These little brown sugar cookies are outrageously soft and chewy with an intense toffee-like flavor that comes from brown butter, brown sugar, and vanilla.

"Wow, I made these cookies this week and am in love! They were so soft and chewy, and the brown sugar gave them such a wonderful depth of flavor. Do yourself a favor and make these cookies ASAP!" - Amanda

Photo byRebecca Blackwell/ ofbatteranddough.com

When our kids were teenagers I kept a large covered crystal cake stand on our countertop filled with cookies and muffins at pretty much all times. Separating the kitchen from the living room was a long countertop with a raised bar and four stools. That's where I kept the cake stand so that my teenagers and their friends would grab a cookie or a muffin and pull up a stool and sit at the bar and talk to me.

If I were still living in those busy, chaotic, precious days, these are exactly the kind of cookies I would stock in that cake stand. The dough can be kept in the refrigerator for up to a week, ready to bake any time you wish. And the cookies themselves stay soft and chewy for days. Not that they're likely to last that long.

What I'm trying to say is that these are the kind of warm and cozy cookies that make you want to pull up a stool and stay a while.

Photo byRebecca Blackwell/ ofbatteranddough.com

Why refrigerating the dough makes better cookies

There is something frustrating about getting to the part of the cookie recipe that says "refrigerate for at least 5 hours, and preferably 24." I get it. And yet, if you want the best-tasting cookies, that's what you'll have to do.

The minimum time to refrigerate this dough is 5 hours because that allows the butter in the dough time to get nice and cold. This ensures that the cookies hold their shape while baking. If the butter is too warm, the cookies will spread out too quickly and have a thin, crisp texture instead of a soft, chewy one.

But I highly encourage you to let the dough rest for at least 24 hours and here's why.

While the dough rests in the refrigerator the flour has time to absorb more of the liquid in the dough which helps the cookies bake and brown more evenly. The brown sugar also absorbs some of the moisture which is one of the reasons these cookies have such a chewy texture.

And in case you need another reason to let your cookie dough chill out for a day or two, letting the dough rest allows time for the starches and proteins in the flour to break down. This gives the cookies a richer more complex flavor.

Photo byRebecca Blackwell/ ofbatteranddough.com

Recipe: Brown Sugar Cookies

For step-by-step photos showing how to make these cookies, please see the original recipe: Brown Sugar Cookies

• 13 tablespoons (184 grams) unsalted butter
• 1 cup (120 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1 cup (120 grams) cake flour
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 large egg whites, at room temperature
• 1 ¼ cups (266 grams) packed light or dark brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla paste or pure vanilla extract, or 1 vanilla bean (see notes)
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• ⅓ cup granulated sugar or vanilla sugar, for rolling (see notes)

1. Brown the butter: Cut the butter into chunks and put it in a light-colored saucepan. (Dark pans make it difficult to tell when the butter is browned.) Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the butter is melted and begins to boil. As you stir, pay attention to the color of the butter underneath the foam. When it's done, the butter beneath the foam will be golden brown with dark brown specks on the bottom of the pan and will smell nutty. Once browned, pour the butter into a small bowl. Be sure to scrape all the brown flecks from the bottom of the pan into the bowl - those brown specks contain a lot of flavor. Let the butter cool completely until solid. You can speed the process up by placing it in the refrigerator but bring it back to room temperature before using. Brown butter can be kept in the refrigerator for up to a week.
2. Add the all-purpose flour, cake flour, cornstarch, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt to a bowl and stir with a wire whisk to blend.
3. Add the egg whites to another small bowl and whisk with a fork for a few seconds until frothy.
4. Add brown butter (the butter should be solid but at room temperature), brown sugar, vanilla, and almond extract to a mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until the mixture has lightened in color and is visibly aerated. This will take about 3 minutes but stop from time to time to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
5. Add the egg whites to the butter and sugar mixture and beat on medium-high speed until completely incorporated.
6. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed just until incorporated - it's important to not over mix the dough after adding the dry ingredients.
7. Scrape the dough into an airtight container and refrigerate for at least 5 hours, preferably for 24 hours. The long rest in the refrigerator gives the dough time to develop the best flavor. The dough can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
8. When you're ready to bake the cookies, heat the oven to 350 degrees F (176 degrees C) and line one or two baking sheets with parchment paper. Add the granulated sugar or vanilla sugar to a small bowl and place it next to the baking sheets.
9. Remove the cookie dough from the refrigerator and shape it into golf ball-sized balls. If using a kitchen scale, use 28 - 30 grams of dough per cookie. Roll the balls of dough in the sugar and place them on the baking sheet, spacing them at least 3 inches apart.
10. Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for 8-10 minutes. For the softest, chewiest texture, remove the cookies from the oven when they are set but still look very soft and a bit doughy in the middle. See the photo above for reference.
11. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet completely before removing them. They will be extremely soft right after baking but will firm up as they cool.
12. Store the cookies in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. The cookies can also be frozen for up to 3 months.

For more of my recipes, visit alittleandalot.com and ofbatteranddough.com.

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