These buttery Turmeric Cookies are perfectly chewy and delicious. They are classic sugar cookies made extra special and flavorful with brown butter and turmeric!
These turmeric sugar cookies are made with a vanilla sugar cookie dough base. They extra rich flavor from brown butter. Turmeric gives the cookies their gorgeous golden orange color.
This was my first time baking with turmeric. It adds a slightly earthy, citrusy flavor and makes these cookies extra flavorful!
I love making cookies with less common ingredients. For more unique cookies, try my hibiscus cookies, cookies with rose water, and matcha cookies.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Turmeric has a slightly citrusy, earthy taste. It gives these cookies their bright golden color.
- Brown butter adds a rich depth of flavor just like it does in my cinnamon chocolate chip cookies!
- These cookies are drop style. No rolling pin, cookie cutters or icing needed.
- You’ll only need 10 ingredients and 1 hour to make these brown butter sugar cookies!
Ingredient Notes
Here are some useful notes on some of the ingredients needed to make these turmeric brown butter sugar cookies.
- Unsalted butter: You’ll need 1 cup (two sticks) of unsalted butter. The butter is toasted til browned. Brown butter adds a rich, nutty flavor to these cookies.
- Salt: Salt enhances and balances out the flavor of these cookies.
- Turmeric: Turmeric is a spice often used in savory foods like curries. It gives these cookies a gorgeous color and adds a unique taste!
- 1 egg: Use 1 large room temperature egg. Room temperature eggs are easier to incorporate into the dough.
- Turbinado sugar: I like to dip the tops of the cookie dough balls in turbinado sugar or or demerara sugar. It adds a pretty sparkle, light crunch and sweet flavor.
See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Substitutions and Variations
- Use regular melted butter in place of brown butter.
- Add a little lemon zest or orange zest for even more flavor!
- There isn’t a substitute for turmeric, but you can leave it out if you choose. The cookies won’t have the same bright color, but they will still be delicious.
- Dip cookies in sparkling sugar in place of turbinado or demerara sugar.
Step by Step Instructions
Step 1: (See photo 1 above). Brown or melt the butter. To brown the butter, add butter to a saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter starts to bubble, whisk constantly for 4-5 minutes. It will start to foam and you’ll notice little bits form. When the butter begins changing color, remove from heat. Pour the butter into a heat safe bowl. Allow butter to cool for 5 minutes.
Step 2: (See photo 2 above). Beat the butter and sugars with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla until combined.
Step 3: (See photo 3 above). Turn the mixer to low and mix in the dry ingredients until just combined.
Step 4: (See photo 4 above). Roll the dough into balls, about 1 Tablespoon of dough each. Dip tops in turbinado sugar and place on a lined baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Step 5: (See photo 5 above). Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Set cookie dough balls about 3 inches apart and bake for 11-12 minutes.
Step 6: (See photo 6 above). Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.
Expert Tips
Tip #1: Spoon the flour into measuring cup. If you dredge the measuring cup into the flour, the flour will become compact. Too much flour can lead to dry cookies.
Tip # 2: Cool butter to room temperature before using. It’s very important to let the butter cool to the touch (but don’t let it re-solidify) before adding the sugars.
Tip #3: While the cookie dough is chilling, you can clean up the kitchen, line baking sheets with parchment paper and preheat the oven.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, but they won’t have the same color or flavor. Add an extra 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla or almond extract in place of the turmeric.
Turmeric is most commonly used in savory dishes. It’s especially delicious in rice dishes, soups and stews. It adds a pretty color and subtle flavor to my chicken tagine recipe and is delicious in my harira soup.
Yes. You can find turmeric in the spice section of most grocery stores. You can also buy ground turmeric online.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
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Turmeric Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1¾ teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 cup unsalted butter browned, cooled to the touch
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup brown sugar light or dark, packed
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- turbinado sugar for rolling, optional but recommended
Instructions
- Start by melteing or browning the butter. To brown the butter, first melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Stir occasionally at first. Once begins to bubble, stir it constantly. It will start to foam. Continue stirring as you watch for it to turn a light, amber color and develop a nutty smell which should happen in about five minutes. Pour the brown butter into a heat safe bowl, making sure the scrape the bottom of the pan for all the bits. Set the butter aside to cool for 5 minutes.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk to combine the flour, baking soda, turmeric and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl or bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the brown butter and sugars on medium high speed til smooth and combined, about 2 minutes. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Mix in the egg followed by the vanilla.
- Turn the mixer to low and mix in the dry ingredients in two additions until just combined.
- Roll the dough into balls, about 1 Tablespoon of dough each. Dip the tops into a shallow bowl of turbinado sugar. Place dough balls a lined baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Set cookie dough balls about 3 inches apart and bake for 11-12 minutes. Bake until cookies appear set. The turmeric makes it a little challenging to notice when the cookies are finished. Mine typically take 12 minutes.
- Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
Nutrition
Please note that nutritional values are created by an online calculator and should only be used as an estimate.
LN
These came out excellent! I made two small changes: I mixed the turmeric into the hot butter to “bloom” it and wake up the flavor instead of adding it with the dry ingredients, and I added about half a teaspoon of cardamom to the dry ingredients to complement the turmeric flavor. Delicious!
Natalie
Yay! Thank you so much for making this recipe and for sharing your recipe notes. Great idea to add the turmeric to the hot butter! I did that for my hibiscus cookies recipe and will definitely try it with these next time I make them 🙂 Thanks for your review. Have a great weekend!