Walnut Cookies are tender buttery sweet cookies with a center of chewy brown sugar, walnut, and sour cream filling.
Walnut Frosties
I have no idea where the name Walnut Frosties originated, but my friend Margaret shared a batch of these cookies with us a while back, and with the very first bite, I asked her if she’d pretty please share the recipe with me.
She was kind enough to do so and now I’m willing to bet that you’re going to love these Walnut Frosties every bit as much as we do!
The cookie is a brown sugar drop type of cookie. The brown sugar and butter combination makes for the perfect cookie base for the nutty filling.
The filling combination of walnuts, sour cream, and brown sugar bakes up into a sweet Brulee-like crust on top of the buttery cookie.
To achieve the perfectly filled cookie use your thumb or the back of a melon baller to create a circular indent in the cookie. Then fill the cookie with the walnut filling. Don’t be afraid to overfill just a bit as it will bake down and fill the indentation nicely.
If your cookies spread too much while baking chances are your butter was too soft when you started. If the dough seems too soft to me I like to bake a test pan with 2-3 cookies on it first to see how much they spread. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes or so to firm it up if it spreads too much.
My friend shared that traditionally they make these at Christmas. She had no clue why, it was just what they do. However as delicious as they are I am making them year around!
Walnut Cookies Recipe
- butter softened
- brown sugar
- egg
- vanilla extract
- flour
- baking soda
- salt
- walnuts chopped
- sour cream
Brown Sugar Walnut Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cream together butter and sugar until smooth and combined. Mix in the egg and vanilla. Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the wet ingredients.
- In a separate bowl combine the chopped walnuts, ½ cup of brown sugar and the sour cream.
- Using a 1½ inch cookie scoop place scoops of dough on a silpat or parchment lined baking sheet. Make a thumbprint indentation into each cookie and fill with a generous teaspoon of the walnut filling.
- Bake for 11-12 minutes until just starting to turn brown. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet. Place cookies on a wire rack to finish cooling.
Cookie Recipes
Cookies and cookie recipes are meant to be shared. Whether it is taking a plate to the neighbors or trading recipes with friends. It doesn’t get much better than sharing all things cookies over a cup of coffee.
It is no secret that I keep a full cookie jar. I have a house full of boys constantly on the prowl for a snack. Oatmeal cookies are such a versatile classic. The nuttiness of the oatmeal and sweet chocolate hit the spot when the mid-afternoon munchies come on.
You only need a handful of ingredients to make these chewy, chocolate and peanut butter-filled Peanut Butter Cookie Cups.
Crisp and chewy at the same time, the best Monster Cookie recipes are loaded with all of my favorite great cookie flavors. Oats, peanut butter, chocolate chips, and even a drop of maple syrup all combine to make my grandmother’s Monster Cookies.
Walnut Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter softened
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Walnut Filling
- 1 cup walnuts chopped
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup sour cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cream together butter and sugar until smooth and combined. Mix in the egg and vanilla. Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the wet ingredients.
- In a separate bowl combine the chopped walnuts, ½ cup of brown sugar and the sour cream.
- Using a 1½ inch cookie scoop place scoops of dough on a silpat or parchment lined baking sheet. Make a thumbprint indentation into each cookie and fill with a generous teaspoon of the walnut filling.
- Bake for 11-12 minutes until just starting to turn brown. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet. Place cookies on a wire rack to finish cooling.
Nutrition
Caroline Hinners says
I haven’t tried these cookies yet but would like to know if you could use different nuts? my husband hates walnuts yet I love them and eat them on salads and by the handful. I was wondering if almonds, filberts or pecans would work? Thank You for the recipes!
Mary Younkin says
Caroline – I have made it with pecans and they work well. Almonds and filberts should be fine as well.
Barbara Fiore-Williams says
I think Macadamias would be great in this Cookies!
Sandra Hughes says
Hi can you eliminate the sour cream or use something else.
Mary Younkin says
You can not eliminate the sour cream as that is what holds the filling together. As for a substitution, I have not tried using anything else, Sandra.
Suzan Marie says
What about ricotta?
Mary Younkin says
You will want to stick with sour cream.
Christina says
A great recipe! Thank you for sharing
Peggy Keenan says
Can you freeze these cookies after baking
Mary Younkin says
Yes, they freeze nicely, Peggy.
Cory says
Delicious and so easy to make.
Mary Younkin says
They sure are, Cory.
Cory says
My new favorite cookie.
Mary Younkin says
That is awesome to hear, Cory. PS- we would agree it is definitely a favorite for us, too!
Cheryl says
Can you freeze the dough until ready to bake?
Mary Younkin says
That should work fine, Cheryl.
Victoria M Weiss says
I bake a lot. I make my own bread. I do not do “cookie scoops”. Not making these because of your assumptions.
Mary Younkin says
I am really not following that comment, Victoria. But curious what you call it if you don’t call it a cookie scoop?
Tara says
This is the stupidest comment I think I’ve ever read on a place to leave reviews about recipes. Haha!!
These cookies are amazing. Thanks for the recipe Mary!
