Brown Butter M&M Cookies

I can't wait for you guys to try these cookies.  M&M cookies are the best.  These ones are taken up a notch and made with brown butter.  I could go on and on about how freaking amazing brown butter is. . . the smell . . . the nutty toffee-like flavor . . . you gotta love it.  

I've attempted these cookies before with no such luck, but then I read a tip about when browning butter you will lose some moisture, which means, you need to add a little moisture back.  I attempted my cookies again, but this time I added a little milk.  They turned out just right.  Soft and chewy and amazing.  The only thing is these do take a little advance planning.  Browning the butter is quick, but you will want to allow the browned butter to cool and solidify again, so you can cream it together with the sugars and you have to refrigerate the dough before baking.  BUT . . . these cookies are totally worth the wait.

The brown butter flavor stands out the most with the raw cookie dough and when they are warm right out of the oven.  Once the cookies are at room temperature, they don't necessarily taste like brown butter, but they do have an added deep rich flavor to them.  So dang good! 

I shared this recipe over at THE RECIPE CRITIC'S site.  Click HERE to see the post.

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Brown Butter M&M Cookies

From: Jenn@eatcakefordinner

(Printable Recipe)

¾ c. unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ c. light brown sugar, packed
¼ c. sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1½ Tbl. low-fat milk (I used 1%)
2 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 c. M&M's, plus more for the tops of the cookies

Place butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and heat until golden brown specks appear, swirling the pan occasionally. Butter will get foamy and if you swirl the pan around, you will see brown bits at the bottom and it will have a nutty smell. Remove from heat and pour into a small bowl. Make sure to get all those browned bits at the bottom of the pan, that is where all the flavor is. Allow to cool until it becomes solid (I refrigerate mine to speed up the process).

When brown butter is solid, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together brown butter, brown sugar and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla and milk and beat until combined. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt and add to wet ingredients. Mix until just combined. Stir in one cup of M&M's. Chill dough for at least one hour or overnight.

Roll dough into balls, around 1½ Tablespoons of dough per cookie. Press a few extra M&M's onto the top of each dough ball. Bake for 7- 9 minutes. Cookies will look underdone, but set up perfectly once they cool. My oven does bake slightly warmer than most and I think 7 minutes is perfect. Do not overbake or the cookies will be dry. Makes 24-30 cookies.