Brown Butter Shortbread Recipes

LEMON BARS WITH BROWN-BUTTER SHORTBREAD CRUST

Steps:

• Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking pan; line baking pan with parchment paper, leaving a 3-inch overhang on all sides.
• Make the crust: In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat until barely browned in color. Remove pan from heat and pour butter into the bowl of an electric mixer, leaving any burned sediment behind. Transfer butter to refrigerator until solidified. When solidified, remove from refrigerator and let soften slightly.
• Transfer bowl to electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; beat until butter is smooth. Sift flour, confectioners' sugar, and salt into bowl; mix on low speed until combined.
• Transfer dough to prepared pan and press evenly into bottom of the pan using the back of a measuring cup; it should be about 1/4 inch thick. Transfer to refrigerator; chill until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Transfer baking pan to oven and bake until crust is golden brown, about 20 minutes. If crust appears to be browning unevenly, rotate pan.
• Make the filling: Meanwhile, whisk together eggs, egg yolks, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour and sugar. Add lemon juice and zest; whisk to dissolve granulated sugar. Add egg mixture to flour mixture and whisk until well combined.
• When the crust is golden brown, pull out oven rack and evenly pour filling mixture directly over hot crust (if crust has finished baking before filling has been made, return crust to oven for a few minutes so that it is hot). If air bubbles appear on the surface, remove them using a kitchen torch held 4 to 5 inches from the surface, moving in a slow even motion. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees and bake until center is set, 30 to 40 minutes.
• Remove baking pan from oven and transfer to a wire rack. Let lemon bars cool completely before covering and transferring to refrigerator until chilled.
• Using a sharp knife dipped in hot water and wiped dry, cut lemon bars into twenty-four 2-inch squares and dust with confectioners' sugar just before serving, if desired.

3-INGREDIENT BROWN-BUTTER SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300°F. Melt butter in a small skillet over medium heat and cook, stirring often, until milk solids begin to brown, about 6 minutes (do not burn). Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a medium bowl. Chill until just firm, about 30 minutes.
• Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat brown butter and powdered sugar in a large bowl until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low and gradually beat in flour and salt, scraping down sides of bowl as needed, just to blend (do not overwork dough).
• Transfer dough to a sheet of parchment. Form dough into a rectangle. Place second sheet of parchment over dough. Roll out dough to a 8x6" rectangle about 1/2" thick.
• Remove top sheet of parchment. Transfer dough on parchment to a rimmed baking sheet. Using a fork, pierce dough all over, spacing 1" apart. Bake shortbread, rotating halfway through, until golden brown and firm to the touch, 55-65 minutes.
• Cut shortbread lengthwise into 1" strips on baking sheet while still warm. Cut each strip crosswise into thirds. Let cool completely.
• Do Ahead
• Cookies can be made 2 days ahead; cover and store at room temperature.

BROWN-BUTTER SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• Prepare an ice-water bath with a medium metal bowl set inside. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until deep golden brown, about 8 minutes. Immediately pour butter into bowl in ice-water bath and whisk in milk. Stir mixture constantly with a rubber spatula, scraping the sides of the bowl, until mixture begins to thicken, about 3 minutes.
• Remove bowl from ice-water bath and let stand until mixture thickens to the consistency of room-temperature butter, about 30 minutes.
• Beat butter mixture with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar and vanilla, and continue to beat for 2 minutes more. Reduce speed to low; beat in flour.
• Butter a 10-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Press dough evenly into bottom of pan using plastic wrap. (Make sure dough is flat; a small offset spatula may help.) Refrigerate, covered with plastic wrap, for 20 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Cut through dough to make 8 wedges using a sharp paring knife and a ruler. Cut a round from the center using a 2 1/4-inch ovenproof cookie cutter; discard dough. Return cutter to hole. Prick wedges all over with a wooden skewer. Refrigerate, covered, for 20 minutes.
• Sprinkle sanding sugar evenly over shortbread. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until golden brown, 55 minutes to 1 hour 5 minutes. Let cool in pan set on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove shortbread from pan, and cut along lines into wedges. Let cool completely on rack.

BROWN BUTTER PECAN SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• Grind pecans in processor until coarse meal forms. Melt 1/2 cup butter in small skillet over medium heat. Cook until dark amber, stirring often, about 6 minutes (do not burn). Pour through fine strainer into small bowl. Chill just until firm, about 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 300°F. Whisk flour and salt to blend. Using electric mixer, beat brown butter, 1/2 cup butter, and sugar in large bowl until creamy. Beat in vanilla, then nuts. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed just to blend.
• Transfer dough to sheet of parchment paper. Form dough into rectangle. Place second sheet of parchment paper over dough. Press or roll dough into 12x8- inch rectangle. Remove top sheet of parchment. Transfer dough on parchment to baking sheet. Using fork, pierce dough all over, spacing 1 inch apart.
• Bake shortbread until golden brown and firm to touch, about 55 minutes. Leaving shortbread on baking sheet, cut lengthwise into 8 strips. Cut each strip crosswise into quarters. Cool 10 minutes on sheet on rack. Transfer cookies to rack to cool completely. DO AHEAD: Can be made 3 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

BROWNED BUTTER SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a heavy two-quart saucepan, melt all the butter over low heat. Cook butter 8 to 12 minutes, stirring consistently, until butter solids at bottom of pan are a rich brown color and butter has a nutty aroma. Be careful not to burn the butter.
• Pour browned butter into a bowl; refrigerate until almost firm, about a half hour.
• In large bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat sugar with cooled browned butter.
• Mix flour and salt into butter mixture by hand -- don't overwork the dough. It will be crumbly.
• Pat shortbread crumbs into pan of choice. I like to use a square pan.
• Bake shortbread 40 to 45 minutes, until browned around the edge. Watch carefully lest they burn. Let cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes.
• Remove shortbread from pan to cutting board. While still warm, cut the whole in half, in half again, and in half again until you have small squares. These are rich, and shouldn't be large.

BROWN SUGAR SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually stir in flour and mix well. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 3 minutes. Pat into a 1/3-in.-thick rectangle measuring 11 in. x 8 in. , Cut into 2-in. x 1-in. strips. Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Prick with a fork. , Bake at 300° for 25 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack.