Take your sugar cookie recipe up a notch with these delicious Brown Butter Sugar Cookie Bars. Made with pantry ingredients and no chill time required, these are an easy but flavorful dessert.
Brown Butter Sugar Cookie Bars
When baking, one of my favorite things to do is take a popular recipe and make a small, simple change to make it even better. I’ve found it usually only takes a few seconds or an extra ingredient to turn a “regular” recipe into one especially memorable. Take these Brown Butter Sugar Cookie Bars, for example. With just the few minutes it took to brown the butter, I was able to upgrade the flavor profile of these easy cookie bars.What’s even better than the simple ingredient list is that these sugar cookie bars can be prepared in just a few minutes. There is no need for dough chilling or kneading, the dough is ready to be poured into the pan for baking as soon as it’s combined. We have our regular drop-style Sugar Cookies and a simple Cake Mix Cookie Bar Recipe already on the blog, but these are seriously the best! It’s also definitely fall now, and time for decadent desserts with lots of butter! I thought about posting a dinner recipe today, but, the cookie bars won out and you won’t be disappointed!
Recipe Notes:
What is brown butter? Brown butter, also known as beurre noisette, is literally just regular unsalted butter that’s been browned on the stove top. The color will deepen as the water is cooked out and brown bits appear, changing the flavor. Brown butter has a rich, darker flavor that truly stands out, especially in simple recipes like this one.
Speaking of simple recipes, these cookie bars are SO easy to make. The hardest part is the few minutes it takes to make the brown butter. There is a 99% chance you have everything you need to make them in your kitchen right now. Unlike some sugar cookie recipes, the base of these bars is simple – butter, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, eggs, sugar, vanilla. I added in chocolate chips, and white chocolate chips for good measure, though you could omit them if you wanted a traditional sugar cookie….but when it comes to dessert, I always think more chocolate is better!
As I mentioned above, I include chocolate chips in my cookie bars. However, I’ve found that butterscotch chips and caramel chips also compliment the brown butter flavor well. Try out a few different versions to see what you like best!
If you want, you can prepare this dough ahead! It freezes well for up to 3 months. Just thaw in the refrigerator overnight before spreading into the pan and baking as directed below!
Enjoy!
~Nichole
Brown Butter Sugar Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- 1 Cup 2 Sticks Unsalted Butter, At Room Temperature
- 2 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 2 Large Eggs At Room Temperature
- 1 Cup Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 2 Cups Chocolate Chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9x13 inch baking dish with foil and spray with non-stick spray, set aside.
- Place the butter in a large skillet and add the butter. Melt over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the butter begins to foam and deepen in color. Once you see brown bits appear on the bottom of the skillet, remove the pan from the heat and allow the butter to cool for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
- Pour the brown butter into a separate bowl and whisk in the eggs, sugar, and vanilla extract until well combined.
- Pour the butter mixture into the flour mixture and stir with a spatula just until combined, then fold in the chocolate chips.
- Pour into prepared pan and bake for 20-25 minutes until the top is turning golden brown and the bars are set in the center.
- Allow the bars to cool completely before removing from the pan. Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
