BROWN-BUTTER SHORTBREAD

Brown-Butter Shortbread image

Irish butter has a high butterfat content, making it especially flavorful. It's expensive to use for everyday baking but worth the splurge for this shortbread, where the ingredient shines.

Provided by Martha Stewart

Categories Food & Cooking Dessert & Treats Recipes Cookie Recipes

Time 2h35m

Yield Makes 8 wedges

Number Of Ingredients 6

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Ingredients

9 ounces salted Irish butter, preferably Kerry Gold, or regular salted butter, cut into small pieces, plus more for pan
2 tablespoons nonfat milk
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
2 tablespoons coarse sanding sugar or granulated sugar

Steps:

Prepare an ice-water bath with a medium metal bowl set inside. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until deep golden brown, about 8 minutes. Immediately pour butter into bowl in ice-water bath and whisk in milk. Stir mixture constantly with a rubber spatula, scraping the sides of the bowl, until mixture begins to thicken, about 3 minutes.
Remove bowl from ice-water bath and let stand until mixture thickens to the consistency of room-temperature butter, about 30 minutes.
Beat butter mixture with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar and vanilla, and continue to beat for 2 minutes more. Reduce speed to low; beat in flour.
Butter a 10-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Press dough evenly into bottom of pan using plastic wrap. (Make sure dough is flat; a small offset spatula may help.) Refrigerate, covered with plastic wrap, for 20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Cut through dough to make 8 wedges using a sharp paring knife and a ruler. Cut a round from the center using a 2 1/4-inch ovenproof cookie cutter; discard dough. Return cutter to hole. Prick wedges all over with a wooden skewer. Refrigerate, covered, for 20 minutes.
Sprinkle sanding sugar evenly over shortbread. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until golden brown, 55 minutes to 1 hour 5 minutes. Let cool in pan set on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove shortbread from pan, and cut along lines into wedges. Let cool completely on rack.