Classic snickerdoodles are hard to beat, but to take them to another level, I suggest browning the butter! The brown butter adds rich caramelized notes and a deep nuttiness that pairs beautifully with warm cinnamon. Combined with sourdough discard, these sourdough snickerdoodle cookies have a subtle tang, chewy centers, crisp edges, and a flavor that’s far more complex than the classic version.
I believe snickerdoodle lovers tend to fall into two camps: those who want a thick, fluffy, cake-like snickerdoodle cookie and those who prefer a chewy center with crisp edges. I think both are delicious but these sourdough snickerdoodles are firmly in the chewy camp. My absolute favorite part and the thing I love most about these cookies, though, is the perfect crackly top that forms beneath the cinnamon sugar coating – just like these crackly sourdough lemon cookies. What a beauty! 🤩
Key ingredients
🍪 You can’t have great snickerdoodles without lots of cinnamon. In this recipe, I decided to add a generous amount of cinnamon in the cookie dough as well as in the cinnamon sugar coating to ensure each bite is full of flavor.
Other key ingredients:
- Brown butter is what makes my recipe different from the classic version. Browning the butter does two things here: it removes water in the butter to make room for the extra moisture you’ll add in the form of sourdough discard and adds complexity and depth to these cookies.
- You can use either sourdough discard or active sourdough starter to add a subtle tang to your cookies, as well as moisture. If the classic snickerdoodle’s signature tang is your favorite part, this sourdough version takes it up a notch.
- I use only egg yolks in all of my sourdough cookie recipes to make them extra chewy. Removing the egg whites also minimizes water in the cookie dough, allowing you to add more sourdough discard instead.
- Baking soda and cream of tartar work together in this recipe to help these cookies spread, improves browning and also makes them more chewy. Cream of tartar is an acidic ingredient that reacts with baking soda. If you don’t want to use cream of tartar, you need to substitute 1 teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice to prevent an aftertaste left by baking soda.
How to make sourdough snickerdoodles
Follow along visually as we make these chewy sourdough discard snickerdoodle cookies. Or you can skip ahead, detailed instructions are in the recipe card below.
1. Make brown butter
I usually make brown butter early in the day and let it cool in my stand mixer bowl until I’m ready to start mixing the cookie dough. Sometimes, it resolidifies, which is totally fine. I suggest giving yourself at least an hour for the cooling process if you don’t have all day.
2. Cream butter with sugar
If you touch the side of the mixing bowl and it feels cool, you’re ready to beat brown butter with granulated sugar. Do this for 2 minutes until the mixture is thoroughly incorporated and lightened in color.
3. Add remaining wet ingredients
When you’re combining the rest of the wet ingredients with the creamed butter/sugar mixture, don’t be afraid to beat it for a full 2 minutes to emulsify the mixture well. You’ll want it creamy and fluffy.
4. Incorporate dry ingredients
When I add dry ingredients to form cookie doughs, if I have very few ingredients like just flour and baking soda, I usually sift them directly into the bowl. But for these cookies, I have a total of 5 dry ingredients, so I mix them together in a small bowl first to ensure even distribution and then add it to the wet mixture.
5. Scoop and chill
I like to divide the dough immediately while it is still soft and then chill the dough balls in the fridge. This way, if something comes up and I can’t get to them within the hour, I don’t have to worry about the dough getting too hard to scoop later.
6. Roll in cinnamon sugar
What makes these sourdough snickerdoodle cookies different is that they have 2x the cinnamon: inside the dough and in the cinnamon sugar coating.
7. Bake and cool
You can bake a dozen on a half-sheet baking tray. These will come out with beautiful crackly top and round shape. I found that about 13 minutes is perfect for crisp edges with chewy centers for a full dozen, but for the remaining 6 cookies in this batch, 13 minutes is slightly too long and the cookies turned out more brown. So I suggest reducing baking time slightly when you bake less cookies on one tray.
Sourdough Snickerdoodle Cookies Recipe
Equipment
- Stand Mixer
- Light Color Saucepan
- Baking Sheet
- 1-½ Tbsp Cookie Scoop
Ingredients
Cookie dough
- 113 grams (4 oz) unsalted butter brown
- 150 grams (¾ cup) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg yolk
- 5 grams (1 teaspoon) pure vanilla extract
- 75 grams sourdough starter discard 100% hydration
- 180 grams (1 ⅓ cup) all-purpose flour
- 3 grams (1 teaspoon) cinnamon
- 3 grams (½ teaspoon) baking soda
- 4 grams (1 teaspoon) cream of tartar
- 2 grams (¼ teaspoon) kosher salt
Topping
- 25 grams (2 tablespoon) granulated sugar
- 3 grams (1 teaspoon) cinnamon
Instructions
- Brown the butter – Heat unsalted butter in a light colored saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter melts, it will become foamy. When the foam subsides, you will see clear bubbles, start whisking continuously at this point to keep the milk solids from burning. When the butter is caramel in color and smells nutty – about 8 to 9 minutes – take it off the heat and immediately pour it into the stand mixer bowl and allow to cool.113 grams unsalted butter
- Beat in sugar – Once the butter has cooled down, add granulated sugar and beat with the paddle attachment for at least 2 minutes until lightened in color.150 grams granulated sugar
- Incorporate sourdough starter – Add the egg yolk, vanilla extract, sourdough starter and continue beating for at least another 2 minutes until fluffy and creamy.1 large egg yolk, 5 grams pure vanilla extract, 75 grams sourdough starter discard
- Add dry ingredients – Sift the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and cream of tartar into a small mixing bowl, stir in the kosher salt until evenly distributed. Add the dry ingredient mixture into the wet ingredient mixture in the stand mixer bowl and stir until incorporated. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary.180 grams all-purpose flour, 3 grams cinnamon, 3 grams baking soda, 4 grams cream of tartar, 2 grams kosher salt
- Scoop and chill – Portion the cookie dough with a 1 ½-tablespoon cookie scoop and place them on a lined baking sheet. Roll into balls. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour before baking. Chilling the dough allows the brown butter to re-solidify, the flour to hydrate and the flavor to develop.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Prepare the cinnamon sugar topping – Mix together granulated sugar and cinnamon in a shallow bowl.25 grams granulated sugar, 3 grams cinnamon
- Bake – Roll the dough balls in cinnamon sugar, place 12 on a half sheet baking sheet, and bake for about 13 minutes, until the edges of the cookies start to turn lightly golden.
- Cool – Remove the baking sheet from the oven, and allow the cookies to sit on the baking sheet to finish baking from the residual heat for 10-15 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Storing baked cookies: store leftover cookies in an airtight container at room temp for up to 5 days or freeze them for up to 6 months.
- Storing cookie dough: cookie dough balls can be kept refrigerated for 3-4 days, and frozen for 3-6 months. Don’t roll them in cinnamon sugar for longer term storage. Roll in sugar just before baking.
- Baking frozen dough: you can bake frozen cookie dough balls directly from the freezer without thawing, simply increase baking time by about a minute or so.
- Small batch browns quicker: if you’re only baking a few cookies and not a full dozen on the baking sheet, reduce the bake time so they don’t brown too much.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