Michelle Robinson says
My Batter turned out Sandy. I had to roll it into a ball with my hands and fell apart easily. Any suggestions what I did wrong?
Mary Younkin says
Hmmm..did you use too much flour or not enough of the wet ingredients? Was your butter room temperature? It is hard to troubleshoot not being in your kitchen but those are some of the things I would look at first.
Cindy says
Same thing happened to me,I added an extra egg.
Daniella says
My dough was also too dry, so I added some milk. I weighed my flour, so maybe that was the issue. They looked a bit different than the recipe photo but were still delicious.
Mary Younkin says
I’m glad you were able to make the cookies work for you. I don’t typically weigh the flour for this recipe, so that likely was the difference.
Leslie says
Yum!!
Of course, mine did not look like hers (need some more practice). If you want to keep them soft, make sure you follow her cooking instructions! I gave mine an extra minute, so they’re a little crunchy on the outside, but chewy in the middle, so all good!
I love the brown sugar in the cookie, and could’ve just eaten the dough right out of the bowl…..and I did. 😊
Oh, I did use full fat Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, because that is what I had, and it worked fine.
I also do not own cookie scoops (and I’m not offended by recipes that include them in instructions – what’s up with that? ), I just use two spoons! Also, though, the dough is very easy to pick up and roll into balls, and that what I ended up doing.
Mary Younkin says
I am delighted you loved this recipe too. My friend will be excited to hear that. It has become one of our favorites.
Susan Maria says
These are the most amazing cookies I’ve ever eaten. I didn’t have enough walnut topping and needed to make more, but that was not a problem at all. I also made the cookies too big, but hey, they’re really awesome. I took your advice and sprinkled some pink sea salt as I didn’t have flakes. I agree that the topping is like a crème brûlée. So awesome.
I’m taking these to Christmas dinner for my family. Hopefully, everyone feels the same as me. I’ll be making these again and again. Things I did differently: I rolled the cookie in my hands and smooshed it down with my palm, then used a metal 1/2 tsp to indent a perfect circle. I didn’t chop the walnuts as much as in your picture, but it did result in a good looking top. Thanks!!
Mary Younkin says
The topping-to-cookie ratio can be a tricky one. Once you make them a few times you just start to know the right proportions. I am delighted to know you love them so much. I know when I first tried them I was like, where have these been all my life? Merry Christmas!
Angela Wallingford says
They turned out very nice and very tasty. They will make nice addition to the cookie plates I give at Christmas. Thank you 😊
Mary Younkin says
I’m so glad you like the cookies, Angela!
Cassandra Flores says
Great recipe. I used dark brown sugar so came out darker. My family loved the walnut cookie
Mary Younkin says
I am so happy they loved them, Cassandra!
katherine says
Should the butter be salted or unsalted?
Mary Younkin says
I have used either successfully.
Sandra Urban says
My husband made these cookies today, and they definitely will stay in his cookie file. We loved them! He had a little of the walnut filling left over, and the taste of the nut filling reminded me of a little jar of walnuts and syrup that I would buy to put on top of ice cream Sundays with hot fudge. When he makes them again, I am going to try the filling on vanilla ice cream. Thank you for this recipe, my husband grades his recipes, the ones he wants to keep, this one received an A++.
Mary Younkin says
A++ I will take it! I am so happy he enjoyed it, we loved it since my friend shared it with us!
Deborah says
This Walnut cookie recipe is Great1! I did end up putting one egg and half in the cookie dry mixture it was way to dry otherwise… byt what a nice looking good tasting cookie!
Mary Younkin says
I’m glad you were able to make the recipe work well for you, Deborah. Enjoy the cookies, and happy baking!
Mari says
What can I substitute egg with?
Mary Younkin says
I haven’t tried these cookies with anything else, Mari.
Veeney says
My daughter made this and accidentally added only half cup brown sugar into the dough, but it still turned out tasting great! We also substituted Greek yogurt for the sour cream and it was a success!
Mary Younkin says
I’m glad you and your daughter were able to make the cookies work well for you, Veeney. It sounds like they were a hit. Happy baking!
Cathy Jo says
Made them last Christmas. They were incredible! Making again today!
Mary Younkin says
These are excellent desserts for Christmastime, Cathy. I’m glad you’re enjoying them during the rest of the year, too. Happy baking!
Donna says
These cookies are easy & delicious! I used my excess nut paste from nut rolls that I’d made first. That paste uses milk instead of sour cream but the result was delicious. I made a batch for my upcoming Christmas Cookie Exchange.
Mary Younkin says
I’m so glad the cookies turned out well for you, Donna. I hope they’ll be a hit at the cookie exchange. Happy baking!
DANETTE B Chavez says
I baked these cookies to test for a cookie contest we do at work. The dough was so dry, I added water. After reading the other comments I will use milk or add an extra egg. Not sure the ratios were right, though I’m in Colorado. After testing these with two other contenders, my did not opt these the winner. However, they were super tasty, not sweet enough and not enough walnut flavor, so added 4 tablespoons of white sugar and almond extract. Turned out terrific!
Mary Younkin says
I’m glad you were able to make it work for you, Danette!