brown sugar |

It’s been so long since last we wrote, but these brown butter, brown sugar cookies are worth the wait. This Hungry Texan will occasionally make a quick detour on her bike to work and pop into Bean & Bite on 15th for a “treat yo self” iced coffee. Aside from their smooth and rich iced coffee the second biggest attraction is that they always have bite-sized samples of their sweet treats cut up in plates by the register. On two separate occasions I’ve been lucky enough to sneak a taste of their brown sugar cookies, and after taste number two I vowed to try my hand at recreating them. I took to my mixing bowl and this recipe triumphed. I’m a modest gal, but these are honest to everything the best cookies I’ve ever made.

Just thank me that I’m sharing this recipe as bathing suit season is waning.

Modified from Cook’s Illustrated’s Brown Sugar Cookie Recipe

1 3/4 sticks unsalted butter 14tablespoons unsalted butter (1 3/4 sticks)
1/4 cup white sugar
2 cups brown sugar (I used a mix of dark & light)
2 cups + 2 tbls flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp table salt
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 overflowing tbl vanilla

+ an additional 1/4 cup of each brown & white sugar for rolling

Start by preheating your oven 350º.

The secret to this recipe’s success is the brown butter – browning your butter gives it a dense, almost nutty flavor, that combined with salt and sugar becomes borderline carmel-ish. Start by melting all but 4 tbls of your butter in a pan at medium heat. Stir constantly until the butter begins to brown. Transfer to a container to cool and add the additional 4 tbls of butter to the warm butter. You may notice sediment-like solids forming in your brown butter, embrace them!

Let your butter cool for about 15 minutes and then combine your butter and sugars.

Add your egg, egg yolk, and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, combine all your dry ingredients (flour, salt, soda, powder). Begin slowly folding the dry into your wet mixture until fully combined.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment. Combine 1/4 c white sugar and 1/4 c brown sugar in a small bowl with enough surface area for covering your dough balls. Begin scooping and rolling your dough into spheres the size of ping pong balls, roll your ball in sugar so that it’s completely covered.

Once your sheet is full, bake for 8-12 minutes. You want to take these cookies out on the rarer side as they’ll firm quite a bit as they cool. The center of the cookie tastes like chewy, salted caramel. The cookies are sturdy, stack well, and would be mean bookends to an ice cream sandwich.

Get baking!

xoxo,
Julia

Whew! That was quite a break. Between moving houses and switching jobs, winter has thawed into spring, and I’ve been a Hungry Texan on hiatus. But no fear! I’ve emerged with a whole slew of new recipes.

These pop tarts are not one of them. To be honest, homemade pop tarts have been done before. From fruit fillings to chocolatey ganache to savory, you’ll probably find these pastries on the menu of your neighborhood restaurant. No, homemade poptarts may not be the most wildly innovative recipe in the world. But they’re delicious and flaky and can probably be made with pantry ingredients in a pinch. And they finish off a brunch spread like you wouldn’t believe.

Plus, this dough was the perfect first recipe for my new KitchenAid Stand Mixer, a birthday gift from my doting boyfriend. Before now, I’ve never been the one to throw together my own crusts or breads. But it’s so easy (and way less expensive than storebought) and makes a great, refrigeratable, flaky crust.

Makes 8 poptarts

For the pastry:

2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbs sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) of butter
1 egg
2 tbs milk

For the filling:

1/2 cup brown sugar
4 tbs flour
1 tbs bourbon

Mix the sugar, flour, and salt together in your stand mixer. Add the butter, in cubes, and blend until the dough looks like sand, with chunks of butter still visible.

Whisk the egg and milk together, then add to the dough. Mix for a few more seconds, until the dough has come together. Then divide the dough into two equal parts. Roll out the dough to 1/8 in thick , then cut even rectangles.

Pop the pastry into the fridge to keep it from getting all melty (especially if you have a teensy kitchen that gets quite warm). Then, whip up your filling!

You can fill these with almost anything- savory leeks and goat cheese, balsamic cherries, homemade nutella etc. For the brown-sugary filling, whisk together the brown sugar, flour, and bourbon.

Pile ~1 tbs of the filling on each tart shell, then seal with the other half of the pastry. Seal the edges with a fork (some of the filling will probably spill over in the oven- it happens, you’ll live.)

Bake on a parchment-lined tray for about 25 minutes at 350°.

Serve warm with ice cream or on their own!

Love,

Liz

Tag Archives: brown sugar

brown butter, brown sugar cookies

bourbon & brown sugar pop tarts

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