ends up greasy and hard to work with, so this step matters more than it looks like it should.
Step 3: Mix the Dry Ingredients
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
Step 4: Combine the Wet Ingredients
Once the browned butter has cooled, whisk in the granulated sugar and brown sugar until combined. Add the eggs and vanilla and whisk until the mixture is smooth and a little glossy.
Step 5: Bring the Dough Together
Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and stir with a spatula just until no dry streaks remain. The dough will be soft and slightly sticky, not stiff. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, and up to overnight. A full hour of chilling is not enough, this is the step that gives the cookies their crinkled top, and the dough firms up more the longer it sits.
Step 6: Roll and Arrange
Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop the chilled dough into 1 1/2-tablespoon balls and roll each one generously in powdered sugar until fully coated. Place them about 2 inches apart on the sheet.
Step 7: Bake
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are set and the tops have cracked open to show the cookie underneath. The centers will still look soft, that is correct, they firm up as they cool. If your cookies come out of the oven looking more like a dome than a crinkle, the dough likely needed a longer chill.
Step 8: Cool
Let the cookies sit on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before moving them to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.
Tips for the Best Results
- Watch the butter, not the clock, while browning. Pull it the moment it smells nutty and turns amber, since it can go from browned to burnt quickly once it starts.
- If the dough feels dry when you go to shape it, let it sit at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes before rolling. Cold dough straight from the fridge can feel stiffer than it actually is.
- Roll the dough balls generously in powdered sugar, a thin coating disappears into the cracks as the cookies bake.
What to Serve With It
- A cup of coffee or chai
- A glass of cold milk
- A fall dessert tray with pumpkin treats
- Vanilla ice cream sandwiched between two cookies
Brown Butter Cinnamon Crinkle Cookies
Ingredients
Method
- Brown the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, 5-7 minutes, until amber and nutty-smelling.
- Pour into a bowl and cool 15-20 minutes until no longer warm.
- Whisk flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a separate bowl.
- Whisk both sugars into the cooled butter, then add eggs and vanilla until smooth.
- Stir in dry ingredients just until combined. Chill at least 2 hours, up to overnight.
- Scoop into 1 1/2-tbsp balls, roll in powdered sugar, place 2 inches apart on a parchment-lined sheet.
- Bake 10-12 minutes until edges are set and tops have cracked.
- Cool on the sheet 5 minutes, then move to a wire rack.
Notes
- Measure flour by spooning it into the cup and leveling it off. Packed flour is the most common reason this dough turns out dry or crumbly.
- Chill the dough a full 2 hours or longer. A short 1-hour chill often will not give you the signature crinkle top.
- Nutrition is an estimate calculated from the ingredients and will vary with brands and portion size.
These brown butter cinnamon crinkle cookies taste like fall in a way that a regular cinnamon cookie just does not. The nutty browned butter underneath the cinnamon makes them feel a little more special without any extra effort.
Make the dough the night before if you can. It chills while you sleep, and you get a better crinkle and a faster bake the next day. If you give these a try, I would love it if you left a star rating and a comment below, it helps other readers know what to expect.
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