Brown Butter Shortbread Cookies Recipe

Brown butter and toasted sugar make an extra-special batch of slice-and-bake shortbread cookies.

Short stacks of brown butter shortbread with one bite taken from the first cookie.

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Why It Works

  • Brown butter delivers more flavor with less water, for extra buttery and tender shortbread.
  • Toasted sugar adds subtle notes of caramel, playing up brown butter's nutty vibe.
  • Malted milk powder improves depth of flavor and browning.

Vanilla shortbread is a cookie-jar classic, with an ingredient list so simple it's hard to improve upon—the straightforward combination of butter, sugar, and flour doesn't leave much wiggle room, except for an obligatory dose of vanilla and salt.

That doesn't mean our hands are tied, though. Not when there's butter to brown and sugar to toast! When we amp up the inherent flavor of these foundational ingredients, the shortbread gets a major boost in complexity without totally deviating from what we expect from this simple treat. Plus, these cookies feature a cameo from one of my favorite secret ingredients: malted milk powder.

Along with the brown butter and toasted sugar, it makes a shortbread cookie that's as tender and meltingly rich as a French sablé, but extra toasty and caramelized.

Close up of a brown butter shortbread cookie.

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

The process starts with making the brown butter, a familiar process for many home cooks, and one I put to good use in a lot of recipes: browniescarrot cakericotta cookies, and my overnight waffles, to name a few.

If you haven't browned butter before, don't worry—it's super easy. Just melt the butter over low heat in a skillet, then increase the heat to medium and cook to boil off the water, stirring and scraping all the while. The butter will hiss and pop along the way as the water cooks off, then dairy solids in the butter will begin to brown. When the mixture quiets down and turns golden, you're done!

If you happen to have a leftover vanilla bean kickin' around the pantry after another project, toss it in while you're melting the butter to infuse the butter with a deeper flavor. (Don't abuse a fresh vanilla bean here; this is just a good way to get more mileage out of an oldie!)

Composite of browning butter with a vanilla bean.

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

As the butter cooks, adjust the heat as needed so that it doesn't cook too hard or fast. The idea is to cook off the water, then brown the milk solids; if the heat is too high, the solids may brown (or even burn) before the water has been driven off. Since the water isn't meant to be part of the recipe, it can derail the texture of the cookies, so pay close attention to the butter as it cooks, and keep an eye on the heat.

Whether or not you're using a vanilla bean, scrape the browned butter into the bowl of a stand mixer and set it aside until it's cooled to room temperature. If you're not in a hurry, this can be done several hours (or even days) in advance, but for those in need of cookies now, setting the bowl into a cold water bath will do the trick. The goal is to cool the butter only until it's thick and opaque, around 75°F (24°C), so I don't like to use ice, which can make the butter too cold and hard for the creaming method.

Because this recipe requires a solid chunk of downtime to melt, brown, and cool the butter, I almost always multitask with a concurrent batch of quick-toasted sugar. Compared with plain white sugar, this lightly caramelized sugar will reduce the sweetness of the dough, which in turn makes it seem richer, while adding a bit of caramel complexity.

Toasted sugar with a spoonful of white sugar for comparison.

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

If you happen to have it on hand, fully toasted sugar works well, too, as does the lightly toasted sugar left over from blind-baking a pie. It's a sliding scale of caramel flavor, so use what you have or toast what you need.

When the butter is creamy, soft, and opaque, I add the toasted sugar, along with salt, baking soda, baking powder, and a bit of malted milk powder. I've written in greater depth about it before, but malted milk powder is basically the umami bomb of dessert, and one of my favorite "tricks" for amplifying the natural flavor of recipes that rely on the rich complexity of ingredients like brown butter. (It works well with nuts, chocolate, and brown sugar profiles, too.)

Look for malted milk powder at any supermarket, where it's sold from brands like Carnation next to the hot cocoa mix, or buy it in bulk online. (My fave brand is Hoosier Hill Farm.)

After incorporating everything on low speed, I add vanilla extract to moisten the dough, then increase the speed to medium to cream the brown butter and sugar. When the mixture looks fluffy and light, I drop the speed back down to low before adding the all-purpose flour.

Once the flour disappears, I scrape the bowl and beater with a flexible spatula and fold the cookie dough a few times to be sure it's completely homogeneous. Next, I form it into a log using a large sheet of parchment.

Start by simply transferring the dough to the parchment and forming it into a roughly cylindrical shape by hand. From there, its shape can be tidied by wrapping it in the parchment and using a bench scraper to pull the paper tight. The final step is to tie off the ends with a bit of kitchen twine.

And hey—if a bit of dough gets pinched off in the process, just consider it a cook's treat.

This dough will need to be refrigerated at least four hours to make it firm enough to slice, but its flavor will improve with age, so I usually let it go at least overnight, if not over a whole weekend. That may be slightly annoying for those who need cookies right this second, but in the grand scheme of holiday desserts, a long refrigeration period gives this dough a major advantage in the "make-ahead" category.

However long it chills, let the dough stand at room temperature for about 10 minutes before slicing it into rounds with a chef's knife. Straight from the fridge, the brown butter gives the dough a slightly brittle quality that makes it prone to cracking and crumbling as it's sliced, so don't rush it. Once softened, the dough can be sliced without any fuss.

