Soft & Chewy Dark Brown Sugar Cookies — These cookies are sweetened entirely with dark brown sugar! Between the molasses in the sugar and the molasses in the dough, these cookies are rich, deep and caramely in flavor!
Chewy Brown Sugar Sugar Cookies
No butter, no white sugar, no complaints. Just dark and rich cookies so soft that they bend rather than break.
Growing up, I loved soft batch cookies. Although there was never a shortage of homemade cookies around, something about those uber-soft store-bought cookies, almost flexible and pliable they’re so soft, was something I’d pester my mom to buy.
These brown sugar coconut oil cookies are my ode to Soft Batch cookies, using a more robust flavor palette.
I love the dark, rich, robust flavors of dark brown sugar and molasses, and pairing them with coconut oil was the best flavor pairing decision I’ve made in ages. But pairing coconut oil with almost anything is a good call.
I’ve been craving molasses cookies and rather than being seasonally inappropriate with a straight up molasses cookie in the almost springtime, I allowed the natural molasses undertones in dark brown sugar to work for me.
Dark brown sugar is really just light brown sugar with triple the amount of molasses. Approximately 3 tablespoons molasses to 1 cup granulated sugar in dark brown sugar, versus 1 tablespoon to 1 cup granulated sugar for light brown sugar.
Plus, I supplemented the dough with 1 tablespoon molasses, enough to add that extra pop I love.
Please don’t write to tell me that brown sugar is white sugar with molasses added. I’ve been told that about 500 times. I am making a taste claim about dark brown sugar, not a health claim. You cannot get the flavor from white sugar that brown sugar lends.
The cookies are so very soft and chewy. They bend and flex before they break and crumble. They’re moist and dense without being heavy.
The coconut oil, cornstarch, molasses, and dark brown sugar keeps them so soft and and they soft for days. Brown sugar absorbs atmospheric moisture so the cookies actually get softer over time, rather than drying out.
The dark brown sugar and molasses take on caramelized flavors while baking and the depth of flavor created is sublime, especially paired with the coconut oil and abundant vanilla.
They have a rustic, earthier, bolder flavor that’s sweet enough, but not too sweet. Serve them with a tall glass of milk if you wish, but two shots of espresso or a glass of red wine are more of what I have in mind.
They’re the best possible cookie combination in the whole family of soft batch-ish and vanilla (Sugar-Doodle Vanilla Cookies), brown sugar (Brown Sugar Maple Cookies), molasses (Molasses Triple Chocolate Cookies), and coconut oil (Coconut Oil White Chocolate Cookies) cookies I’ve been creating lately. I think I just found the holy grail of combinations.
If you like brown sugar, molasses, caramel, vanilla, browned butter, snickerdoodles, or cookies where the focus is on scrumptious cookie dough itself, not on all kinds of add-ins and chocolate chips, these are the cookies for you.
They are insanely good and I have to hide them from myself.
Unfortunately, I know all my own hiding places.
What’s in the Brown Sugar Cookies?
To make the chewy brown sugar cookies, you’ll need:
- Coconut oil
- Dark brown sugar
- Egg
- Vanilla extract
- Molasses
- All-purpose flour
- Cornstarch
- Baking soda
- Salt
What Type of Molasses Should I Use?
I bake cookies and bread with unsulphered molasses, not blackstrap, which is too bitter for me to enjoy. Even though it’s only a tablespoon, I caution against using it in this recipe unless you prefer a pungent and bitter bite.
How to Make Brown Sugar Cookies
Make the cookies by combining coconut oil with dark brown sugar, an egg, vanilla and cream the ingredients until they’re soft and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
I used 2 tablespoons vanilla, because I love it and this dough is bold and can stand up to it, but if you prefer less, add to taste. I used Homemade Vanilla Extract, full of vanilla bean flecks and specks.
