Impress your wizarding and muggle friends with these completely from scratch Butterbeer Cookies! Filled with bits of easy homemade toffee and topped with brown sugar frosting, these magical cookies are sure to delight!
These cookies are perfect for a Halloween party, Christmas cookie tray or summertime treat! True Harry Potter fans will make a batch in July. Comment below if you know why!
Butterbeer flavor is the best, but finding a butterbeer cookies recipe that was completely from-scratch was impossible. We all love pudding-mix recipes, but it’s easier to bake something that doesn’t need a special trip to the store. If you have standard baking ingredients (flour, sugar, eggs, etc), you can make these cookies right now!
Butterbeer Cookies Flavors
Butterbeer flavor is related to butterscotch (JK Rowling, author of Harry Potter), which is a combination of butter and brown sugar. This is where the toffee comes in to play. You can whip up a batch of toffee (made from butter and brown sugar!) in less than 10 minutes!
The brown sugar frosting on top adds the creaminess associated with butterscotch, to round out the flavor nicely.
Butterbeer Obsession Cookies Ingredients
Toffee: homemade in less than 10 minutes from butter and brown sugar
Flour: all-purpose flour. Measure by gently spooning flour into the measuring cups and then level off the top. Alternatively, measure by weight.
Baking soda
Salt
Butter: I use salted, but unsalted butter would also be fine
Brown Sugar
Granulated Sugar
Egg
Vanilla Extract
How to Make Butterbeer Obsession Cookies
Toffee Bits
About an hour (up to a week) before making your butterbeer cookies, prepare the toffee. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, boil butter and brown sugar together for about 7 minutes.
When mixture begins to smoke, remove from heat and immediately pour into a greased 9×13″ pan. Spread out as far as possible to make a thin layer.
Score the hot toffee multiple times to make it easy to break up when it is cooled.
Refrigerate about an hour (at least 20 minutes) to allow to cool.
Remove toffee from dish and break into small pieces. To break up into even smaller pieces, place toffee in baggie or between 2 layers of waxed paper or parchment and break up further by hitting with a meat tenderizer.
Smaller pieces are better!
Butterbeer Cookies
In a medium bowl, whisk to combine flour, baking soda and salt.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until mixture is pale and fluffy (about 3-5 minutes). Beat in egg and vanilla.
Mix in toffee pieces on low speed.
Slowly add dry ingredients until completely mixed in.
Bake at 375°F for 7-10 minutes until cookies are golden on top and lightly brown along bottom edge. Remove to wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
Brown Sugar Frosting
While cookies are cooling, in bowl of electric mixer, cream butter and brown sugar on medium-high speed for about 3-5 minutes.
Add powdered sugar a bit at a time, mixing on slow speed. Add vanilla and milk. Adjust milk as needed to obtain desired consistency. Beat on medium-high speed 1 minute to fluff up frosting.
Spread a dollop of frosting on each cookie.
Decorate with Harry Potter colored sprinkles (optional).
How to Store Butterbeer Cookies
Store Butterbeer Obsession Cookies either in a single layer, tightly wrapped in plastic wrap or in Tupperware with waxed paper between layers.
Because of the buttercream frosting, these cookies must be stored in the fridge up to 5 days (3 days for freshest cookies).
Can I Make Butterbeer Cookie Dough Ahead of Time?
Yes! The toffee can be made weeks in advance and stored in the fridge until you’re ready to make Butterbeer Obsession Cookies. The prepared cookie dough can be stored in the fridge up to 3 days before baking.
Can I Freeze Butterbeer Cookies Dough?
Butterbeer Obsession Cookie Dough can be made ahead of time and separated into balls and frozen up to 6 months. Freeze in a single layer for about 4 hours. After this point, the dough balls can be placed in a Tupperware or baggie for freezer storage.
To bake from frozen, add 1 extra minute to normal bake time.
Frosting can also be made ahead of time and frozen up to 3 months. Be sure to thaw completely before frosting cooled cookies.
Can I Freeze Baked Butterbeer Cookies?
These cookies can be stored in the freezer frosted or unfrosted, up to 3-4 months. Be sure to place a piece of waxed paper between layers if your cookies are frosted.
Have Fun Baking From Scratch!
Butterbeer Obsession Cookies (From Scratch!)
Equipment
- medium saucepan
- 9"x13" baking dish
- meat tenderizing mallet (or other similar object to use to break up toffee bits)
- electric mixer
Ingredients
Toffee Bits
- ⅓ cup butter
- ½ cup packed brown sugar (105 grams by weight)
Butterbeer Cookie Dough
- 6 Tablespoons butter, softened (salted or unsalted)
- ½ cup packed brown sugar (105 grams by weight)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar (100 grams by weight)
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour (281 grams by weight)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
Brown Sugar Frosting
- ¼ cup butter, softened (½ stick)
- ¼ cup packed brown sugar (52 grams by weight)
- 1 cups powdered sugar (113 grams by weight)
- 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon milk
Instructions
Toffee
- Grease a 9"x13" baking pan with butter.
- In a medium, heavy-bottom saucepan over medium heat, bring butter and brown sugar to a boil. ⅓ cup butter½ cup packed brown sugar
- Continue to boil while stirring constantly for about 7 minutes. When mixture begins to boil, remove from heat and immediately pour toffee into prepared pan. Spread as far and thinly as possible before mixture begins to harden.
- Immediately score toffee with sharp knife multiple times.
- Place toffee in fridge for an hour or more to cool (at least 20 minutes).
- When cool, remove toffee from dish and snap into small pieces. Place pieces in a baggie or between 2 pieces of waxed paper or parchment paper. Carefully hit toffee with meat tenderizing mallet to break up into very small bits.
Butterbeer Obsession Cookie Dough
- Preheat oven to 375°F
- In a medium bowl, whisk to combine flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour½ teaspoon baking soda½ teaspoon salt
- In bowl of electric mixer, cream butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar on medium-high speed for 3-5 minutes until pale and fluffy.6 Tablespoons butter, softened¼ cup granulated sugar½ cup packed brown sugar
- Add egg and vanilla extract.1 egg1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- On low speed, mix in toffee bits.
- On low speed, mix in flour mixture.
- Portion out dough into 1 Tablespoon-sized balls (1" balls). Bake at 375°F for 7-10 minutes until cookie is golden brown and bottom edges are lightly browned.
- Cool 2 minutes. Remove to wire rack to cool completely.
Brown Sugar Frosting
- In bowl of electric mixer, cream butter and brown sugar on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy.¼ cup butter, softened¼ cup packed brown sugar
- On low speed, mix in powdered sugar a bit at a time until fully mixed in.1 cups powdered sugar
- Add vanilla extract and milk. Adjust milk as needed to obtain desired consistency.1 teaspoons vanilla extract1 teaspoon milk
- Beat frosting on medium-high to high for 1 minute to get a light, fluffy frosting.
- When cookies are fully cooled, spread a dollop of frosting onto each cookie. Sprinkle with Harry Potter colored sprinkles, if desired.
Notes
- I always use salted butter, but unsalted would also work.
- Cookie dough can be made up to 2 days in advance and refrigerated until ready to bake.
- Cookie dough can be portioned into 1 Tablespoon-sized (1″) dough balls and frozen up to 6 months. Freeze in a single layer for 4 hours and then move dough balls to a Tupperware container or baggie for storage. To bake from frozen: add 1 minute to normal bake time.
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