Brown Butter Espresso Shortbread
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These delicate espresso shortbread cookies — a simple recipe with not too many ingredients — strike the perfect balance of coffee and brown butter. The brown butter has just enough caramel-y oomph to stand up to the espresso. Fiona Zhang says she bakes them so that they’re fairly soft — 12 minutes in her oven — but for a snappier, crunchier cookie, they could stay in the oven for a couple minutes longer.
They make for an excellent holiday cookie; you could dip an edge of each shortbread in white chocolate if you like. Sprinkles are optional too.
The winning cookies from the L.A. Times Holiday Cookie Bake-Off include sweet potato whoopie pies, mini versions of the Christmas bread stollen, orange-flecked frosted ones, cookie bark, cream wafers, spiced molasses cookies and more.
In a small pan over medium heat, cook the butter until golden brown and nutty, stirring or whisking often so the butter doesn’t burn, about 6 to 7 minutes.
Once browned, pour the butter into a mixing bowl, tared at zero over a food scale. Weigh the melted, browned butter. There should be less than 226 grams (1 cup). Top it with milk or water to bring the total weight back to 226 grams (1 cup). Chill the butter in the refrigerator until soft and opaque, but not fully hardened, about 45 minutes. You can mix it a few times while it’s cooling to make sure the browned solids are distributed evenly as the butter cools.
Once the brown butter is chilled, beat the butter and powdered sugar in a mixing bowl, by hand or with a mixer, until smooth. Mix in the ground espresso, vanilla and salt. Stir in the flour until well mixed.
Flatten the dough in a gallon-size sealable plastic bag and roll the dough out until it’s evenly distributed to all four corners inside the bag. Chill the dough (laying flat) in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or overnight. When the dough is chilled and firm, cut the plastic bag so that the dough comes out in one big square.
Cut into 2-inch rounds (or desired shape) and place the cookies on a Silpat- or parchment-lined baking sheet. You can re-roll the dough and cut extra cookies. Chill for 10 to 15 minutes to prevent spreading.
Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Bake until the cookies are firm to the touch with dry, set edges, 12 to 14 minutes. Remove from the oven. Optional: Use a cookie cutter or mug to swirl the edges of the cookies in a circular motion as soon as they come out of the oven — this helps shape the cookies to be perfectly round. These can be stored in an airtight container for 1 to 2 weeks.
