Delicious Butterscotch Cookies
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoons vanilla extract
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into tablespoon sized slices
- 1 3/4 cups dark brown sugar
- 1/2 tablespoons salt
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- sugar dredging mixture
- 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- fleur de sel, maldon, sea salt or kosher salt for sprinkling
- Carbohydrate 73.0213166955059 g
- Cholesterol 76.226 mg
- Fat 15.0254110004118 g
- Fiber 0.879283349855117 g
- Protein 4.17091600405684 g
- Saturated Fat 9.10091720006328 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (121g)
- Sodium 3949.39086673367 mg
- Sugar 72.1420333456508 g
- Trans Fat 1.16134180013282 g
- Calories 439 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 375°F and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Vigorously whisk together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder and set aside. Mix together the sugar dredging mixture in another bowl and set aside.
- Place 10 tablespoons of butter into a thick-bottomed skillet over medium heat. The butter will foam a bit before subsiding. Once the butter takes on a tan color and begins to smell nutty take it off of the heat. Add the other two tablespoons of butter and mix it in until it melts. (See tutorial on how to brown butter.)
- Pour the brown butter into a mixing bowl fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the brown sugar and salt and mix. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and mix together, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl at least once. Add the flour mixture in three increments being sure to scrape down the sides and bottom once or twice. Mix just until the flour is incorporated. The dough will be very thick.
- Take 1/2 to full tablespoon-sized pieces of dough (you can make them a bit bigger or smaller to your liking, just make sure the pieces of dough are all the same size) and gently roll them into ball shapes. Dredge them in the sugar dredging mixture until well-coated. Place on the baking sheet and sprinkle with a little bit of the sprinkling salt (be reserved with the salt as very little goes a long way).
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges have browned a bit. Be careful not to over-bake. Allow to cool on the sheet for one minute before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Tastes best with a glass of milk for dipping.
Standard chocolate chip cookies rely on straightforward creamed butter and granulated sugar, whereas butterscotch cookies achieve their distinct butter-toffee profile entirely through browned butter and dark brown sugar. Cooking dairy solids in a skillet drives off water content and toasts milk proteins until aromatic. This technique requires continuous swirling to prevent burning because milk solids transition rapidly from toasted to scorched once the water completely evaporates.
Many bakers ruin this dough by failing to control flour hydration during the mixing stage. Adding all-purpose flour in three separate increments prevents gluten overdevelopment while ensuring the heavy fats integrate evenly with the dry ingredients. Scrape down the bowl thoroughly between each flour addition to eliminate pockets of unmixed flour that create dense, floury spots in the baked batch.
Judging doneness without a thermometer relies on observing the perimeter of each portion. Pull the baking sheet from the 375 degree oven the exact moment the edges show a distinct brown color while the centers remain pale and soft. Residual heat finishes the cooking process during the mandatory one-minute rest on the hot pan before transfer to a wire rack.
Proper crystal distribution prevents the exterior coating from dissolving into the dough during baking. Roll the portions uniformly to ensure even heat penetration in the oven. Apply the finishing salt sparingly because coarse crystals concentrate salinity aggressively against the sweet sugar dredging mixture.
