Brown Butter Snickerdoodle Cups

I do not know if I have ever met a cookie I didn’t like.  Don’t get me wrong, I have my favorites: homemade Chocolate Chip, a Chocolate Crinkle Cookie, or the ultimate Monster Cookie fresh out of the oven.  I mean, whaaaaaat is there NOT to like?

Cookie Exchange

This year, due to this darn infectious disease, we were not able to have our annual holiday bunko party.  My girlfriend, Carol came up with the idea to exchange cookies and drop them on each other’s doorsteps during the day. Then at night, we are going to have a Zoom Party enjoying our cookies while we have some great conversations.  The date was set, now I just needed to find the perfect cookie to make for the gathering!

I don’t think I’ve ever met a cookie I didn’t like.

-Melissa Manos

Criteria for the Perfect Cookie

I wanted to bring something that would look pretty (of course! 😉 ),  I wanted it to transport well, and I wanted it to be something a little unique.  Where did I go?  Well to my Pinterest page, of course!

I had pinned these little cups ages ago and just hadn’t gotten around to making them.  So, my daughter and I got out the mixer and started whipping up a double batch of these Brown Butter Snickerdoodle Cups!

Key Ingredients

I think what makes these unique are 1. The shape. 2. There’s frosting and sprinkles 3. The brown butter!

Oh, my word.  Just the SMELL of the brown butter made me want to eat the AIR!  It smells like really rich vanilla.  Or a perfectly toasted marshmallow.  So hard to describe but it could very well be my favorite edible smell of all time.

How To Make These Goodies

First you make the brown butter…that takes 1 hour so plan accordingly!

Second, you make the dough, then press them into a mini baking pan and bake them for 8 minutes.

Once they are nicely browned, take them out of the oven and press the centers down with the back of a rounded teaspoon. Pop them out on a rack and let them cool.

Filling

Next is to make the filling. Take the remaining brown butter and whip it smooth. Add 1 cup powder sugar, followed by vanilla and milk. Combine till smooth then whip in the rest of the powdered sugar. Put icing in a piping bag (or a zip lock works too!) and stip off the end (or corner) of the bag and start piping.

Pipe the frosting into the cups to about the brim of each cup.

Topping

Sprinkle each cup with chopped dried cranberries and chopped toasted almonds.

Preparing to Deliver

I worried about them sliding around once I put them on the plates to deliver. So, what did we do? Put a dollip of frosting on the plate for the cookie to “stick” to and not slide around! Let’s hope it works! 😉

Packaging

Well…due to COVID, I am limiting my trips to stores. So I made due with ziplock bags and wasabi tape I already had onhand and wrapped each plate up , ready to be transported tomorrow to everyone’s doorsteps.

Recipe

Below is a .jpg you can save to your desktop to print or “Pin” to your pinterest board!

Happy Holidays! I hope you have a fun afternoon of baking in your near future!

xo, Melis