These brown butter Christmas sprinkle sugar cookies are made in one bowl and you only need 8 simple ingredients! They're loaded up with flavor thanks to the brown butter (one of my favorite secret ingredients!) This is the perfect cookie for the holiday season and a fun twist on classic sugar cookies.
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I think we all know by now that I'm a brown butter fiend. From brown butter cinnamon rolls to brown butter espresso chocolate chip cookies, I can't get enough of it.
When I wanted to make a Christmas version of my sprinkle sugar cookies, I thought it would be fun to swap out the regular butter for brown butter! All you have to do is brown the butter ahead of time (you can even do this a day or two before), let it firm up, then use it like you would regular butter.
These sprinkle sugar cookies only use 8 simple pantry ingredients and they're made in just one bowl, so this is a really easy Christmas cookie to get into the holiday spirit!
If you're looking for a Christmas chocolate chip cookie version, I recommend trying out my Christmas M&M cookies!
Why you'll love this recipe!
- 8 Ingredients: that's it - literally just 8 simple ingredients! You probably have everything you already need in your kitchen.
- Brown Butter: brown butter is the secret ingredient here that gives these cookies an extra oomph of flavor.
- Easy: the hardest part of this recipe is waiting for the brown butter to cool and set! No fancy equipment or cookie cutters here.
Grab Your Ingredients
- Unsalted Butter: I always use unsalted butter so I can control the level of salt in the recipe. We'll first brown the butter, then let it firm up in the fridge before using!
- Granulated Sugar: because this is a classic sugar cookie recipe, we're using just white sugar and not light brown sugar.
- Festive Sprinkles: I recommend using long-stranded sprinkles and not nonpareils (those little ball ones), they tend to bleed in cookie dough! I'm using Christmas sprinkles but you can of course use rainbow sprinkles or any other color.
- Vanilla Extract: because we don't have a ton of ingredients in this cookie recipe, try to use a high quality vanilla extract.
- Baking Powder: baking powder is going to help these cookies lift and spread in the oven.
- Eggs: we're adding a whole egg and an egg yolk to the cookie dough. That extra egg yolk is going to make the cookies soft and chewy!
Substitutions & Additions
- Sprinkles: use whatever color sprinkles you like or leave them out and just have brown butter sugar cookies!
- Brown Butter: if you don't want to brown your butter, just decrease the amount of butter in the recipe to 227 grams/2 sticks of room temperature butter.
Let's Make This Recipe!
- Step 1: Start by browning your butter. Place in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, until the butter melts. Stir as the butter begins to foam and sputter. Once the milk solids turn golden brown and it smells toasted and nutty, pour into a medium bowl or jug. Let cool at room temperature, then place in the fridge until set (like room temperature butter).
- Step 2: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Step 3: In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the brown butter and granulated sugar together until light and fluffy.
- Step 4: Scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and mix until combined.
- Step 5: Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined on low speed. Stir in the sprinkles.
- Step 6: Scoop out 1 ½ tablespoons of cookie dough (I use a medium cookie scoop), then roll the cookie dough balls in extra granulated sugar. You can chill them for 20 minutes so they don't spread as much, or up to overnight. Then bake in an oven preheated to 350ºFahrenheit, one sheet at a time, for 10-11 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before cooling on a wire rack.
My Top Tips
- Browning Butter: you can make the brown butter 1-2 days ahead of time, which is what I did when testing this recipe! Once cooled to room temperature, just place the bowl of brown butter in the fridge for 1-2 days. When ready to use, let it come to room temperature like you would with regular butter.
- No Brown Butter: if you don't want to make brown butter and want these cookies asap, you can just use room-temperature butter! Change the amounts to 2 sticks/227 grams of butter, because when we brown butter some of the water evaporates from the butter.
- Don't Overbake: sugar cookies can overbake really easily in the oven, and no one wants a dry cookie. Take them out of the oven when the edges have set but the middle looks a bit underdone because they're going to keep baking on the cookie sheet. That's how you get soft sugar cookies!
