A variation on the classic sugar cookie, these brown sugar cookies are just a little deeper and richer than its inspiration.–Gretchen Holt-Witt
LC Cookies In a Hurry Note
You can start and finish a batch of these simple drop cookies in less than an hour. What are you waiting for?
Brown Sugar Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Directions
- 1. To make the brown sugar cookies, preheat the oven to 375˚F (190°C).
- 2. Beat the butter and sugar in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle until smooth and creamy. Add the egg and beat well. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Place the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices in a separate bowl and mix well. Add to the butter mixture and beat until everything is incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat again.
- 3. Drop large teaspoonfuls of the dough onto an unbuttered baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake until the edges of the cookies are just brown, 8 to 12 minutes. For crisp cookies, let them cool on the sheet; for soft, chewy cookies, transfer them to a wire rack to cool. Let the baking sheet cool completely between batches and repeat with the remaining dough.
Hungry for more? Chow down on these:
- Brown Sugar and Spice Cut-out Cookies from Bake at 350
- Salted Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies from David Lebovitz
- Chocolate Caramel Thumbprints from Leite's Culinaria
- Monster Peanut Butter-Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip Cookies from Leite's Culinaria
Brown Sugar Cookie Recipe © 2011 Gretchen Holt-Witt. Photo © 2011 Lucy Schaeffer. All rights reserved.
[Trista C.] I loved these cookies. They were quick and easy to make, and all the ingredients are usually in my pantry. Confession: I accidentally bought light brown sugar instead of dark brown sugar, so that’s what I used, and the cookies were still wonderful. I got barely two dozen cookies, although the recipe said it would make 48. I prefer my cookies softer, so I only baked them for eight minutes, just until they started browning. These will become part of my regular rotation.
[Natalie R.] These are a real keeper. This recipe results in a rich buttery cookie with a great chewy texture. They are so simple; you don’t even need to plan on making them. I loved that the dough did not require refrigeration. The list of ingredients is so short, I did not expect a complex cookie flavor, but these are downright delicious. They do not need chocolate chips or any other addition. This makes for a wonderful fall or winter cookie.
[Sofia R.] What a simple, fast, yet delicious recipe filling our home with the nice scents of ginger and cinnamon. As soon as I took them out of the oven, a few hands came straight to the wire rack to try them, even warm. These cookies are not overly sweet and have a slight taste of cinnamon and ginger that is not overpowering. They feel very light and certainly are tasty. Something tells me they will not last until tomorrow. The recipe says it makes four dozen, but I was only able to make 40 of them.
[Sandy Hill] These Brown Sugar Cookies were a delicious little drop cookie! These cookies were spicy and very chewy. The dark brown sugar made them taste like molasses cookies. They were super with a glass of milk! The recipe went together quickly and didn’t require any chilling of the dough. Drop cookies are the way to go when you’re in a hurry. The cookies did seem very flat after they came out of the oven and started cooling. This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, because as they stuck together you just had to eat more!
[Lisa O.] This is a delicious cookie, and a really easy recipe with great results. I made half the batch using the “crispy” method (cooling on the sheet) and half using the “soft” method (wire rack cooling), and both were wonderful. I also think it’s a versatile recipe — you could add toasted pecans or raisins, etc. If you make them soft, they would make awesome little Ice Cream Sandwiches! That’s what I’m going to do next, for sure. One small tip: It seemed weird to make cookies without vanilla, so I added about one teaspoon to the recipe when I added the egg. Yum!
[Maria Peplowski] Very, very tasty cookies. Although there are just a few ingredients, these cookies have a really well-rounded taste. The taste of ginger and cinnamon is not pronounced — just sits there in the background. Really quite good. They are also quite easy to make. When I started to drop them by “large teaspoonfuls” on to the baking sheet, I got to about 50 cookies and realized that they should probably be a little larger. I then made them with a one tablespoon measure and got 14 more. Both were equally delicious. The small ones took eight minutes to bake, and the larger ones took about 11.
They look delicious!
Please let us know if you try them, Diane. We would love to hear your thoughts.
Wonderful looking cookies. It looks crisp, delicious and definitely nutritious than other cookies. Had read that brown sugar is more nutritious than the polished white sugar. Thanks for the recipe.
Our pleasure, Teddy Big.
I just baked these cookies and they are fantastic! The texture is tender and cakey and the brown sugar flavor is light and aromatic. Lovely.
So lovely to hear you’re swooning to them as much as we did, CookieBaker…
Wow, those really are brown sugar cookies! I usually make these because they’re more buttery and rich than a regular sugar cookie, and now I can’t wait to try yours!
Thanks for sharing!
Hilary
Hi Hilary, it sounds like you are a sugar cookie expert! Can’t wait to hear what you think about these.
Beth
I was thinking of what cookie to make with what was already in my pantry. I was so happy to see this recipe and am excited to try it this weekend. Will let you know.
Do let us know Lisa what you think, this is such a great cookie with the simplest of ingredients.
I hope you love them, Lisa. I can’t stop thinking of what I could do with those…crumble them over a sundae, make ice cream sandwiches, dip ‘em in strong coffee…but they are also so fabulous on their own. Have fun!
Ladies, the last batch are cooling right now. They turned out amazing!! Thank you so much. My family loves them. Keep up the great work!!
That’s great Lisa, so glad to hear that they were a success.
Terrific, Lisa. Thanks so much for coming back to let us know!
These were delicious cookies i actually enjoyed the cookie dough more haha!!! But it was really amazing , easy , simple , non-messy, and fast! THANK YOU! <3
You’re welcome, Sasha, glad you enjoyed this simple cookie and the dough…sometimes the dough is just the best.
I was looking for an easy recipe that would use the brown sugar and flour I had in the house. I made these today. They are amazing! So good! I loved that I didn’t have to roll out the dough, etc. I let them bake right up to 12 minutes so they would have a crunch. Before I baked them I rolled them in a vanilla sugar mix. I might try a cinnamon sugar mix next time, like snickerdoodles. Will definitely make again!
Terrific and lovely to hear, Heather P. And I like your proposed snickerdoodle tactic quite a lot…