These easy Brown Sugar Cut-Out Cookies with browned butter are tender, buttery brown sugar shortbread cookies with deep, rich flavor -- and made with just 3 ingredients! Delicious as is or glazed with easy maple icing.
For more easy cookie recipes, try classic Cut-Out Sugar Cookies with Buttercream Frosting (that hardens firm enough to stack!) or Strawberry Jam Cookies with tangy Lemon Cream Cheese Icing.
It's hard to believe you can make delicious brown sugar cut-out cookies with just 3 ingredients, but when two of them are nutty browned butter and molasses-y dark brown sugar, it makes sense.
This brown sugar shortbread dough is easy to roll out and work with, and the cookies hold their shape beautifully without spreading -- perfect for Christmas cookies!
Just be sure to give the dough chilling time—it’s the secret to achieving that irresistibly tender, melt-in-your-mouth texture. They’re especially good with a cozy chai tea latte.
3️⃣Ingredients
See recipe card at the bottom of the post for the full list of ingredients and exact amounts.
- Salted or unsalted butter. Use whatever kind of butter you have -- salted or unsalted. If you use unsalted, add ½ teaspoon of salt when you cream the butter and brown sugar together. This recipe calls for browning the butter, which adds rich nutty flavor to the cookies.
- Dark brown sugar. Dark brown sugar has more molasses than light brown sugar, so it has a deeper, more intense flavor. You can also use light brown sugar.
- Flour. Shortbread cookies can easily become dry and crumbly if too much flour is added, so please measure carefully. Stir the flour in the canister or bag, spoon it into the measuring cup, then level off the top.
✨Optional Ingredients
- Spices. Add a little cinnamon, nutmeg, or cardamom, or add a blend of cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and allspice for the flavor of gingerbread cookies.
- Cinnamon sugar. Try pressing the cookies into a bowl of cinnamon sugar before or after baking, or both, like what I did with these Cinnamon Shortbread Cookies.
- Flavor extracts. One to two teaspoons of vanilla extract will enhance the browned butter and brown sugar flavors even further. Or go with another flavor like maple, orange, or almond extract.
🥣How to Make Brown Sugar Cut-Out Cookies
Step 1: Brown the butter. Melt and stir butter over medium heat in a light-colored pan. After it bubbles and foams, it will settle and develop brown flecks -- that's browned butter! Quickly remove from heat and pour into shallow heat-proof bowl. Freeze until mostly solid and cold to the touch. It takes about 30 minutes in a pie plate, a deeper bowl will take longer.
Step 2: In a large bowl, cream the browned butter and brown sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.
Step 3: Sift in flour, mix at medium speed until combined. If the dough doesn't come together after a couple of minutes (like the photo), it's okay! Gather it into a ball with your hands.
Pat dough into two flat discs. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill at least 30 minutes, but several hours or overnight is best for texture and flavor.
Step 4: Roll dough to ¼-inch thickness between layers of parchment paper. Cut rolled-out dough with your favorite cookie cutters and place cut outs on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
Step 5: Bake in preheated oven at 325 for 13-15 minutes until the bottom edges just start to turn golden brown. Do not overbake.
Cool baked cookies on the pan 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.
Step 6: If desired, drizzle with this easy Maple Icing. Let the cookies sit for several hours until the frosting is firm.
👉Top Tip: Let chilled dough rest at room temperature until soft enough to easily roll out -- it may need 30 minutes or more.
☑️Tips
- Brown the butter in a light colored saucepan or skillet so you can see when the brown bits start to develop.
- To easily roll the dough to an even thickness, use rolling pin guides, dowels, or two thin cutting boards on either side of the rolling pin.
- If the dough sticks while rolling it out, sprinkle a little powdered sugar on the parchment paper.
- For thinner cookies, adjust the baking time down -- you don't want to overbake these cookies!
🎁Storage
- Store plain or decorated cut-out brown sugar cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 5 days or in the refrigerator for 10 days.
- Freeze brown sugar cookie dough in a freezer bag for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator.
- Freeze frosted or unfrosted brown butter sugar cookies for up to 3 months. Before freezing frosted cookies, let the icing set until hardened, then place the cookies in a single layer between parchment paper or wax paper. Thaw at room temperature or in the refrigerator.
❓FAQs
To ensure cut-out cookies keep their shape, recipes often include minimal or no leavening agents, proper creaming of butter and sugar, and chilling the dough. Other tips include rolling the dough evenly, avoiding overworking it, using parchment or silicone mats, and baking at the correct temperature. Some recipes also add cornstarch or extra flour for stability.
Instead of cookie cutters, you can cut cookie dough with a glass or small bowl or with a knife or pizza cutter.
Shortbread cookie dough typically contains three main ingredients: butter, sugar, and flour, along with optional salt and extracts for flavor. Shortbread has a higher ratio of butter to flour, resulting in rich, buttery, slightly crisp, and perfectly crumbly cookies. While traditional shortbread does not include eggs, some variations may add an egg or yolk for a slightly different texture.
Sugar cookies, on the other hand, include eggs and leavening agents like baking soda or baking powder. They have a lower ratio of butter to flour, creating a softer, chewier cookie that's ideal for shaping and decorating.
Yes. And the reason to chill the dough has nothing to do with preventing spreading -- it's all about texture and flavor. Resting shortbread dough creates a more tender cookie with the crumbly texture we love in shortbread. Unrested shortbread dough bakes into a dense, solid cookie.
🎆More Easy Cookie Recipes
💌Let's Stay in Touch
Follow Midwestern Holidays on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest, and subscribe via email to receive all of the latest recipes!
📖 Recipe
Brown Sugar Cut-Out Cookies (3 Ingredients!)
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, salted or unsalted,* cut into cubes
- ¾ cup dark brown sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
Optional Icing
Instructions
- Brown the butter: Melt and stir butter in a light-colored saucepan over medium heat while it bubbles and foams. After 5-8 minutes, it will develop golden-brown flecks. Quickly transfer to a shallow heat-proof bowl (like a pie plate) and place it in the freezer. Chill until the browned butter feels cold and is mostly solid, about 30 minutes. It will take longer in a deeper bowl.
- Beat cold browned butter (and salt, if using unsalted butter) and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Sift in the flour and mix until combined. If it doesn't come together after a couple of minutes, gather the dough with your hands and form it into a ball. Pat the dough into two flat discs and wrap each one in plastic wrap. Chill at least 30 minutes, but a few hours or overnight is best for flavor and texture. When you're ready to bake, let the dough sit at room temperature until soft enough to roll, it may take 30 minutes or more.
- Preheat oven to 325 and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll out dough between layers of parchment paper to ¼" thickness. Sprinkle parchment with powdered sugar if the dough sticks. Cut the dough with cookie cutters and place the cut outs 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 13-15 minutes or until the cookies are light golden brown around the bottom edges. Do not overbake. Cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- If desired, glaze cooled cookies with Maple Icing and let them sit for about an hour to allow the glaze to fully set.
Notes
- *If using unsalted butter, add ½ teaspoon salt when you cream the butter and brown sugar.
- Brown the butter in a light-colored saucepan or skillet so you can see when the brown bits start to develop.
- To easily roll the dough to an even thickness, use rolling pin guides, dowels, or two thin cutting boards on either side of the rolling pin.
- If the dough sticks while rolling it out, sprinkle a little powdered sugar on the parchment paper.
- For thinner cookies, adjust the baking time down -- you don't want to overbake these cookies!
- This recipe yields about (14) 3" cookies. The exact amount will depend on how thick you roll the dough and the size of the cookie cutters.
Leave a Reply