Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Brown Sugar Cookies

In addition to my Salted Toffee-Chocolate Squares, I also baked up a batch of Brown Sugar Cookies for Christmas.  This Cook's Illustrated recipe is very similar to their Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, which I made for the Boston Blogger Cookie Challenge.


First, I gathered my ingredients:


  • 14 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 cups packed dark brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 large egg plus 1 large yolk
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
I started out by browning ten tablespoons of butter in a skillet over medium-high heat.  I melted the butter and swirled the pan occasionally until the butter turned dark golden brown and had the most wonderful nutty aroma.



I poured the browned butter in a large bowl and then added the remaining four tablespoons of butter to the melted butter.  I stirred the butter until it was completely cooled and set it aside.



I then preheated the oven to 350 degrees and lined two baking sheets with parchment paper.  In a shallow bowl, I mixed 1/4 cup brown sugar and the granulated sugar and set aside.



I also whisked the flour, baking soda, and baking powder in a medium bowl and set aside.



I then added the remaining 1 3/4 cups of brown sugar and salt to the bowl of melted browned butter.  The sugar and salt were mixed in until there were no sugar lumps remaining.



I then stirred in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla.



I finally added in the flour mixture until the dough was just combined.



I rolled two tablespoons of dough at a time into balls and then pressed half the dough ball into the sugar mixture.  The dough balls were placed two inches apart on the baking sheets.



I baked the cookies one sheet at a time on the middle rack for six minutes before rotating the sheet and baking for another six minutes.  The cookies cooled on the tray for about ten minutes before I transferred them to a serving platter.



These cookies were simply lovely.  They had the perfect soft and chewy texture.  The brown sugar really elevated these sugar cookies by adding a nice depth of flavor. 



These might have been my favorite cookies of the holiday season!



What have been your favorite cookies this holiday season? 

18 comments:

Meghan said...

I love brown sugar; these look great! My mom made my favorite thumbprint cookies this Christmas.

Michelle said...

These look great! I love the part of chocolate chip cookies without the chips, do these taste like that?

My favorte cookies were also thumbprints! It was the first time I made them, I was glad they came out okay!

Sacha (Eating In or Out) said...

I've had these cookies and love them! I think you've inspired me to make after all the other holiday goodies are gone.

Emily @ A Cambridge Story said...

I really love brown butter cookies - I bet these are even more amazing!

Megan said...

Those have definitely become my favorite cookies. So much better than regular sugar cookies. They made them for me at the test kitchen on my birthday, and I have been hooked ever since!

Fresh Local and Best said...

These are some of my favorite cookies. Great addition to the holidays.

RavieNomNoms said...

These look wonderful! Thank you very much for sharing. I have to try these babies out!

Michelle Collins said...

These look awesome! My favorite cookies this year were the M&M and chocolate chip ones I made. My aunt used to make them every Christmas!

Karen said...

I love chewy cookies...these look perfect to me. And your toffee chocolate squares look heavenly. They remind me of the recipe that uses saltines and are so addictive!
Hope your holidays were wonderful!

Daisy said...

all that brown sugar made a delicious looking cookie!! great photos of the process, too.

Elizabeth said...

Mmm, I believe these are the cookies they sell at Cutty's, which is owned by a CI alum. I definitely need to make them.

Angie said...

Love that you can see the texture of the cookies! They look delish. My fave are the Snickerdoodles or the Rice crispy scotchie bar things (name is escaping me!)

Russell at Chasing Delicious said...

Yum! I love all things cookies. I am definitely going to have to give these a try.

Thomas G said...

So simple and so perfect! Yammy!

Kerstin said...

Mmm, brown butter and brown sugar make these sound irresistible!

Shannon said...

browned butter makes anything ;) i made a similar cookie with mini pb cups instead of chips... they were my favorite!

Elina (Healthy and Sane) said...

These look delicious - and perfectly sized too!

carriecreatesblog said...

Oh my gosh, these cookies look really good-and are a different take on baking rather than make chocolate chip ones for the millionth time. Yum!

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