These thin and chewy brown sugar cookies are baked with the flavors of brown sugar, molasses, and vanilla extract. The edges of these sugar cookies are crisp and they have tender and chewy centers.
Molasses gives these cookies a deeper caramel flavor than regular sugar cookies. No chilling means the dough goes from mixer to oven in minutes instead of hours.
Ingredients in Brown Sugar Cookies
These brown sugar cookies use simple ingredients and come together fast.
- All-purpose flour - spooned & leveled
- Salted butter
- Baking soda
- Baking powder
- Molasses
- Egg + Egg Yolk - an egg separator is a great tool to separate the egg from the yolk.
- Vanilla extract
- Granulated sugar
How to Make Brown Sugar Cookies
Sugar cookies usually need chilling time. These do not. The dough comes together fast, rolls in sugar, and bakes into thin, chewy cookies with crisp edges. Brown sugar cookies like these save at least an hour.
Cream the Butter and Sugar
Start with room temperature butter. It creams with the brown sugar more easily and makes the dough come together faster. Room temperature eggs blend in smoother too.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Beat the room temperature salted butter until creamy. Add the dark brown sugar and molasses. Beat until combined and smooth. Beat in the egg, the egg yolk, and the vanilla extract until everything is blended.
Add the Dry Ingredients
In a medium bowl, spoon and level the all-purpose flour. Stir in the baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
Tip: Stir the flour first, spoon it into the dry measuring cup, and scrape off the extra with the back of a spoon. This spoon and level method uses up to 50% less flour than scooping straight from the bag. Too much flour makes the cookies dry.
Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Mix until the flour is just moistened. Stop as soon as it comes together.
Scoop, Roll, and Bake
Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Scoop the dough by two tablespoons or use a number 30 cookie scoop. Pour granulated sugar into a shallow dish and roll each dough ball in the sugar.
Place the dough balls two inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets. Bake one sheet at a time for 12 to 14 minutes.
Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.
More Cookie Recipes
These brown sugar cookies belong on every holiday cookie tray. For more Christmas cookie recipes, browse my Christmas cookie recipes for classics like shortbread, peanut butter blossoms, and chocolate crinkle cookies.
📖 Recipe
Thin and Chewy Brown Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour - spooned and leveled
- 14 tablespoons unsalted butter - room temp
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon molasses
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- Granulated sugar for rolling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F
- Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- In a bowl, combine the spooned and leveled flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- In a separate bowl, beat the butter until creamy.
- Add in the brown sugar and molasses. Beat until combined.
- Beat in the eggs and vanilla.
- Slowly beat in the flour mixture until moistened.
- Scoop and roll into 2 tablespoon balls (or use a #30 cookie scoop)
- Roll in sugar and place on parchment paper lined cookie sheet.
- Place th4 dough balls 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. Bake in batches.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes
- Allow to sit for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack and allowing to cool to room temperature before storing.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate based on third-party calculations. Actual values may vary due to ingredients, measurements, and serving sizes.
© Mama Needs Cake
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!Dana is an experienced recipe creator who crafts easy and delicious recipes for all levels of home cooks.
Her recipes range from classic comfort foods to healthy and nutritious meals, and she is always on the lookout for new and exciting ways to bring flavor and variety to the table.
Yum! It's hard to say no to cookies especially when they're this good
@Linda, Approximately how many cookies does this recipe make?
Love trying new cookie recipes! Thanks for sharing!
We made these and they turned out amazing! Chewy and delicious, I can't wait to make them again, especially now that the baking season is coming.
These cookies are to die for! They were so wonderfully soft and chewy -- just how I like my sugar cookies. The molasses flavor was such a nice touch too.
These are my newest addiction! They turn out so delicious and chewy. I will be baking these all the time.
These are perfection! So chewy and I love the brown sugar flavor. I'm saving this recipe for the Christmas season.
I made these with the kids over the weekend. It was such a great recipe for them to follow and even the youngest could help. And we ALL enjoyed eating them!
Thank you
They are SO thin. Amazing. I bet they taste delicious with added molasses. I have to bake them asap.
This would go perfectly well with my morning cuppa! A must on any baking list!
This is one of my favorite cookie recipes to make. It is so easy and delicious!
I just finished baking the second batch of these glorious cookies in a week. To say my husband and I love them would be an understatement. It amazes me that such a simple recipe produces cookies this rich. FWIW, I baked the first batch for 12 minutes and they became a bit crunchy by the next day. I baked today's batch for 11 minutes and they are exactly as you described: lightly crunchy around the edge but perfectly chewy in the middle. You can't even get cookies this delicious at a bakery. Cheers!
Hi Lizzie! It makes my heart happy that you and your husband enjoyed these cookies! Thank you for taking the time to leave feedback. Happy baking!
Is there any way to translate this into another measure than whales per football field? Like, who legit measures 14 tablespoons of butter? One thing is not using grams, but using these super inaccurate measures can only lead to a baking disaster.
Hi Frida, if you would like 14 tablespoons of butter in cups it is 7/8 cup of butter or 198.5 grams if you prefer it that way. It is not an inaccurate measurement as this recipe has been a favorite for quite a few years now. Hope I was able to help you understand how much butter to use. Happy baking.
@Frida, it's 1 3/4 sticks of butter! (Each stick is 8 teaspoons)
@Frida, oops 8 Tablespoons! Not teaspoons!
There I go annoying you with inaccuracy--sorry!
Approximately how many cookies does this recipe make?
about 18 cookies!
Great recipe. Simple ingredients. Easy to prep. Great taste. Crust and chewy. Yum. Will definitely make again.