Brown butter brown sugar shortbread

NOTES
1. From the website Smitten Kitchen

2. Recipe can be made with standing mixer, handheld mixer, or food processor.

3. To store: Shortbread keeps for 1 week, if not longer, at room temperature. It freezes well too, just wrap it tight, and don’t squiggle with icing until defrosted

INGREDIENTS

1 cup (225 grams or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1-1/2 Tbl water
2 cups plus 3 Tbl (290 grams) all-purpose flour
2/3 cup (145 grams) packed dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract

ICING (OPTIONAL)
1/2 cup (60 grams) powdered sugar
1 to 1-1/2 Tbl fresh lemon juice


PREPARATION

1. Brown the butter: In a medium saucepan or frying pan, melt butter over medium-high heat. It will melt, then foam, then turn clear golden and some toasted speckles will appear.

2. As soon as speckles (the milk solids) appear, remove the pan from the burner; the residual heat will be sufficient to toast the rest of the butter to a deep golden brown.

3. Pour butter and all the toasty flecks into a medium bowl, add th 1-1/2 Tbl of water, and stir to combine.

4. Freeze the butter in the bowl for 30 minutes, then give it a full stir, scraping down the sides, mixing the still melted parts in the center over the solidified chunks. Return to the freezer for another 30 minutes nd then cut it into chunks, right in the bowl; no need for the chunks to be even.

5. Toward end of time for freezing the butter, heat the oven to 300°F and line an 8-inch square cake pan with parchment paper that extends up two sides. There is no need to grease it.

6. Make the shortbread dough one of three ways:

Option A, standing mixer
With the paddle attachment, beat browned butter chunks, brown sugar, and salt together, scraping frequently, until evenly mixed.
Add vanilla and flour, and mix just until combined, scraping down the bowl again.

Option B, handheld mixer
Same as above but the butter will need to be semi-soft first.

Option C, a food processor
Combine brown sugar, salt, and flour in the work bowl, pulsing a few times.
Add cold browned butter chunks and vanilla and pulse several times to chop the butter down into even smaller pieces.
Then, run the machine until it is fully incorporated and comes together in a smooth mass, 1 to 2 minutes more, scraping down as needed for even mixing.

7. Transfer shortbread dough to prepared baking pan and use your fingers to press it into an even, flat layer; then use an offset spatula to smooth the top.

8. Bake the shortbread for 30 minutes — it will not be fully baked yet — and remove from the oven just long enough to score and shape the shortbread.

9. To create the diamond shape shown, use the dull side of a paring knife or a bench scraper to make light line indentations barely 1/4-inch into the shortbread, about 1 inch apart.

10. Then, at about a 45-degree angle from the first lines, make remaining indentations about 1.5 inches apart--it's okay to eyeball the distance.

11. Use a very thin, sharp paring knife to cut along these lines to the bottom of the pan; then use the back of a wooden skewer or the tines of a fork to dock the shortbread, about 1/3 of the way into the cookie.

12. Return the shortbread to the oven for another 15 to 20 minutes, or until more deeply golden at the edges. Let cool in the pan, or, if you’re impatient, let them cool for 10 minutes, and then remove them, using one of the extended sides of the parchment paper lining the pan to make it easier.

13. Let shortbread cool completely, then separate the shortbread where they were cut. If needed, use your paring knife again to make clean separations.

If adding icing:

Space shortbread evenly out on a rack and place over a tray to catch drips.
Place powdered sugar in a small bowl and add 1 Tbl lemon juice, mixing to combine.
We’re looking for a thick but drizzle-able consistency.
Add all or part of remaining 1/2 Tbl lemon juice if needed to achieve it.
Transfer icing to a sandwich bag and snip a tiny bit of the corner off and drizzle the icing over the shortbread. Let set for one hour at room temperature.