If you're not baking with brown butter, you really should be. These Brown Butter Oatmeal Toffee Cookies are hands down the best oatmeal cookies I've ever had. They're chewy with crispy edges and incredibly rich.
What is Brown Butter?
Basically, it's liquid gold. It's a simple technique of gently cooking butter until it browns and takes on a nutty, otherworldly aroma. It sounds very fancy but it's very easy to do and will be a massive upgrade to many of the things you already know how to make...like COOKIES!
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OK so how do I make it?!?
It's best to do this in a light colored pan as that allows you to monitor the development of color in the butter so to not let it burn. The time between brown and burnt butter is fleeting. You want to melt your butter on medium. First it will foam, then that will subside and you will see that it will start to turn brown with little bits at the bottom. As soon as it turns a gorgeous amber color and you smell that heavenly nutty aroma, immediately remove it from the heat and pour into a heat safe bowl to stop the cooking.
Baking with Brown Butter
Brown butter can give incredibly rich flavor to many recipes but it's important to analyze a little bit to see where you can make the swap. The recipe may require some testing as during the browning process, butter loses about 25% of it's moisture. This could have a huge impact! This recipe already accounts for that so no need to worry. Usually a tablespoon or two of milk will bring most recipes back to the necessary moisture content.
You also want to make sure you let the brown butter CHILL before you bake with it. Allowing it to reform into a solid mass ensures that you can still follow proper instructions for creaming butter and sugar to get the perfect texture. I recommend using a stand mixer to get it nice a fluffy. You can mix it by hand but it will require some elbow grease! Use melted butter and you'll have a spread out (but likely delicious) mess all over your baking sheet. Once your dough comes together, you'll also want to chill that for a while to allow it to set and for the flavors to meld. Honestly, the waiting is the hardest part of this recipe! Enjoy ; )
Brown Butter Toffee Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 sticks butter browned and cooled
- ¾ cup dark brown sugar
- ¼ cup white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1½ tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups oats
- 1½ cups flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ¾ cup toffee bits
Instructions
- Brown two sticks butter and let cool completely
- Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time.
- Add in vanilla
- Stir together oat, flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon in a separate bowl.
- Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Do not over mix.
- Stir in toffee bits.
- Chill the dough in the fridge for at least an hour, 2-3 if you can
- Bake at 375° for 9-11 minutes or until slightly browned around the edges.
Kendal Carrington
made these and loved them! definitely kicked oatmeal cookies up a notch! my picky child loved them also!