Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Brown Butter Heath Bit Cookies


Have you ever noticed that the cookies we eat tend to change with the seasons? Maybe in the summer we eat more lemon or other citrus cookies. In the winter I tend to go heavy on the chocolate and nut content. Do you?

Well, as fall hits in New England, and the temperatures dip and the heat comes on at night, I'm ready for some autumn cookies, and these are some good ones. I browned the butter before using it in the dough. The sugar is brown, and the heath bits are brown toffee goodness! These cookies remind me of the turning leaves and the taste of being toasty warm in front of the pellet stove.


By the way, I'm not a soft cookie fan. I like my cookies to have some bite to them, and these do. For me the texture was just right. They are not soft, but won't crumble apart when you eat them either. They are the perfect in between.



Brown Butter Heath Bit Cookies

2 sticks unsalted butter
2 ¼ cups packed light brown sugar
2 ¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon table salt
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract (I used double-strength)
2/3 package heath bits


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Brown the butter by heating it over medium-high heat in a medium sized pot for several minutes, stirring occasionally. Then, pour it into a bowl to cool.

Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together. Set the flour mixture aside.

Once the butter is cool, add the brown sugar. Blend with a mixer until it is smooth and well-blended. Add the 2 eggs and the vanilla extract. Beat until smooth.

Add the flour mixture, beating until all is incorporated into the dough. Then use a wooden spoon to add the heath chips.

Roll into golf ball-sized spoonfulls of dough and place on a cookie sheet lined with either parchment paper or a Silpat baking sheet.

Bake for 14 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet before moving to a cooling rack.

Makes approximately 24 yummy cookies.

Brown Butter Heath Bit Cookies

Have you ever noticed that the cookies we eat tend ...

See Brown Butter Heath Bit Cookies on Key Ingredient.

13 comments:

Natalie Que said...

Oh Meryl, this is genius. I've never heard of browning the butter before baking, was it just amazing?! Was the impact huge or was it just okay? I think I'd love to try it just to know if it could be one of those really effective secret tricks!

Anonymous said...

Well, I really enjoyed the cookies, and the brown butter tasted great - I will admit that I dipped in a spoon and savored a little. All of the flavors in the end sort of melded together. So I can't say what the difference was. Maybe I should try it with just butter and do an experiment!

I love making cookies, but I don't get to make them often. It is my problem food. But I had a pot luck, so I took advantage of the moment to make them and save two for myself, pushing the rest on my coworkers! :)

Deborah said...

I'm a huge fan of brown butter. Add in toffee, and I can't resist!!

Teresa Cordero Cordell said...

Yummy, I want some. Meryl, I'm so glad you finally got a chance to do some posting. Hope things are getting back to normal at school. Love these cookies.

Anonymous said...

These look delicious - the brown butter is interesting as I would normally use this in a sauce and I love the rich nutty flavour.

Anonymous said...

Delicious! Love the brown butter idea too.Very clever.

Anonymous said...

I made these side by side today with a regular Toffee cookie recipe from Recipezaar. I have to say in the taste test - Hands down yours were chewier AND had more toffee flavor - even though yours had 4 ounces less than the other recipe! It's the Brown Butter Baby!

Anonymous said...

@ Winker - Wow! Thank you so much! That makes me feel great. :)

Alicia Foodycat said...

I love brown butter cookies but I don't know what a heath bit is! I first read that as "health bit" and thought I was in for carrots or carob or something! But these sound lovely. Whatever a heath bit is...

Anonymous said...

@Foodycat - One candy bar we have here is a Heath Bar. It is chocolate covered toffee. They sell Heath bits (crushed up ones) in the baking isle of the supermarket with the chocolate chips. They are pure heaven!

Anonymous said...

I meant your recipe had 4 ounces less of the Heath Bits. I was munching on a couple more and strolled over to see if my comment had posted. Thanks for the reply!

Elle said...

Incredible! And the brown butter is genius!

Anonymous said...

I am supposed to be calorie conscious as advised by my house physician. These cookies are so tempting, I just can't afford to miss. A half an hour with treadmill would balance everything. Ha ha.