Browned Butter Sugar Cookies

I received the Baking Bites Cookbook in a giveaway about a year ago. I want to make just about every recipe in the book! I decided on these sugar cookies to take to a pool party this past summer. I had never made browned butter before, but I wanted to try it. (Probably the only thing I had ever eaten with browned butter was some lobster potstickers with a browned butter miso sauce from Roy's - so incredibly good.)

My mom said these were one of her favorite cookies! She had a similar positive reaction to Nicole's Mexican Chocolate Black Bottom Cupcakes, so I suspect my mom might love anything from this cookbook!

These cookies were chewy and had great flavor and texture. The original recipe uses half a vanilla bean in the melted butter mixture during the browning process. I don't have vanilla beans on hand and opted to skip it since they are pretty expensive. I'm sure the vanilla flavor would have been fantastic though, so if you have some on hand, try it and let me know! :)

Browned Butter Sugar Cookies

Yield: approximately 2 dozen

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F.

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Add butter to a small saucepan and cook over medium-low heat until butter begins to melt. Continue to cook butter until it has turned an amber color and smells toasty but not burnt. The butter will darken quickly once it begins to turn golden, so watch carefully.

3. Pour butter from the saucepan into a small bowl, scraping the browned bits from the bottom of the pan with a spatula. Allow to cool for 10 - 15 minutes.

4. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.

5. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, egg, and vanilla extract. Add the cooled butter. Stir in flour mixture, mixing only until no streaks of flour remain.

6. Drop 1-inch balls onto prepared baking sheet. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes, until the edges are set and just start to brown.

7. Cool cookies on a wire rack.

Source: Adapted from the Baking Bites Cookbook