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Other people prefer their cookies to be a bit softer. They will always go for a soft, chewy cookie over one that is crunchy. Sometimes these people underbake their cookies to get exactly the right texture. If you are a soft cookie person, this is a recipe that you will want to add to your recipe box.
There are a couple of baking tricks in this cookie recipe that lead to a softer textured cookie. First, adding a bit of cornstarch to the flour mixture gives an extra bit of softness to the cookie. Second, brown sugar is another thing that generates softer cookies and we use all brown sugar instead of white. Brown sugar contains molasses, a sweetener that attracts water, and that is what gives these cookies their characteristic softness. We call for dark brown sugar in our recipe, which contains more molasses, and therefore more soft chewiness. If you don’t have dark brown sugar on hand, light brown sugar will work instead.
Brown Sugar Cookies Recipe
Equipment
- Microwave
- Large bowl
- Refrigerator
- Oven
Ingredients
- 2 cups cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 ½ tsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ¾ cup butter
- 1 ¼ cups dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ cup white sugar
Instructions
- In a medium sized bowl, microwave the butter for about thirty seconds. Stir it and return it to the microwave, heating it in about 30 second bursts until it is melted completely. Stir the butter until no more lumps remain, and then, set it aside to cool a bit.
- In a separate large bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, cornstarch,salt, and cinnamon. Mix these until the ingredients are fully combined.
- Returning to the bowl with the melted butter in it, add the brown sugar and stir it into the butter until the mixture is smooth. Add the egg and beat it into the mixture. Then, add the vanilla, stirring to incorporate it.
- Pour the butter mixture into the bowl containing the flour mixture. Stir until both mixtures are completely combined. The dough will be somewhat soft, so you will need to refrigerate it to help the butter solidify. If you do not refrigerate the dough, your cookies will not bake properly. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a lid and refrigerate the dough for at least two hours. If you get distracted and forget about it, you can leave it in the fridge for up to three days.
- When you are ready to bake, take the bowl out of the refrigerator and let it sit on the counter to soften a little as you preheat the oven to 325 degrees.Line your baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Put the white sugar in a shallow bowl and scoop out the cookie dough into a ball the size of a walnut. This should be roughly the size of two tablespoons.
- Roll the cookie dough balls into the white sugar in the bowl and then place them on the baking sheet about three inches from one another.
- Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for about 8 to 10 minutes. Take the cookies from the oven and press down the tops a bit to flatten them. Then put them back into the oven for another 2 minutes. They should be lightly browned around the edges but still soft and a little puffy in the middle.The cookies should sit on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes before you scrape them off with a spatula to cool completely on a wire rack.
- When the cookies are fully cooled, store them in an airtight container for up to a week.
Notes
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Related: Brown Sugar Cookie Recipes