Brown Sugar Craving...

sandwich cookies
Originally uploaded by lemonadestand

For some reason or another, I've been craving brown sugar. I was looking for brown sugar recipes online when I started thinking about browned butter. Browned butter is butter that is ever so slightly burnt and it makes a huge difference in taste. My first introduction to browned butter came via the Treats Truck and Kim's browned buttercream sandwich cookies. They're delicious...and it was a real treat to find a recipe with a picture of very similar looking cookies on the Land O'Lakes website.

This recipe is super easy. Except that I consistently fail at having the patience to make things pretty. The dough is supposed to be rolled into a log, chilled, and then sliced, but I barely rolled it into a log and I sloppily wrapped wax paper around it before tossing it in the freezer for 45 minutes. It was really lopsided when I took it out! I tried to redeem myself after slicing to make them more circular, but then the cookies weren't very neat anymore. Sigh! I guess this was a shortcut that really failed.

But the cookies were good. Very similar to what's offered at the Treats Truck. I made the frosting before the cookies, so they had dried out a bit before I sandwiched them and they cracked when I squished the two cookies together. Still tasted good. I really liked the browned butter cream. The cookie was pretty good, too, and just hard enough to properly press into sandwiches, but still soft enough to not be crunchy when bitten into.

Browned Butter Sandwich Cookies. Adapted from Land O'Lakes

1 c soft butter (2 sticks)
2/3 c firmly packed brown sugar
2 egg yolks
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 c ap flour
1/4 tsp salt

1) Beat butter and brown sugar at medium speed until creamy.
2) Add egg yolks and vanilla, beating until well mixed.
3) Reduce speed to low, add flour and salt. Beat until mixture becomes a dough.
4) Divide dough in half. Shape each half into a log about 1 1/2" in diameter. Wrap in plastic and chill for 3 hours or overnight.
5) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using a sharp knife, cut each log into 1/8" slices. Place 2" apart on ungreased cookie sheets and bake until edges are lightly browned ~9 minutes.


Cream Filling

1/4 c butter
2 c powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp heavy cream

1) Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally until butter starts to brown. Immediately remove from heat and cool for 5 minutes.
2) Add powdered sugar, vanilla, and 1 tbsp heavy cream. Add more cream as necessary for desired spreading consistency.

Note: So I learned that flour is added last and at the lowest speed to help prevent too much gluten from building up. I wonder what the texture of a cookie with too much gluten is like. Perhaps breadlike?