Go Back
soft fluffy sugar cookie recipe

Soft, Fluffy Sugar Cutout Cookies with Browned Butter Maple Frosting

Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Chill Time 1 hour
Servings 24

Ingredients
  

Soft Sugar Cookies

  • 1 cup butter softened
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3 cups flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Browned Butter Maple Frosting

  • 1/2 cup browned butter chilled in the fridge until solid again
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 Tbsp maple syrup
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1-2 Tbsp milk for texture

Instructions
 

Make Cookie Dough

  • In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
  • Add the egg and vanilla. Keep mixing until well-combined.
  • Add 1 cup of flour. Then, add another cup of flour with the baking powder and salt. Finally, mix in the third cup of flour until everything is well-combined.
  • Divide your dough in half, and form each half into a disc. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least one hour.

Brown Butter

  • Cut your butter into chunks, place the chunks in a saucepan over medium-low heat on the stove.
  • Stir the butter frequently while on the stove. The butter will start to foam and froth. Then, the froth will subside a bit, and you might be able to see solidified milk fat chunks floating around. Finally, the froth will come back a little bit.
  • Gently move the froth on top of your butter to the side with a spoon. It is done when you can see brown flecks at the bottom and smell a nutty aroma.
  • Remove browned butter from the heat immediately. Allow to cool a bit in the pan. Then, transfer the browned butter to a heat safe container and let it chill to at least room temperature.

Roll Out and Bake Cookies

  • Preheat your oven to 350°F and line some cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  • After your cookie dough has chilled, lightly flour a clean, flat surface.
  • Roll out your cookie dough to about 1/4 inch thick. I like to go at least a 1/4 inch thick, erring on the side of thickness to get nice, fluffy cookies.
  • Place your cookies on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. These cookies will not expand much, so you do not have to leave a lot of space between them.
  • Bake the cookies 8-10 minutes at 350°F, or until the bottoms are starting to turn golden brown (While the tops may still be rather white). Allow the cookies to cool on the cookie sheet until cool enough to touch.
  • Allow to cool completely before frosting

Make Browned Butter Maple Frosting and Decorate

  • Once your browned butter has cooled, it is ready to use for frosting.
  • Add browned butter, powdered sugar, maple syrup, vanilla and a tablespoon of milk to a large mixing bowl. Beat until smooth. If your frosting seems too thick, add another tablespoon of milk.
    Pro tip: Add a little more milk to get kind of a watery frosting. Then, you can put the frosting in a shallow bowl and gently dip your cookies in the frosting face down. After you gently lift your cookies out, you'll have a nice, even coat of frosting covering the front of your cookies.
  • After your cookies are frosted, decorate them as you please with sprinkles, etc. Or, just enjoy plain.