Santa won’t want to go back up the chimney once he tries these salted brown butter cookies! The brown butter adds a delicious twist to the simple sugar cookie. They are sure to be the stand-out treat at a cookie exchange, too!
Ingredients
Cookies:
3/4 cup unsalted butter
2 cups flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
3/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
Icing:
1 (1 lb.) box powdered sugar
4 tsp. meringue powder (found at Michael’s)
1/3 cup water
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla
In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally until butter has a nutty aroma and golden brown color. Pour into bowl and chill until almost firm, about 30 min.
Whisk together flour and cornstarch in a medium-sized bowl and set aside. In the bowl of a standing mixer, beat together chilled butter and sugar on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Mix in egg, salt and vanilla until combined. Add flour mixture and mix on low speed until fully incorporated.
Heat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Roll out one disk of dough between two large sheets of wax paper until about 1/4 inch thick. Cut out cookies with cookie cutters and place on prepared baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until edges are golden. Repeat until all dough is used. Transfer to wire rack
To make icing, beat together all ingredients in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until combined, about 1 minute. Increase speed to high and beat until icing holds stiff peaks, about 4 minutes.
Transfer icing to large Ziplock bag and squeeze out excess air. Cut 1/8-inch opening in bottom corner of bag and pipe icing onto cookies. Let dry for 1 hour before storing.
