Browned Butter Vanilla Cookies Recipes

BROWN-BUTTER COOKIES

Steps:

• Melt butter over medium heat. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until deep golden brown, about 11 minutes. Immediately pour butter into a large bowl, and let cool to room temperature, about 10 minutes. Stir in vanilla.
• Whisk together flour, baking powder, granulated sugar, and salt. Gradually stir into butter mixture. Form dough into a ball, then roll into a 14-inch-long log (about 1 1/2 inches in diameter). Wrap in parchment, and refrigerate until firm, 1-2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush dough with egg wash, and roll in sanding sugar. Slice into 3/8-inch rounds, and transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until light brown and firm, 15 to 17 minutes. Let cool completely on baking sheets on wire racks.

BROWN BUTTER COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Heat butter over medium heat for 5 minutes or so, until it turns nut brown in color. The foaming and bubbling is part of the browning process, but watch it carefully so that you don't burn the butter. Remove from heat, and cool slightly. Reserve 1/2 cup of the butter for the frosting.
• Pour remaining browned butter into a large mixing bowl. Beat browned butter with brown sugar until the butter is no longer hot. Mix in eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Beat thoroughly. Mix in flour and chopped pecans. Drop tablespoons of dough onto ungreased baking sheets.
• Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until light brown around the edges. Cool.
• In a medium bowl, mix the reserved 1/2 cup browned butter with 2 teaspoons vanilla, confectioners' sugar, and hot water. Beat until smooth, and use to frost cooled cookies.

BROWNED-BUTTER VANILLA COOKIES

Steps:

• Put eight ounces of the butter in a heavy saucepan. Allow the remainder to soften at room temperature. Split the vanilla beans, scrape the seeds into the butter in the pan and then add the pods.
• Put the pan over medium-high heat and cook for about five minutes, until the foam subsides and the butter stops bubbling and gives off a nutty aroma. Immediately transfer this mixture to a large, cool bowl and whisk for a few moments to prevent further cooking.
• Remove the pods and measure the still-warm butter. Add enough of the reserved butter to make the total equal one cup. Whisk to combine, cool to room temperature, cover tightly and chill until firm. Butter may be prepared several days in advance, if desired.
• Remove the butter from the refrigerator and let warm until malleable. Put it in a large mixing bowl and beat with a wooden spoon or the paddle attachment of an electric mixer until it is light and fluffy. Beat in the sugar, egg yolk and then, with as few strokes as possible, the flour. Add the nutmeats, if desired. Wrap and chill the dough.
• Divide the dough into quarters and work with one quarter at a time, keeping the others refrigerated. Lightly flour a work surface and on it flatten a piece of dough to a rectangle about one-half-inch thick. Fold it in half and compress it into a log roughly one-and-a-half inches thick. Press to be sure there are no air bubbles, trying not to overwork the dough. If it seems to be getting greasy, return it to the refrigerator for 15 minutes or so. Wrap the log in plastic wrap and freeze. Repeat with the remaining quarters.
• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Slice the frozen dough into cookies a bit more than one-half-inch thick (thinner ones will crumble) and place them one inch apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until the surfaces look dull and the cookies are very lightly browned. Allow them to cool on the sheet for three minutes, then carefully transfer to racks.