Golden Shortbread

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 sticks (1 cup) butter, browned and cooled
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract 
1/4 tsp. salt
Sugar for sprinkling, optional

Brown the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Let cool for about 2 min., then whisk in 1 large or 2 small ice cubes; set aside to cool to room temperature. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment or silicone baking mats. Mix flour, cooled butter, sugar, vanilla and salt on low speed using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment until just blended. Mixture will look crumbly and sandy. Increase speed to medium-low until dough starts to clump together.

Remove dough and roll out to 1/4 in. thickness between two pieces of waxed paper. Chill dough for at least 20 minutes, then cut into desired shapes. Re-roll scraps, chill and repeat. Alternatively, just cut into squares or rectangles with a butter knife. Sprinkle with sugar, if desired, and bake for 20 minutes, or until just done. Let sit for about 2 minutes and then remove to racks to cool fully.

Makes about 36 2-in. cookies, more or less depending on the size of your cookie cutters.

Link to printable recipe here. 

Tips--If you are in a hurry, you can place the saucepan of browned butter in a sink of cold water to cool it more quickly. However, stir it often and don't forget about it, or it will end up solid. This is a more crumbly dough than regular shortbread, so the longer you chill it, the easier it is to work with. See my plain shortbread recipe for more tips.

Now for the BS. This might be my new favorite cookie recipe. I can't believe how good they are! The browned butter plus the brown sugar gives them the most exceptional flavor. These cookies are somehow crisp and tender at the same time. They almost melt in your mouth. I read somewhere that the best shortbread has brown sugar, and I might just agree now! It makes me want to play around more, see what happens if I change just the sugar or just the butter in my regular recipe. Stay tuned...

Scientific Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup bread flour (see Tips if you don't have any)
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar minus 1 tbsp.
1 tbsp. corn syrup
2 sticks (1 cup) butter, browned
2 eggs
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
12 oz. (about 2 cups) semisweet chocolate chips
Sea salt or kosher salt for sprinkling

Brown the butter in a medium saucepan over medium and remove from heat. Whisk in 1 large (like from a plastic tray) or 2 small (like from an ice maker in your freezer) ice cubes and let the butter cool to room temperature. In a medium bowl, combine flour, soda and salt; set aside. Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, blend the eggs with the white sugar and corn syrup until glossy, about 2 min. Blend in cooled butter, vanilla and brown sugar until it just forms a grainy paste. Add the flour mixture and chocolate chips and blend on low until just mixed. Do not over-mix. Chill dough for 24 hours, or at least overnight.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment or silicone baking mats. Scoop dough into heaping tablespoons, tear the dough balls in half and smoosh them back together with the rough edges facing out (optional, but Kenji made me a believer). Place dough balls 2 in. apart on prepared cookie sheets and sprinkle with salt. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until golden. Let sit for about 2 minutes, then place cookies on a rack to cool. Or, better yet, eat them warm... 

Makes about 36 cookies.

Link to printable version here.

Recipe adapted from https://www.mrsfields.com/blogs/blog/2018/07/recipe-blue-ribbon-chocolate-chip-cookies/ and enhanced by Kenji Lopez-Alt's research (see below). 

I have found that Ghirardelli makes the best chocolate chips. I am
receiving no compensation whatsoever for this declaration, but hey,
Ghirardelli, if you are reading this, I'd love some free chocolate!

Tips--If you don't have bread flour, just all-purpose is fine! Bread flour just gives them that perfect amount of chewiness, but it is not required! Do not skip browning the butter. It. is. worth it. If you are in a hurry, you can cool the butter more quickly by setting the pan in a sink of cool water. But don't leave it too long, or it will re-solidify. Ask me how I know. Sigh. Do not skip chilling the dough in the fridge, at least overnight. It really, truly changes the flavor and texture for the better. I know from experience--I've skipped it and compared a cookie from un-chilled dough with one that had come from dough chilled for a day. It really makes a difference. It takes your cookies from good to great. You can also freeze the dough in balls and take it out just a few at a time for dessert on a weeknight. Or breakfast. No judgement here! Also, the sea or kosher salt sprinkled on top, just a little, really does enhance the flavor perfectly. The cookies are fine without, but better with.

Now for the BS. Yes, this recipe is more complicated, but it's worth it. Ask my friends and family, or the staff at my daughter's high school, or my Brother from Another Mother, Michael, who receives these by mail every so often. Worth. it. Take my word for it. If you are time-crunched, make the dough one day and the cookies later in the week. The dough stays fine in the fridge for a few days, though the flavor/texture really doesn't change much more beyond 24 hours of chilling.

I consider myself to be a good baker. Part of the reason I am a good baker might be that I am also an obsessive baker. I become hooked on a particular baked good and become OBSESSED with finding the. perfect. recipe. However, I found someone who is even more obsessive than me! At least about chocolate chip cookies. Kenji Lopez-Alt has made hundreds (thousands??) of chocolate chip cookies and he taught me how to take my favorite recipe and make it even better. You can read the full article here. Be warned--it's long! But if you are remotely interested in the science behind what makes chocolate chip cookies taste the way that they do (or don't), this will help you to understand so much better. This is why I call them Scientific Chocolate Chip Cookies. If you are looking at the recipe and wondering why TF you add ice cubes to the browned butter, for instance, this article will clue you in.

I just realized a fringe benefit of this blog. I now have a clean copy of the actual recipe instead of a post-it note that's tacked onto a cookbook page that is falling out of the book. It's falling out because it is truly well-loved cookbook that I received as a bridal shower gift from a wonderful college friend in December 2000. You can do the math. Here is a link to that well-worn book. I see you can get a used copy for 30 cents, not counting shipping. Wow. Yeah, I guess it's old. But it's good!

Please notice the bent, taped in pages and food
stains. The mark of a truly good cookbook!