Add the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, salt, and mix to just incorporate. I normally use a combination of bread and all-prose flour in cookies, but for these, I stuck with AP because cookies made with it are softer, although not quite as chewy. I was going for that extreme Soft Batch softness.
And for that reason, I also added cornstarch. Cornstarch is a workhorse and I used it in my favorite chocolate chip cookies. It does the job of both softening and tenderizing dough, and cookies made with it bake up extremely soft.
The cookie dough will be soft and it’s not sticky or tacky like traditional chocolate chip cookie dough.
It reminds me of a peanut butter-based cookie dough because it seems a little on the oily side, thanks to the coconut oil. It has that Play-Doh like consistency and you can pinch it together and it sticks to itself but not to your hands.
I used my medium 2-inch cookie scoop and made 16 mounds, about 2 heaping tablespoons of dough each. I didn’t flatten them, shape them, or touch them in any way. I let the tops stay ‘feathered’, which is the impression the wire-release mechanism on my cookie scoop makes.
Place the dough mounds on a large plate, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 5 days before baking.
Bake the cookies at 350F for 8 to 10 minutes, but I strongly encourage the lower end of the range. My dough was rock hard coming out of the refrigerator after two days chilling, and I allowed it to sit on baking sheets at room temperature for 30 minutes before baking.
I baked for 8 minutes, rotating trays midway through. The tops should barely be set, and will be glossy and appear underdone, but they firm up as they cool. Any longer than 10 minutes and you run the risk of the bottoms browning too much and you don’t want Hard Batch Cookies.
Everyone’s coconut oil, oven, climate, and personal preferences are different, but they taste best when they’re soft and not over baked.
Can the Coconut Oil Be Substituted?
Not to my knowledge, no. I tried to convey in the Coconut Oil White Chocolate Cookies recipe that the coconut oil doesn’t make the cookies taste like tanning lotion.
In fact, the coconut flavor when baking with coconut oil is much less overt than if using shredded or flaked coconut, which can often be quite powerful and almost off-putting.
Instead, I liken coconut oil to amped up, flavored butter. Just as browned butter is an enhanced, tastier version of butter, coconut oil in many ways is the same.
Interestingly, I’ve found when baking with coconut oil that the smell is more pronounced than the actual flavor. Instead, what is pronounced is the richness and deeply satisfying density.
The lusciousness of coconut oil on your lips and tongue supercedes the coconut taste. Cookies baked with it have an immense richness that is so luxurious.
I don’t bite into them and say oh wow, this tastes like coconut, which is my way of saying if you’re on the fence about coconut in general, to give coconut oil a whirl in baking. You’ll still be able to taste it, but it’s not as powerful as you’d think.
Plus, dark brown sugar and molasses are two flavors that can stand up to it.
Do I Have to Chill Cookie Dough?
Yes, for this recipe the dough MUST be chilled prior to baking. The dough is too warm, limp, and soft and is unsuitable for baking until it has been chilled.
If you bake with warm, soft, dough your cookies will spread into a big puddle. You don’t want that.
Tips for Making Brown Sugar Sugar Cookies
It’s important to use coconut oil that’s softened to the consistency of softened butter. The same consistency you’d use for creaming butter, sugars, and eggs in traditional cookie dough.
If your coconut oil is rock hard, microwave it in a small bowl for 5 or 10 seconds, or just until it begins to soften. If it’s runny or melted, place it in the freezer momentarily until it firms up.
A tiny amount of runniness is fine; it’s an oil and that happens. But do not use melted or purely liquid coconut oil because you can’t effectively cream a liquid; it would be like trying to cream liquid butter. Doesn’t work.
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Soft & Chewy Dark Brown Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup coconut oil, softened (softened to the consistency of soft butter; not rock hard and not runny or melted, see below)
- 1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons vanilla extract, yes tablespoons, not teaspoons, or to taste
- 1 tablespoon unsulphered mild to medium molasses
- 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt, optional and to taste
Instructions
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine coconut oil, egg, sugar and beat on medium-high speed to cream until light and fluffy, 4 to 5 minutes.
- Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the vanilla, molasses, and beat to incorporate, 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add the flour, corn starch, baking soda, optional salt, and mix until just combined, about 1 minute.
- Using a medium cookie scoop, form mounds that are 2 heaping tablespoons in size; or divide dough into approximately 15 to 16 equal-sized pieces.
- Place dough mounds on a large plate, and slightly flatten each mound. Very important to get the dough mounds in the exact shape you want to bake them in because after chilling, flattening or re-shaping them is very difficult. Cover with plasticwrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours; up to 5 days. Do not bake these cookies with dough that has not been properly chilled because they will spread.
- Preheat oven to 350°F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat Non-Stick Baking Mat, parchment, or spray with cooking spray. Place dough on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart; I bake a maximum of 8 per sheet.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until tops have just set, even if slightly undercooked, pale, and glossy in the center. They firm up as they cool and I recommend the lower end of the baking range because they taste best when softer. The cookies in the photos were baked for 8 minutes, with trays rotated once midway through baking.
- Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 to 10 minutes before moving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Amazing cookies. So chewy and delicious. At first I thought they might not come together but I worked the dough with my hands until the coconut oil softened and everything was incorporated. I baked them in 3 batches over 2 days and the dough kept well in the fridge, it was easy enough to form cookies after 10 minutes out of the fridge. I rolled the last batch in cinnamon and sugar to make them extra decadent – it worked!
So glad to hear you made them and enjoyed them so much – me too! They’re one of my fave cookies on my whole site! And rolling in cinn-sugar, good thinking. I’ve done too that since posting the recipe and it does make them extra good! Thanks for the awesome comment and for LMK you tried them and think they’re amazing! :)
Oh my goodness, these were my first Pinterest fail. I must have needed to add a ton more flour, because they ended up one, horrible giant cookie taking up the whole pan. I used tropical traditions coconut oil and a silpat. So sad. I’ve been looking forward to these for weeks. I’ll add a bunch more flour to the rest of my dough and freeze them before baking instead of just refrigerating for 4 hours. :(
Sounds like you definitely need to add more flour. The dough should be the consistency of normal cookie dough. Not any more or less soupy or sticky than normal cookie dough. You’re just swapping out a stick of butter for a half-cup of oil, so nothing too extreme there, but add as much flour as you think is necessary.
Also, make sure the dough is VERY well chilled. Some of my dough was chilling for many days and by the time I got around to baking them, they dough balls were like rocks because the coconut oil solidified so much in the fridge over the many days. I let it come to room temp for about 15 mins before baking.
Thanks for trying the recipe and many people have written to say they love these cookies and I have remade them many times and have never had issues but since coconut oil is a natural product, the oil/solids can vary and results will, too (albeit I am really surprised about your giant cookie issue – which makes me think to check your baking soda, too). LMK if you try again! They’re worth it, I promise :)
I just made these tonight for my boyfriend. He avoids butter, so these looked worth a try. They were a hit and so easy to make! Thank you for your work/post on them.
They’re one of my fave cookies on my whole site and so happy that they were an easy hit for you! Thanks for coming back to LMK you tried them!
These did not work for me, the dough looked nothing like yours, mine was much more runny and the cookies came out much darker and spread really bad.
It sounds like your coconut oil was too soft, or was more ‘oily’ than my oil was; some jars/brands are thinner than others as it’s a natural product, it’s not identical. If the dough looked nothing like mine, you probably should have added a bit extra flour. Next time try that; or reduce the amount of oil you use. For these cookies, I used Tropical Traditions coconut oil. You could try that brand. They’re some of my fave cookies of all time and with a few tweaks, I think you’ll be all set next time.
Try substituting coconut sugar for the brown sugar if you’re avoiding white sugar (because brown sugar IS white sugar…just with molasses added). I found it in the baking aisle at Wal-Mart…it’s on the top shelf above the agave and alternative sweeteners. Coconut sugar bakes up nice and rich, much like brown sugar. OR…add molasses to it and make brown coconut sugar.
