3-Ingredient Brown-Butter Shortbread | view more Recipe

3-Ingredient Brown-Butter Shortbread

  • '1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter'
  • '1/2 cup powdered sugar'
  • '2 cups all-purpose flour
  • sifted'
  • '1/4 teaspoon kosher salt'

  1. Preheat oven to 300°F
  2. Melt butter in a small skillet over medium heat and cook, stirring often, until milk solids begin to brown, about 6 minutes (do not burn)
  3. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a medium bowl
  4. Chill until just firm, about 30 minutes
  5. Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat brown butter and powdered sugar in a large bowl until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes
  6. Reduce speed to low and gradually beat in flour and salt, scraping down sides of bowl as needed, just to blend (do not overwork dough)
  7. Transfer dough to a sheet of parchment
  8. Form dough into a rectangle
  9. Place second sheet of parchment over dough
  10. Roll out dough to a 8x6" rectangle about 1/2" thick
  11. Remove top sheet of parchment
  12. Transfer dough on parchment to a rimmed baking sheet
  13. Using a fork, pierce dough all over, spacing 1" apart
  14. Bake shortbread, rotating halfway through, until golden brown and firm to the touch, 55–65 minutes
  15. Cut shortbread lengthwise into 1" strips on baking sheet while still warm
  16. Cut each strip crosswise into thirds
  17. Let cool completely
  18. Cookies can be made 2 days ahead; cover and store at room temperature