These cookies are pretty much the perfect mash-up for two of my favorite men.
Both my dad and Mr. E are big fans of the oatmeal cookie. To this day, I still shake my head when I see one of them choose oatmeal over chocolate chip. It just seems wrong.
Shortbread cookies are another of Mr. E's favorites, and these don't disappoint. The brown butter takes an extra 5 minutes or so and adds a MAJOR wallop of intense butter flavor.
Brown Butter Oatmeal Shortbread Cookies
1 cup unsalted butter3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons water
1 & 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 cup quick-cook oats
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
To brown the butter: Place the butter in a small saucepan set over medium-high heat. Melt the butter. Once the butter is completely melted, it will bubble and sizzle. Keep swirling the pan occasionally, and listen and watch carefully–when the foam begins to subside and the sizzling suddenly, the butter will quickly turn brown and smell nutty, about 5 minutes total. Pour into a heatproof bowl and let cool. It doesn't have to be cold, just let it come to room temperature.
Preheat oven to 300. Grease two 8x8" baking pans.
With an electric mixer, beat together the cooled brown butter, brown sugar, salt, and water. On low speed, add in the flour, oats, and baking powder. Mix until incorporated.
Divide the dough evenly into the prepared pans. Press the dough using your fingers or the back of a measuring cup. Bake for 35 minutes.
Remove the pans from the oven and run a sharp knife around the edges of the pan. After 5 minutes, place a cutting board on top of the pan. Flip the pan so that it is now on top. Lift the pan to remove the square of shortbread.
At this point, use a giant spatula (like this cake lifter/spatula) to flip the cookie right-side-up, OR leave as is. Don't try to flip it with a regular spatula...it's warm and will break apart. Use a pizza cutter to cut into squares or sticks. Place on a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
This continues my dad's "year of oatmeal cookies." This is May's edition...yeah, yeah, I know it's June 2nd. May kind of got away from me there. Here are the rest so far:
