Brown Butter Bourbon Cookies

Kitty FloridoJune 20, 2016

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These bourbon shortbread cookies I’ve made maybe… 3 or 4 times already. It’s that good. Between the brown butter and the bourbon, I don’t know which ingredient pulls me in more. First, you have to brown the butter. It takes about 10 minutes, plus the additional time for cooling it off and the butter returning to its solid state. The best tutorial on how to do that, was this one from Elise at Simply Recipes. Make sure to check the pictures bellow of the color-changing butter so you know when it’s browned. Browning the butter brings out a nuttiness flavor that takes your cookies to a whole new place.

When you’re beating the brown butter, you’ll see brown bits all over… that’s the good stuff! Take your time beating the butter, and then again when creaming it together with the brown sugar. It won’t be as fluffy as when you use regular white sugar, but it will be fluffy! So take your time and do so. For the bourbon, I used Jack Daniels’ Tennessee Honey (they describe it as a little bit of honey and a ton of Jack). It has sweet nutty flavor, perfect to pair with the nuttiness from brown butter.

Now, as I am not the best for shaping logs, so I used a hand towel tube to make them perfectly round, and even chilled them in it so they would retain their shape. Also, this tip came from the videos of Sarah Carey over at Everyday Food, each time you cut a slice, turn the log a few degrees, that way the log (and your cookies) keeps round and pretty!

If it’s too hot in your kitchen, after you slice the cookies and place them on the baking sheets, pop them in the fridge while the oven gets to the temperature, or your waiting for the cookie batches to bake. Line your sheets with either parchment or a silicone mat. After they cool off for 5 minutes, they can stick to the baking sheet and will break when you try to release them. Save yourself some headaches and line’em up.

The final result is nutty, delicious and you can definitely feel the bourbon in every bite!

Kitty

Brown Butter Bourbon Cookies

Adapted from Love & Olive Oil & Simply Recipes
Yield: 30 cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter
½ cup packed light brown sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla beans or extract
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
⅛ teaspoon salt
⅓ cup bourbon

Directions for browning butter:

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook and stir occasionally, until the butter solids (the bits that separate in the bottom of the pan) turn a deep amber color, about 7 to 8 minutes. You will get some foam, but just move it over so you can keep track of the butter solids color changing.
Immediately remove from heat and let cool for 15 minutes, then line a heat-proof container with aluminum foil or plastic wrap and pour the brown butter into it.
Refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours, or overnight, until butter has returned to its solid state.

Directions for the cookies:

Get the brown butter to room temperature, and place it the bowl of a standing mixer.
Beat on medium-high speed for about 2 minutes, until the butter is light and fluffy. You won’t see the butter solids at first, but after mixing it you’ll get speckles all over the butter.
Add the brown sugar and mix for another 2 minutes. Clean the sides of the bowl and add the vanilla, mix until it all comes together.
In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and salt. Add those and the flour to the butter, mixing it on low-speed until incorporated.
Add the bourbon, and mix until it comes together into a crumbly dough. Do not overwork the dough, but make sure all the flour is well mixed with the butter.
Place the dough in the center of a plastic wrap sheet, and roll it tightly into a log. Twist the ends of the plastic wrap and place it inside a hand towel tube for accurate log shaping. Refrigerate for 3 hours (or overnight) until its firm.
Preheat your oven to 350ºF, and line your baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
Remove the log from the fridge and cut each log into ¼-inch thick slices, and arrange on baking sheets, leaving 1-inch of space between each cookie.
Bake for 10 to 11 minutes, or until cookies are set and bottom edges are light golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes on baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Cookies will keep, stored in an airtight container, for up to 1 week.

Have you made this recipe?

Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and share a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #thefoodieskitchen

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