Brown butter and toffee is a combination that I hadn’t thought of before. But after getting this recipe from a friend via NYT cooking, it immediately called to me. Being a big fan of toffee myself, I was excited to try this recipe. That being said, all of the steps in this recipe make it kind of a pain in the ass. Plus, if you make the toffee yourself, which I highly recommend, it takes even longer. If you do make the toffee yourself, I have a recipe for it here. Just forego adding the chocolate and nuts on top. You can also make this recipe in steps if you don’t have an afternoon to devote to making these. The cookies can be made and frozen one day then baked and assembled another. Particularly helpful if you’re having a breakdown and need to relax but are also on a deadline. Anyway, on to the recipe!
Dough Notes
As I noted earlier, I have a recipe for toffee if you’re keen on making everything from scratch. If not, or don’t want to buy a candy thermometer, no worries, you won’t hurt my feelings. Combine the toffee baking soda, and salt and blitz until the toffee is super finely ground. You don’t want any large chunks that will make cutting the cookies into rounds difficult. Add the butter, egg white, and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy. Add the flour and mix until a soft dough is formed. Divided the dough in half and pat each into a disc. At this point I’d recommend chilling the dough in the fridge for 5-10 minutes. This will make the dough easier to roll out and will require less flour to keep the dough from sticking to your work surface.
After the dough is chilled, roll it out to a thickness of 1/8″. Using a 2″ round cookie cutter, cut out as many rounds as you can from the sheet of dough and transfer the rounds to a parchment lined baking sheet. Gather up the dough scraps and roll them out again. Toss the dough in the fridge for a few minutes if its getting too warm and is sticking to your work surface. Once you have rolled out all the dough, transfer the baking sheets to the freezer. Freeze the rounds for at least 30 minutes. If making this recipe over multiple days, rounds can be frozen in a ziploc bag. Just make sure to place parchment between the rounds.
Baking and Assembly Prep Notes
Place the oven racks in the top and lower third of your oven and preheat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. While the oven is preheating, whisk the egg yolk with a tablespoon of water. Using a pastry brush, brush the tops of half of the cookies with the egg mixture. Next, sprinkle the sliced almonds on top of the brushed cookies, pressing slightly to adhere the almonds. Place the baking sheets on the upper and lower third of the oven. Bake until the cookies are a deep golden brown, similar to a pretzel, 10 to 15 minutes. Halfway through baking, switch the trays from top to bottom and rotate the trays 180 degrees. Once done, let cookies cool completely on the trays. Repeat with the third baking sheet.
While the cookies are baking, start preparing your brown butter. Melt the butter in a saute pan over medium-low heat until foamy. Stir the butter frequently with a thick spatula or wooden spoon until the butter stops sputtering. The butter solids should be nice and brown. Transfer the butter to the bowl of a stand mixer. Stir in the vanilla and salt and wait a minute or two for the butter to cool down a touch. Add the powdered sugar to the butter mixture via a sieve. Mix on low until well combined and creamy. Transfer the icing to a pastry bag. I found that placing the bag in a tall container makes it easier to transfer the icing into the piping bag. Once the icing is in the piping bag and ready, cut a half-inch hole in the bottom of the piping bag
Brown Butter Toffee Cookie Assembly Notes
With the icing ready, quickly flip over the cookies without almonds on them. These are the cookies that we’re going to pipe with icing. Pipe a small layer of frosting on one of the flipped cookies, roughly a tablespoon’s worth, and immediately top with an almond-topped cookie. Press the cookie down slightly to adhere but be aware of the sliced almonds. Repeat with the rest of the cookies. Once all of the brown butter toffee cookies are iced and assembled, they can be stored in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to a month. I don’t think they’ll last that long though. These cookies were a huge hit with everyone I shared them with and they were gone inside of a week.
Brown Butter Toffee Sandwich Cookies
Equipment
- 1 Food Processor
- 1 Stand Mixer Hand mixer works too
- 1 piping bag Optional
- Rolling Pin Wine bottle works too
- 2" round cookie cutter
Ingredients
- 226 grams Toffee bits (1-½ cup, If you want to make your own Toffee)
- 112 grams Sugar (½ cup + 1 tbsp)
- 4 grams Baking Soda (1 tsp)
- 6 grams Kosher Salt (½ tsp)
- 42 grams Unsalted Butter, room temp (3 Tbsp)
- 1 egg Yolk and white separated
- 8 ml Vanilla Extract 1-½ tsp)
- 224 grams AP Flour (1-¾ cups)
- 40 grams Sliced Almonds (½ cup)
Frosting Ingredients
- 170 grams Unsalted Butter, cut into pieces 12 tbsp worth
- 5 ml Vanilla Extract (1 tsp)
- 3 g Kosher Salt (¼ tsp)
- 240 grams Powdered Sugar (2 cups)
Instructions
Cookie Dough Instructions
- In a food processor, combine the toffee, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Blitz until the toffee is finely ground and the mixture looks like sand.
- Move the toffee mixture to the bowl of your stand mixer and add the butter, egg white, and vanilla. Using the paddle attachment, mix until light and fluffy, around 2 minutes
- Add the flour and mix on low until a soft dough comes together.
- Divide the dough in half and pat each into a disc. Place in the fridge to chill for 15 minutes. Line three baking trays with parchment paper.
- Dust your work surface with flour and place half of the dough on there. Roll out the dough, turning frequently until the dough is the ⅛" thick.
- Once the dough is rolled out, use a 2" round cookie cutter, dusted in flour to cut out rounds from the sheet of dough and transfer the rounds to the prepared baking trays, leaving around ½" between the cookies.
- Repeat with the other half of the dough and continue rerolling scraps of dough until all of the dough is cut into rounds. You should have around 72 rounds, if you're a little under, that's fine too.
- Place the trays with the prepared rounds in the freezer for at least 30 minutes. Once firm, the cookies can be baked or stored in the fridge for use later. If storing, place parchment between the rounds and place rounds in a ziploc bag.
Cookie Baking Instructions
- Place racks in the oven on the upper and lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Whisk the egg yolk with a tablespoon of water and brush on the top of half of the cookies. Sprinkle the sliced almonds on top of the yolk-brushed cookies and press almond slices slightly into the cookies.
- Bake the cookies until a deep brown, around 10-14 minutes. Switch the trays from top to bottom and front to back halfway through. Let cookies cool completely on the baking trays.
Icing and Assembly Instructions
- While the cookies are cooling, prepare the brown butter icing. Set a piping bag in a large narrow container. I like to use my wife's reusable starbucks venti iced coffee cup.
- Once the cookies are cooled, flip over the cookies without almonds on them. These are the cookies that will get the icing.
- In a sauce pan over medium-low heat melt the butter until foamy. Continue cooking, stirring and scraping frequently with a spatula until the butter stops sputtering and the butter solids look nice and brown.
- Transfer the butter to the bowl of your stand mixer and stir in the vanilla extract and salt. Sift in the powdered sugar.
- Using the paddle attachment, mix on low speed until the mixture is creamy and combined.
- Let the icing cool a bit and then transfer the icing to the piping bag and cut a 1" hole in the bottom of the bag.
- Pipe a small spiral of icing on the flipped cookie and top immediately with an almond-topped cookie. Repeat with the rest of the cookies.
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one month. They probably won't last that long.
