Thick, soft, chewy brown sugar cookies – a simple sweet and salty cookie recipe that everyone will enjoy!
Easy and quick to make, these cookies take just 15 minutes with pantry staples. These melt in your mouth cookies are always a huge hit with the whole family!
Who doesn’t love a classic sugar cookie? It was one of the cookies I remember baking with my mom as a child – I was the presser.
I’d dip the glass in a little butter, sugar and gently press the cookie to flatten and give it a little glisten. I still love a classic sugar cookie to this day, but for fall, I love brown sugar everything, including chewy brown sugar cookies.
These brown sugar cookies are so perfectly chewy, it’s hard to stop at one. In fact, I will remember to bake up a double batch next time, based on how fast they flew out of this kitchen.
If you love that classic combination of sweet and salty, these brown sugar cookies are exactly what you’re craving.
Why You’ll Love these Brown Sugar Cookies
- Easy
- Sweet + Salty
- Pantry Ingredients (plus butter and egg)
- Deeper flavor than traditional sugar cookies
The deeper flavoring in these cookies is because of the molasses in brown sugar. They tend to be chewier, puffier and less dry. It’s such a simple change, yet so good!
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Butter – Softened butter is important! Use salted or unsalted, your call. We tend to prefer salted butter in our baking because we love the mix of sweet and salty – just watch your additional salt so you don’t make them too salty!
- Brown sugar – Of course! We like dark brown sugar for this recipe, but you can use light if that’s what you have on hand. Make sure it’s packed down! Learn about the Best Brown Sugar Substitutes here.
- Vanilla: Pure is preferable to imitation – learn how to make Homemade Vanilla Extract here.
- Eggs – Size large eggs are always considered standard.
- Flour – All-purpose flour is generally best for baking.
- Cornstarch – This helps keep these brown sugar cookies super soft and chewy!
- Baking soda – For rise.
- Salt – as noted above, if you’re baking with salted butter, make sure you don’t go too heavy-handed on the additional salt in these cookies.
Variations
- Add 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon for a delicious variation.
- Use almond extract instead of vanilla for a different flavor.
- Add nuts – pecans, almonds, walnuts and more!
- Top with a glaze, like this classic easy glaze recipe.
How To Make Chewy Brown Sugar Cookies
These cookies only take 15 minutes to make!
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Cream butter, sugar and vanilla. Add eggs until just incorporated.
- Add flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt and mix.
- Use a cookie scoop or roll 1+” dough balls by hand and drop on cookie sheet. Optional: add a crack of sea salt to the top of cookies just before baking.
- Bake 8 minutes or until slightly golden.
Tools to Use
- Mixer (You can also mix by hand)
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
- Cookie Sheets
- Parchment or Silpat
- Cookie Scoop (or drop by hand)
Tips
- Learn How to Soften Butter Quickly.
- You can mix the dough for the cookies in a stand mixer or by hand.
- Learn about baking pan sizes in this comprehensive post – are you using the correct cookie sheets?
- Be sure to add a sprinkle of salt to the cookies for a delicious sweet and salty treat.
- After five minutes on the baking sheet, remove to a wire cooling rack so that these cookies can cool completely.
Scaling up, down or substituting? You’ll love this printable Measurement Conversion Chart!
Frequently Asked Questions
Brown sugar provides a deeper flavor and more chew than traditional white granulated sugar. Because it’s denser and compacts beautifully, it takes on less air while you’re creaming your cookie dough. Brown sugar keeps cookies moist and chewy!
Yes! While brown sugar allows cookies to get a crispy edge, brown sugar allows for more caramelization and chew.
How to Store
- Room Temperature – Store uneaten cookies in an airtight container for up to four days.
- Refrigerator – There’s no need to refrigerate these cookies, but you can store them there for up to five days if you’d like. I find that refrigerated cookies can pick up smells and moisture in the fridge, so if possible, store them at room temperature instead.
- Freezer – You can freeze these brown sugar cookies for up to three months in an airtight container.
More Cookies
Chewy Brown Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup butter softened
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Cream butter, sugar and vanilla. Add eggs until just incorporated.
- Add flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt and mix.
- Use a cookie scoop or roll 1+” dough balls by hand and drop on cookie sheet. Optional: add a crack of sea salt to the top of cookies just before baking.
- Bake 8 minutes or until slightly golden.
Julie’s Tips
- You can mix the dough for the cookies in a stand mixer or by hand.
- Be sure to add a sprinkle of salt to the cookies for a delicious sweet and salty treat.
- After five minutes on the baking sheet, remove to a wire cooling rack so that these cookies can cool completely.
Estimated nutrition information is provided as a courtesy and is not guaranteed.
Hi!
Would you mind clarifying the amount of flour?
Thank you.
Hi Nancy! No problem, 2.5 cups. Enjoy!
You mention molasses and I don’t see any in the recipe??
Sorry for the confusion – the molasses in brown sugar. I clarified. Hope you enjoy them as much as we do!
Could you please verify how much cornstarch is in the recipe? Thanks!
I’m so sorry for the glitch, thanks for bringing it to my attention. It is in fact 1/4 c. Enjoy!
Yes Please! Saw this on WOW and have already pinned it! YUM!
Julie my daughter is an aspiring pastry chef and she is always trying out new recipes. If I may say so myself, I am the official tester in the house. I just sent your yummy recipe to her.
I can’t wait to hear what you and her think!