I first discovered these salted brown butter sugar cookies at a local brewery where they passed them out paired with a milk stout. While the beer was good, everyone was blown away by the crumbly, buttery, salty/sweet cookies that came with it. I immediately knew that I would have to figure out a way to make these at home, thus the quest for the perfect salted brown butter sugar cookie recipe came about.
I scoured the internet trying to find some notion of how these treats by Brown Butter Cookie Co were created, and found some insight, but as I repeatedly tried to replicate the cookies, I ended up making a lot of my own changes to get what I believe is the perfect salted brown butter sugar cookie. These take a bit of time to make because you have to brown the butter and let it cool slightly, but the end result is oh so worth it!
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup salted butter
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar + 2 additional tbs for sprinkling
- 5 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp fleur de sel salt for sprinkling
Preheat the oven to 325, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set this aside. Using a large pot, melt the butter until it starts to brown. NOTE** It is very important that you use a large pot for this. The butter will bubble up a lot, and if you use a pot that is too small, it will bubble over. Trust me, I made this mistake the first time I made these. The browning process should take about 5- 8 minutes over medium heat. Make sure to stir constantly so the butter turns a chestnut brown color, but does not burn. You will smell the nuttiness as the butter browns. Once it is a deep golden brown, remove the pot from the heat and let it cool for a moment.
Take 1/2 cup of brown sugar and pulse it in the blender or food processor until it is very fine. I use trader joes’ brown sugar, and it is pretty coarse, so it doesn’t mix in as well. The first time I made these, I did not grind the sugar down and the cookies didn’t come out as well because the sugar stayed course. Add the sugar into the pot with the brown butter and mix to combine. Add in vanilla and continue to stir it until the sugar starts to dissolve, (About a minute or 2).
In a separate bowl, mix together the flour and baking powder, and then add in the wet mixture. Mix until everything is combined, but do not over mix. I use a mini ice cream scoop (about 1.5 inches long) and scoop the dough into my palm.
The dough is crumbly, so you have to form it into a cookie shape. I just press the scoop of dough between my two palms so it flattens and holds together. Place the dough on the parchment lined cookie sheet. You don’t have to worry about giving the cookies much space because they won’t rise or spread, so I usually put about 4 cookies per row on a standard cookie sheet.
Next, grind the remaining 2 tbs of brown sugar with 1/2 tsp fleur de sel salt. This salt is a French salt that isn’t quite as salty, and often used as a garnish. Generously sprinkle the brown sugar/salt mixture on top of each cookie prior to baking.
Bake at 325 for 14 minutes until the cookies are just set and slightly brown. It will be hard, but make sure you let these cookies cool for at least 20 before eating. I usually move them over to a cooling rack so they don’t continue to cook from the residual heat of the baking sheet. This will ensure that they hold together. These salted brown butter sugar cookies are the perfect compliment to coffee, tea, or if you’re feeling up to it, a dark stout beer! Enjoy!