Back in December, the Bramble Berry Office celebrated the holidays with our annual cookie swap. Each person brought in a batch of cookies, and we filled small boxes with everybody’s cookies to take home. It was a fun, sugar-filled day. I crashed by about 2 p.m. after having cookies for breakfast and lunch. I finally had some “real food” around 3 that day and felt a little better! =)
While I’m as much a fan of fudge and gingerbread men as the next person (and for the record, hold the nuts in the fudge), I wanted to bake something a little different. The inclusion of basil in this Brown Butter & Basil Shortbread recipe from Joanne Eats Well With Others was ridiculously intriguing. I changed the recipe a teensy bit (brown sugar instead of traditional sugar) and the revised recipe did not disappoint; it was salty and not too sweet while still having the wonderfully dense mouth-feel of shortbread. Everybody at the cookie swap loved these buttery, basil-flavored cookies. They are not your average cookie and elevate simple shortbread to a foodie’s delight.
They’d be great to take to any upcoming Super Bowl parties! (Yes, the 12th Man lives here. Go Hawks!)
Ingredients:
1 cup + 5 Tbsp Butter
2 Tbsp Basil, finely chopped
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
3/4 tsp Salt
2 Large Egg Yolks
3 cups All Purpose Flour
Yields:
16 Cookies
Total Time:
1 hour 30 minutes
Prep: 25 min
Chill: 30 minutes
Bake: 35 minutes
ONE: Put the butter in a medium saucepan on medium heat. Melt and stir frequently. Cook until the butter is a deep amber/brown color and it smells nutty. This will take about 15 minutes. Immediately remove form heat (you don’t want those little brown bits to go black!)
TWO: While the butter is melting, grease an 8 x 8 inch square baking pan and pre-heat the oven
THREE: In a bowl, whisk together the browned butter, finely chopped basil, sugar and salt. Add egg yolks and whisk to incorporate.
FOUR: Using a spoon gently mix in the flour. Do not over mix the dough or you’ll end up with tough cookies.
FIVE: Press into the baking pan and chill for 30 minutes.
SIX: Poke holes in the dough making sure you reach all the way down to the pan. This will ensure that the dough doesn’t puff up while it bakes.
SEVEN: Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Score where you want to cut the bars while it is still warm and then cut once cooled.
Don’t they look delicious? They are so simple and pack a delicious gourmet punch. Below are some of the other cookies BB employees brought to the swap. Can you say, ‘YUMMM’?
Are you hosting any Super Bowl parties? If so, what’s your go-to Super Bowl Sunday dish?
Hi,,
I’m a new member of the soap queen family. I love all of the tutorials they are very detailed and easy to follow. I want to try this cookie recipe but I’m not sure what to do with the egg yoke the tutorial doesn’t say. I don’t want to assume what to do with them and mess up this wonderful recipe, they look like they taste great!
Hi Kawana!
Good catch, I have updated the recipe to make it a little more clear as to when you add the eggs. Basically once you have browned the butter, add the melted butter to the sugar, basil, and salt. Add egg yolks and whisk to combine. Then gently add your flour to this mixture. I hope that helps 🙂
-Amanda with Bramble Berry
We love shortbread here, some of our favorites are Lavender, and another is cardamom. I have collected several lovely molds to put the dough in and it makes the shortbread pretty too.
Hi Mary Lou!
Lavender and cardamom short breads sound great! I love making desserts with interesting and unexpected flavors. I hope you give this one a try 🙂
-Amanda with Bramble Berry
I’ve never thought about using basil to make a different flavor of shortbread. I’ll have to try it! No Superbowl parties here. I generally spend the time hanging out with a good book instead. 🙂
Hi Andee!
I hope you give these cookies a try! They were definitely different in a really good way 🙂 Relaxing with a good book sounds like a great way to spend a Sunday!
-Amanda with Bramble Berry
Our Super Bowl party would not be the same if we didn’t have my husbands traditional chili! We always have two versions, bean only and my husbands famous venison chili. We definitely never have to worry about leftovers 🙂
Hi Audra!
Chili is definitely a must for a Superbowl party! We actually had a Chili Cook-off at the office last week and will be posting the winning chili recipe soon! 🙂
-Amanda with Bramble Berry