Hi Averie,
I just made these and they were a great success! After reading some of the comments I made a few slight alterations. I used ww pastry flour and reduced the amount of flour to 11/2 cups. Also, in place of adding the molasses I added chocolate chips and made them a coconut oil chocolate chip cookie. They were absolutely delicious!! My bf couldn’t stop eating the dough. I chilled them in the freezer for 2 hours before baking, they turned out beautifully. I will definitely be using this recipe again and again. Thank you!!
I love that you were able to use WWPFlour and yes, reducing it by a hair was a good call since it seems to be more ‘absorbent’ than regular flour; and with not adding the tbsp of molasses for liquid, good move to reduce by 1/4 cup (and with the rest of your WWPF please make these!! https://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2013/03/homemade-cinnamon-sugar-graham-crackers-smores.html)
But so glad you loved them and I could not stop eating this dough either. Like I cannot make these cookies unless I can build more cardio into my week that week b/c I inhale these things! :)
Thanks for your recipes and the great photos! I was inspired by you to create a recipe using two foreign ingredients to me in cookies: Coconut oil and corn starch. They turned out great. Check out my blog-I’d really appreciate your input!
Thank you-
Annie
I just looked at them and those big blueberries really catch my eye! Glad you were inspired from my recipe to create them using new-to-you ingredients!
So excited to try these this weekend. Do you think they’d work baked on a stone? I love the way a stone helps cookies to be done evenly and the bottoms are always fabulous.
I never bake cookies on a stone so I have no idea. I always bake on a baking sheet with a Silpat. If you’ve baked other cookies on a stone with success, I’d imagine you’d have luck that way then with these too.
I jumped up to make these the second I saw them… they did not disappoint! The light sweetness and flavor from the vanilla and molasses is perfect. I’m considering adding a bit of cinnamon to the batter next time, but crystallized ginger would be amazing too. FYI, I too used WW pastry flour. I think I used slightly too much given that I’m in a dry climate, so I’ll adjust next time. Otherwise, I think it was a fine substitute. Thanks for a great recipe… now to try those peanut butter ones!
So glad that you tried them and loved them (yes wheat flour can be pretty drying and coconut oil is like a sponge so good call to use a bit less next time) and also ginger, cinnamon – you could pretty much turn these into a coconut oil gingersnap/molasses cookie very easily which I wanted to do (and will before the holidays next year). Blogging about molasses cookies in March isn’t popular but I love those flavors!
I know it’s probably annoying to have people change your recipe but I did and the cookies still turned out ridonkly good. My 3 year old likes to help me bake (aka: eat the batter) and he’s allergic to all things good. So we did a chia egg: 1 tbsp chia + 3 tbsp water and then we also used whole wheat flour and coconut sugar (because they make me feel healthier even when baking cookies). Found you on a friend’s pin for these cookies but shall now stalk all your recipes:)
It’s not annoying when the person makes logical and deliberate choices like you did (vs. the person who removes the solid sugar and adds 3 cups of maple syrup in it’s place or who removes all the flour and adds 3x the volume of protein powder and then comes and writes to me and accuses me of posting recipes that don’t work and yes, it happens – a lot!) and in your case, hearing that they were veganized with a chia egg (not flax, good to know!) and you used wheat flour AND coconut sugar..and that all these things worked out so well…that is awesome! I have a 6 yr old and love that you’re baking w/ your 3 y.o. and thanks for stalking my recipes!
Tried these a few weeks ago, they are amazing! It was my first cooking experiment using coconut oil, and they tasted so good. I loved how soft they were! Needless to say, I ate way too many. Love all your recipes girl!
Had no idea you tried them and thanks for LMK, Alaina! I can’t even make these unless I want to eat the whole batch…because I do! I love love love these cookies and glad you enjoyed them!