Project Description

browned-butter-shortbread

Would you like some sugar with your butter? This is a cookie that doesn’t get in the way of the pure toasty, nutty, butteriness of butter. It’s the easiest cookie to make  — you don’t even need your mixer — just make sure you keep a close watch on your butter as it browns.

Whole Wheat Brown Butter Shortbread

Makes about 12-16 cookies.
Adapted from Lottie + Doof.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup lightly packed light brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or one vanilla bean, split and scraped
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 1/2 cups Community Grains Hard Red Winter Wheat Flour

Baking Instructions

  1. Lightly grease a 9 -inch round fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. If you don’t have a pan with a removable bottom you could line a 8-inch square cake pan with aluminum foil, leaving an overhang of foil on two opposite sides so you can easily lift the shortbread out of the pan.
  2. In a small saucepan over medium melt the butter and continue to cook until it stops foaming, and the milk solids at the bottom of the pan begin to toast lightly. Remove from the heat — be careful, it can start to burn quickly.
  3. While the butter is melting, you can measure out your sugar, vanilla, and salt in a medium bowl. Add the butter when it’s ready and has cooled slightly. Mix thoroughly, and then add the flour and mix with a wooden spoon until well incorporated.  Spread the dough evenly in the prepared pan. Let stand for at least 2 hours on the counter or preferably overnight.
  4. Preheat oven to 300° F.
  5. Bake the shortbread for 45 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven but leave the oven on.
  6. Very carefully remove the sides of the tart pan. (Or carefully remove the shortbread from the pan using the aluminum foil as a sling.) Use a very sharp and thin knife to cut it into pieces. Carefully place the slices slightly apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment and return them to the oven for 15 minutes to toast lightly. Cool on a wire rack.

These cookies should keep in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks. They freeze beautifully too.