Fun, sweet & unique Root Beer Float Cookies. A soft & cakey cookie with just the right amount of root beer flavor!
Root Beer in PA Dutch County
Root beer is one of those big, popular flavors in Lancaster County. Put it up there with our shoofly pie & scrapple.
You’ll find homemade root beer at roadside produce stands & even for sale in coolers alongside country roads. Locals love it as much as the tourists.
An old neighbor of mine used to make root beer everything. Not only did she make her own root beer, she made root beer cake, brownies, cupcakes, fudge and of course, root beer cookies. It was her thing – people loved it and paid nicely for her root beer sweets.
This neighbor also made her own homemade root beer syrup concentrate. Although she wouldn’t share her own prized recipe – she often shared jars of the syrup.
I’ve baked with that syrup & have used it for homemade root beer – traditional, boozy & fermented varieties. Todays recipe we’ll stick with a readily available ingredient – root beer concentrate.
Check out my all time favorite cookie recipe – Jumbo Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies!
Looking for another root beer flavored baked goodie? Check out this Easy Root Beer Float Cake recipe ♥
Ingredients & Instructions
First I’ll mention – you’ll get a lot of cookies from this recipe. I drop them by heaping teaspoonfuls and get over seven dozen. You can easily cut this recipe in half if you’re not in the market for 80+ root beer cookies. I bake to share – so there’s plenty to go around with this Root Beer Float Cookies recipe.
These are soft, cakey cookies with a little crisp on the outside.
They have a very subtle root beer flavor – it’s definitely there, but not in your face.
If you feel you’d like more root beer flavor I would suggest doing it in the frosting. Add an additional teaspoon, or more to taste, of root beer extract while whipping the frosting.
I top these off with just a thin layer of frosting – anymore is just too much for me. If you want a thick layer of frosting you’ll need to double the frosting ingredients.
These would be so cute topped with fine sugar brown or white sprinkles.
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Amanda ♥
Root Beer Float Cookies
Ingredients
- For Cookies
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 1 cup salted butter softened
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons root beer concentrate/extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- For Frosting
- 2 cup powder sugar
- 2 tablespoon salted butter softened
- 2 tablespoon heavy cream or half & half
- 1 teaspoon root beer concentrate / extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- sugar sprinkles / sanding sugar optional
Instructions
- For Cookies
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, combine both sugars, butter, milk, eggs, root beer & vanilla extracts.
- Beat until well combined.
- Add flour, baking soda and salt. Beat at low speed until combined and soft dough forms.
- Drop cookie dough by heaping teaspoons on a nonstick cookie sheet about 2″ apart.
- Bake 8 – 10 minutes or until edges of cookie start to lightly brown.
- Let rest on cookie sheet for a minute then transfer to wire rack & cool completely.
- For Frosting
- In a medium bowl, combine powdered sugar, butter, cream (or half & half) and root beer & vanilla extracts.
- Beat until smooth and mixed, stopping once or twice to scrape sides of bowl.
- Taste. If you would like more root beer flavor, add additional root beer concentrate and mix.
- Spread a thin layer of frosting over cookies. Top with sugar sprinkles (white, gold or brown would be lovely) if you prefer.
- Store covered and enjoy 🙂
Dawn @ Words Of Deliciousness
I love this recipe. I have never heard of root beer cookies, but I love root beer, so I am sure that I would love these. Fun recipe!
Amanda
Thanks Dawn! This is definitely a fun recipe – it proves to be a favorite every time I share it 🙂
Amy (Savory Moments)
I love root beer and I love cookies, so I’m really loving this idea!
Amanda
Thanks so much Amy! We’re all root beer lovers here ♥