brown butter shortbread
These brown butter shortbread cookies are buttery, crumbly, and thick-- with flecks of vanilla bean seeds and toasty milk solids. The nutty ambrosia and melt-in-your mouth tenderness take them to the next level!
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 18
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Mixer
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 sticks salted butter
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp fine salt
- 1 vanilla bean, scraped (can substitute 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste)
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 tbsp water
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring often, as butter foams and then begins to brown and smell nutty, 5- 10 minutes. When golden brown, scrape into a medium bowl and chill until firm.
- Let brown butter sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Place browned butter, sugar, salt and vanilla bean seeds (or paste, if using) in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until smooth, about 1 minute, scraping down bowl as needed. Mix in egg yolk and water until combined.
- Add flour and slowly mix until dough just comes together. Don’t over mix.
- Scoop dough onto a piece of parchment paper. Cover with another sheet of parchment and roll out to ⅜-inch thick. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or until very firm.
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 325°F.
- Use a 2-inch square cookie cutter to cut out cookies, re-rolling scraps as needed. Arrange cookies 1/2-inch apart on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, storing any unbaked cookies in the refrigerator until needed.
- Bake for 22- 24 minutes, or until cookies are just firm to the touch and the edges are a light golden brown.
- Let cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then carefully transfer to a rack to cool completely. Repeat baking the remaining cookies.
Notes
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 171
- Sugar: 6g
- Sodium: 150mg
- Fat: 11g
- Saturated Fat: 6.6g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3.4g
- Trans Fat: 0.4g
- Carbohydrates: 17g
- Fiber: 0.4g
- Protein: 2g
- Cholesterol: 48mg
Find it online: https://www.withspice.com/blog/brown-butter-shortbread/