Brown Butter Shortbread

It's almost back to school for the kids in Australia! Unfortunately, that means less free time, baking and blogging, and more work, study and stress.. But hopefully I'll have time to squeeze in some blog posts for you guys. 

In the meantime, these brown butter shortbread were a new recipe I decided to experiment on a while ago. This time, my inspiration came from my huge butter and fatty food craving from a few months ago, so I came across these and my mouth instantly started drooling..

Like the other cookies I bake for my family and friends, these were very much enjoyed. I wasn't the only one who was experiencing the shortbread craving; and so these cookies naturally disappeared as quickly as they had come.

I've never actually heard of 'brown butter' before; nor have I ever cooked butter for so long. This technique is really effective though, as the butter flavour really comes out of the shortbread much more, and it smells much nuttier and toffee-like than your regular softened butter.

The brown butter bits also give the shortbread cookies those nice little dots! Also, as I mentioned before in the Espresso Coffee Shortbread post (click here for a link to that), I had never thought of cutting cookies after baking, but I've found it really helps give a much cleaner edge, especially if your dough has lots of baking powder or self-raising flour.

These cookies are the perfect pair for a nice steaming mug of coffee! They melt in your mouth a little and taste delicious. Usually, I'm not really a huge fan of butter or butter flavours, but these shortbread are totally different; they don't really have that rich, heavy texture that super buttery and fatty food usually come with. (Trying really hard not to drool right now..)

BROWN BUTTER SHORTBREAD

250g unsalted butter, cut into 1-tablespoon pieces
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup butterscotch chips, finely chopped

Line an 8 x 8-inch baking pan with parchment paper so it hangs over the sides (so you can easily lift the shortbread out later).
Heat the butter in a heavy-bottomed medium-sized skillet over medium heat. Whisk occasionally until the butter is melted, then once melted, continue whisking constantly. The butter will foam up and then subside; as it starts to boil, you will start to see brown bits form on the bottom. Once the butter is golden and smells nutty, pour it into a bowl to cool. (Be careful not to burn it; this whole process should take less than 5 minutes.) The darker milk solids will settle to the bottom; you can strain them out before using the butter if you like (it’s not necessary though, just personal preference).
Whisk together the flour, powdered sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a large bowl; mix in the vanilla with a fork.
Once the butter is cooled, drizzle it into the flour mixture a little at a time, mixing with a fork until all the butter is incorporated. (The dough will be quite dry and crumbly.)
Working somewhat quickly (because the dough stiffens a bit as it sits), and press the dough evenly into the prepared pan.
Preheat the oven to 150C, and while it heats, chill the dough for 30 minutes in the fridge.
Before baking, score the dough into whatever size and shape cookies you want; I like to make 20 long, thin cookies. (The scores will meld together a bit while baking, but should still be visible enough to help you cut the cookies after baking.)
Bake until the cookies are set, but not browned, about 35 minutes.
Cool for 5 minutes, then score the cookies again over the lines you already scored.
Cool 30 minutes in the pan, then use the parchment paper to lift the cookies out.
Cut the cookies along the scored lines, cool completely, and serve or store in an air-tight container at room temperature.