I bake the shortbread on a parchment-lined half-sheet pan until lightly browned, about 15 minutes at 350°F (180°C). They'll be hopelessly delicate and crumbly while warm, so cool the shortbread to room temperature directly on the baking sheet before stealing a bite.

Once cool, the shortbread will have a crisp bite that gives way to a shower of sandy crumbs that all but melt in your mouth, releasing the flavor of brown butter and caramelized sugar. It's a seductive combination that's perfect on its own, crumbled over ice cream, or simply served alongside a mug of tea.

Two short stacks of brown butter shortbread

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

In an airtight container, the shortbread cookies will keep for well over a month, making them an excellent candidate for the cookie jar or a welcome part of your holiday cookie spread.

November 2018

Recipe Details

Brown Butter Shortbread Cookies Recipe

Prep 15 mins
Cook 25 mins
Active About 45 mins
Chilling Time 4 hrs 20 mins
Total 5 hrs
Serves 24 cookies

Ingredients

  • 5 ounces refined white sugar (shy 3/4 cup; 140g)

  • 5 ounces unsalted butter (about 10 tablespoons; 140g)

  • 1/2 ounce malted milk powder, such as Carnation or Hoosier Hill Farm (about 1 tablespoon; 15g)

  • 1/4 ounce vanilla extract (about 1 1/2 teaspoons; 7g)

  • 1 teaspoon (4g) Diamond Crystal kosher salt; for table salt, use about half as much by volume or the same weight

  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

  • 5 ounces all-purpose flour, such as Gold Medal (about 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon, spooned; 140g)

Directions

  1. Toast the Sugar: Place sugar in a 10-inch stainless steel skillet, then transfer to a cold oven and set oven to 350°F (180°C). Meanwhile, brown butter according to the step below; by the time it is finished, the sugar should be lightly toasted and beginning to smell of caramel. Pour warm sugar into a 2-quart glass baking dish (or similar dish) to speed cooling and let it cool to approximately 75°F (24°C). The prepared sugar can be used as soon as the brown butter has fully cooled, or it can be stored in an airtight container indefinitely.

    Toasted sugar in a skillet.

    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

  2. Brown the Butter: In a 2-quart stainless steel saucier, melt butter over medium-low heat. Increase heat to medium and simmer, stirring with a heat-resistant spatula while butter hisses and pops. Adjust heat as needed so that the dairy solids will not scorch before all the water can boil away. Continue cooking and stirring, scraping up any brown bits that form along the way, until the butter is golden yellow and perfectly silent (an indication that the water has completely boiled away). Pour into the bowl of a stand mixer, along with all the toasty brown bits, and cool until creamy, opaque, and no warmer than 75°F (24°C). Alternatively, the brown butter can be refrigerated up to 3 weeks, then softened to the same temperature before use.

    A collage of brown butter in a skillet and cooling down in a mixing bowl.

    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

  3. Make the Dough: When brown butter is creamy and thick, add cooled toasted sugar, malted milk powder, vanilla extract, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix on low until combined, then increase speed to medium and beat until fluffy and light. Reduce speed to low, then add flour and continue mixing only until well combined.

    A collage: combining brown butter and sugar in a mixing bowl, adding vanilla extract, mixing until combined and adding flour to the mixture.

    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

  4. Scrape bowl and beater with a flexible spatula to make sure there are no streaks of unmixed dough, then knead lightly against sides of bowl. Transfer to a sheet of parchment paper and shape into a rough log about 12 inches in length.

  5. Fold parchment over dough, then use a bench scraper to tuck parchment under dough; gently pull on top sheet of parchment to tighten the log. Move the bench scraper down a few inches and repeat, until the log is smooth and tight all around. Roll dough so it wraps up in the parchment, cut away the excess, and secure with a piece of tape. Tie off the ends with pieces of twine. Refrigerate until dough is chilled to about 40°F (4°C), about 4 hours; dough can also be held in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

    Collage of forming the dough into a log, wrapping it with parchment paper and using a bench scraper to roll the parchment paper wrapped dough.

    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

    Tying off log the dough wrapped in parchment paper with kitchen twine.

    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

  6. To Bake: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position, preheat to 350°F (180°C), and set chilled dough out at room temperature for about 10 minutes to soften. Using a sharp chef's knife, cut dough log into rounds just shy of 1/2 inch. Arrange on a parchment-lined half-sheet pan and bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Cool completely before serving. Stored in an airtight container, the shortbread cookies will keep for several weeks at cool room temperature.

    Collage of slicing the log of cookie dough and slices arranged on parchment-lined sheet pan.

    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

    Brown butter shortbread after baking.

    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Special Equipment

2-quart saucier, stand mixer, half-sheet pan

Make-Ahead and Storage

The cooled toasted sugar can be stored in an airtight container indefinitely, and the brown butter can be refrigerated for up to three weeks, then softened at room temperature to 75°F (24°C) before use.

Read More

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
89 Calories
5g Fat
11g Carbs
1g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 24
Amount per serving
Calories 89
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 5g 6%
Saturated Fat 3g 15%
Cholesterol 13mg 4%
Sodium 85mg 4%
Total Carbohydrate 11g 4%
Dietary Fiber 0g 1%
Total Sugars 6g
Protein 1g
Vitamin C 0mg 0%
Calcium 6mg 0%
Iron 0mg 2%
Potassium 12mg 0%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)