These little cookies may not look like much, but don't let that fool you!
Let me start with a little bit of background...My husband was on one of his adventures one day which took him up the coast a bit to a cute little beach town, Cayucos. He was hungry so walked into the Brown Butter Cookie Company and ordered a couple of their specialty cookies: Brown Butter Sea Salt cookies. They looked unassuming enough, but when he put one in his mouth he experienced a bit of heaven as it melted in his mouth. It was buttery and sweet and salty all rolled into one bite(maybe two) of Mm! These cookie "bites" are $1.00 each, and my husband bought three dozen that day! Yes, that's right...$36.00 for, basically, 36 bites! So, when he arrived home, of course I needed to see what all the hoopla was about. Yes, they melted in my mouth, and yes they were the perfect combination of sweet and salty, and yes, I would gladly slap down another dollar for another one!
Better yet, I decided it would be more economical (and convenient) if I attempted to make some of these cookies myself. I hunted on the internet and came up with this recipe.
I modified the recipe a teeny bit by using baking soda, instead of baking powder(by noting the ingredient label on the cookies). Also, next time I will sprinkle the salt on instead of dipping it(too much salt).
The consensus was that these cookies turned out pretty darn close to the original and were very satisfying... dense, buttery, sweet and salty. They didn't have quite the same "melt in your mouth" quality as the bakery's, but I was a little anxious and didn't let the dough "rest' for an hour, as recommended. It was sort of dangerous to have these cookies around because you can so easily pop them into your mouth, and it's impossible to stop at one!
I think we'll soon make another trip up north to get the real deal so I can do a side by side comparison:) The bakery also makes a chocolate version, but I like the original flavor better.
Brown Butter Cookies with Sea Salt
Ingredients:
- 1 cup salted butter
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 Tbs sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 2 1/4 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking powder(I used baking soda which is listed on ingredients label.)
- Sea Salt
Directions:
1. In a small saucepan, melt butter on low to medium heat, stirring occasionally, until browned. Stir in sugars and vanilla and remove from heat.
2. Let the sugar mixture cool to room temperature.
3. In a mixing bowl add flour and baking soda. Stir in sugar mixture until combined.
4. At this point I recommend letting the mixture rest for at least an hour to let the flour absorb all the butter. The mixture may be stiff afterwords and crumbly- microwave handfuls of dough for 10 seconds. The dough will be easier to roll.
5. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
6. Roll 1 inch balls of dough and dip(just sprinkle) in sea salt. Place on cookie sheet with sea salt on top.
7. Bake for 15 minutes.
Enjoy and have a great weekend!
Post by Sue
Food
