For the past six or seven weeks I have been spending Friday nights baking up cookies for Saturdays at the store. I’m not sure how it happened that this became a thing, but it did and now it is kind of getting expected to see a platter of homemade cookies sitting on the front counter (at least the staff is starting to expect it)
I adore cooking and baking and anything culinary and love messing with traditional recipes and making them my own. A recipe from Cooks Illustrated, my favorite cooking gurus, caught my eye a few weeks ago. The “Brown Sugar Cookie” recipe seemed like something I needed in my repertoire mainly because it mentioned and used butter that had been browned on the stove creating that toasted nutty aromatic flavor I LOVE. So I gave it a whirl. The addition of candied ginger seemed like a perfect fit. To ramp up the 'browned butter' flavor I have added extra milk solids to the butter to brown (in the form of powdered milk). This really makes that 'brown butter' flavor front and center.
These have been crowd favorites and disappear pretty quickly when I have brought them in. Neither a cakey sweet sugar cookie nor an overly spicy ginger-snap, this cookie falls right in the middle with it’s nutty butter flavor, rich brown sugar caramel undertones and just the right amount of sweet ginger bite.
Yields 18-24 cookies
- 14 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons powdered milk
- 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 ¾ cups packed dark brown sugar (plus additional ½ cup for rolling)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg plus 1 large yolk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 Tablespoons candied ginger – coarsely chopped
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and put rack on top position.
- Melt 10 tablespoons of the butter in skillet on stovetop. Add 2 Tablespoons powdered milk once melted and before it starts browning. Using medium heat and constant swirling cook butter until it begins to brown. The milk solids in the butter with brown to a caramel color and a nutty aroma is produced. Do not burn the butter and pay close attention. When completely browned pour into large heatproof bowl with the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter. The hot browned butter will melt the un-browned butter. Allow to cool.
- In medium bowl measure out flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Wisk these dry ingredients until well mixed.
- Add brown sugar (1 ¾ cups) to melted butter. Mix thoroughly removing any lumps with wooden spoon. Add egg and egg yolk and vanilla. Mix well, mixture will be uniform and creamy looking.
- Mix flour mixture and ginger into batter until fully incorporated and uniform.
- In shallow dish mix ½ cup brown sugar and ¼ cup granulated sugar with a fork to make a uniform lump free mixture for dredging the cookies.
- Roll golf ball sized portions (approx 1/4 cup) of the dough into uniform ball with your hands, roll in the sugar mixture and place 2 inches apart on PARCHMENT lined baking sheet (you will need two sheets or need to produce in two batches)
- Bake cookies on top shelf of oven for 12-14 minutes. Cookies will flatten and tops will crack when done. Cool completely on wire rack. (Best when fully cooled and even better the next day when flavor melds). Store (when fully cooled) in airtight container.