- Scoot: my secret to a perfectly round cookie is scooting! Take a large biscuit cutter or mug and scoot the cookie as soon as it's out of the oven.
- Extra Sprinkles: you can see in the photos above there are extra sprinkles on top of the cookies. As soon as they're out of the oven after I scoot, I sprinkle over extra sprinkles to the still hot cookies. It just gives it that bakery style look!
Serving Suggestions
- Christmas Cookie Box: these are a must for your Christmas cookie exchange! Make them along with nutella thumbprint cookies, peanut butter snickerdoodles and chocolate dipped butter cookies!
Storage & Freezing
Keep these cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days. To freeze, place in a ziploc bag or freezer bag for up to 2 months in the freezer. Let thaw at room temperature before enjoying.
Made This Recipe?
Make sure to leave a ⭐️ rating and review below! You can tag me on Instagram @alpineella or follow along on Pinterest, Facebook and TikTok!
Thank you!
Ella
Recipe
Brown Butter Christmas Sprinkle Sugar Cookies
Get into the holiday spirit with these brown butter Christmas sprinkle sugar cookies. You only need 8 simple ingredients!
Equipment
- Medium Pot
- Bowls
- Stand Mixer
- Hand Held Mixer
- Kitchen Scale
- Measuring Spoons
- Rubber Spatula
- 2 Baking Sheets
- Medium Cookie Scoop
Ingredients
- 1 cup (271 grams) unsalted butter room temperature
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 ¾ cups (330 grams) all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon (2 teaspoon) baking powder
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) kosher salt
- 1 ¾ cups (388 grams) sugar
- 1 (1) egg room temperature
- 1 (1) egg yolk room temperature
- 2 teaspoon (2 teaspoon) vanilla extract
- ½ cup sprinkles
- ½ cup sugar for rolling the cookies
Ella's Baking Tip!Weigh your ingredients with a kitchen scale for the best results!
Instructions
- Start by browning the butter. Place 1 cup + 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter in a medium pan over medium-low heat and melt the butter.3 tablespoons unsalted butter, 1 cup (271 grams) unsalted butter
- Once melted, increase the heat to medium and let the butter begin to foam. Keep cooking and stirring with a spatula, until the milk solids begin to brown and gives off a nutty smell (2-3 minutes).
- Pour into a medium bowl or jug and let come to room temperature. Once cooled down, place in the fridge. Let it firm up, but it should be soft to the touch (like room temperature butter!)
- Preheat your oven to 350°F/175°C. Line your baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt together. Set aside.2 ¾ cups (330 grams) all purpose flour, 2 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter for 1 minute until soft and creamy.
- Add your sugar and beat on medium-high for 3 minutes until light and fluffy.1 ¾ cups (388 grams) sugar
- Add your egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract, then beat until it is well combined.1 egg, 1 egg yolk, 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Add your dry ingredients and beat on low, stop as soon as the flour is combined.
- Pour in your sprinkles and fold by hand.½ cup sprinkles
- Scoop out the dough into 1 ½ tablespoon balls and roll in the extra granulated sugar. Chill for 20 minutes or up to overnight. If chilling overnight, keep the cookie dough balls in an airtight container or wrap in plastic wrap.½ cup sugar
- Bake 4-6 at a time (depending on the size of your baking sheet!) for 11 minutes. While you're baking those, keep the others in the fridge. The cookies will continue cooking when they're taken out of the oven and the middle will set and crack.
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Notes
My recipes have been developed and tested in metric grams. I highly recommend using a weighing scale and measuring out your ingredients the metric way. Just click on 'Metric' above the ingredients.
Butter: I use European style butter which will make your cookies extra creamy and buttery. You'll need 271 grams or 1 cup and 3 tablespoons of butter.
Sprinkles: I do not recommend using nonpareil sprinkles (those tiny circular balls) as they might bleed in the batter and won't show up.
Storage: keep the baked cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days at room temperature. Freeze unbaked cookie dough balls, when ready to bake just bake for an extra minute or two.
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment below! You can also tag me on Instagram @alpineella so I can see what you made!
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