Brown Butter Shortbread
A rich and crumbly cookie with the nutty flavor of brown butter.
During the holidays I like to find and create new baked treats to share, of course, but I also really enjoy revisiting the classics. Last weekend I was craving some good old fashioned shortbread cookies, but with a brown butter twist. Unless you’ve been under a rock, you’re surely aware of the brown butter craze sweeping over the foodie world and that I am enthusiastically taking part in it.
Since shortbread is essentially three ingredients and butter is the clear star, I knew that a brown butter twist would be fantastic. I also figured that it was a good opportunity to splurge for a higher quality butter, like Kerrygold, which is higher in fat and produces an even richer and more crumbly cookie. I can guess what you’re thinking. You’re seeking out a butter that is higher in fat? I promise, it’s worth it.
These cookies are a perfect mid-afternoon snack with a cup of coffee or tea. But if you can’t wait and end up having a few for breakfast I’ll completely understand.
baking tip:Docking dough before baking
Dough that is high in fat (such as shortbread) needs to be pricked before baking. These holes create vents for steam created while baking and prevent the cookie from billowing. Use a fork or toothpick to dock the dough.
Brown Butter Shortbread
Ingredients
- 8 ounces salted butter , cut into cubes (225 grams)
- ¾ cup powdered sugar , sifted (175 grams)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (250 grams)
- Sanding sugar , for dusting
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium low heat. Continue to cook the butter until it turns deep golden brown. Watch it carefully to make sure it doesn't burn. Pour the butter into a bowl and chill until solidified.
- Preheat oven to 300°F and grease a 9 or 10 inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Remove the butter from the fridge and let it come back to room temperature. You don't want it to be liquid at all, but it should still be soft.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter until smooth. Add the powdered sugar and beat on medium high speed until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract. Add the flour and mix until just combined.
- Press the dough into the prepared tart pan. Use a knife to cut dough into 8 wedges and prick the dough with a toothpick or small dowel. Sprinkle with sanding sugar.
- Bake until lightly golden brown, about 1 hour. Use a knife to re-cut the shortbread into wedges while the dough is still hot and soft. Let cool completely before serving.
- Store shortbread at room temperature in an airtight container for several days.
These look amazing. I buy Kerrygold as Costco in a three pack. It’s my favorite for spreading on toast in the morning…..I’m not afraid of a little butter fat. 🙂
Shortbread is the best…I can only imagine the flavor of this!
I love Kerrygold butter! It has amazing flavor and grassfed butter is full of GOOD fats!
Thanks for the reminder to keep my eye out for it!
I am very eager to try this delicious looking shortbread. However, I do not have a fluted tart pan. Can you please recommend some alternate baking dishes? Thank you so much!
Jocelyn, you can use an 8 or 9-inch round pan. I would just line it with greased foil or parchment paper so that you can lift it out of the pan after it cools without needing to cut it.
I LOVE this! This shortbread looks fabulous!
I just posted a cookie blog using Kerrygold butter and raved and raved about it! It’s one of my top butters ever!
This is most certainly not an original take on shortbread. Our family has been making it this way for 50 years. I’m sure they were making it 50 years before us!! It’s delicious but please don’t insinuate that it is your idea or cutting edge spin
I wish my family had been making brown butter shortbread for 50 years, yum! It was a fun and new twist for me, of course I realize I didn’t invent the idea.
Annaliese…I stumbled upon your site while in search of a brown butter shortbread recipe. From this one response I can already tell that you just might be one of the classiest food bloggers out there ; )
Cheers!
Thanks! 🙂
Great response! ????????
Wow who cares. Merry Christmas.
Love these shortbread… Your receipes are a certainty!! I’ve just made with cocoa… W-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l.
Thanks.
Carlotta
Hello,
I was wondering if you think these cookies would lend themselves well to being cut outs? Would you need to make any adjustments to the recipe?
The high amount of butter may make them spread and lose their shape during baking. But it might work it you chill it enough. Never tried it so I can’t say for sure! I bet you can find a brown butter sugar cookie to use if you search the web.
I made them but didn’t have a tart pan so I shaped the dough into a rectangle on a parchment covered cookie sheet and scored triangles. Soooooooo rich and yummy! Really decadent. So glad I made them.
Thanks for the comment Lee, so happy to hear you enjoyed the cookies!
Warning to those who may try this recipe. It is based on a recipe using regular butter, which is usually about 80-82% water. (Kerrygold is 83%.) When you brown the butter, the moisture is all evaporates. This results in a crumbly dough and a cookie that tastes like flour. Take my advice and replace the missing moisture with a couple of tablespoons of milk or water. I threw out my first batch, tried it again with milk, and came up with a normal shortbread dough and an edible cookie. I also cooked it more like a half hour, since the first batch was hard as a rock in the center.
Whoops! I looked at the above comment–AFTER I sent it–and noticed a huge mistake. Butters are 80-82% FAT. The rest is moisture. Sorry to all.
I love this cookie! I love this recipe! Thank you so very much! I have made it many times now! One batch will last me, and me alone (as I don’t wish to share it!) about a week or less! I bake it in a nine inch round glass bowl with a flat bottom. I have a lid for this container and do not remove it from the container unless to eat a piece. Again, just fantastic! I have shared this recipe with others. Some just see it as an odd old lady cookie (I’m in my twenties), and even though it doesn’t have loads of chocolate as I would normally use, it is perhaps my favorite cookie! I recommend trying it. The hardest part is mixing up the butter, after it has been browned and cooled, if you do it by hand. Enjoy!
I like Kerry gold butter know but Plugra is much better! Wal-Mart used to carry it but now I find it at the “Safeway” stores, I. E. TOM THUMB, ALBERTSONS, ETC. It has that real European butter taste to it that we crave. Great for eating on bread as well. It has a much richer flavor.
Hi, I’m curious about the mixing part of this recipe. I don’t have the mixer with a paddle, I just have a hand mixer with 2 beaters. Will this work for this recipe? Any further advice I need with using beaters? Thank you for your time, this recipe sounds delicious!!
Yes, a standard hand mixer should work fine. The paddle attachment is the best for creaming butter and sugar together, but it’s not necessary! 🙂
I added orange zest and cardamom with the Kerrygold. Delicious recipe!
I am wanting to make this recipe and was comparing it to another (I use the metric measurements). The recipe states “¾ cup powdered sugar , sifted (175 grams)”. One is half the amount or double the other.
3/4 cup powdered sugar = 93.75 grams or 112 grams depending on converter used
175 g powdered sugar = 1.56 ( ~ 1 1/2) US cups
(175 grams of water is equivalent to 0.74 ( ~ 3/4) US cup)
What amount of cups or grams of powdered sugar should I use? (Thank you for listing both amounts.)
That is a great question, and likely I’ve made an error here somewhere. Go with the cup amount of 3/4 cup, which I now equate to about 113 grams. This is an old recipe and likely needs a revisit, and thank you for bringing it to my attention!