Brown Butter Fennel Cookies

-because we’re all just grown up kids or kids growing up





The best way to bake these cookies is to divide and bake the dough in two batches. While the first batch is in the oven, prepare the remaining dough for baking. Do not use a nonstick skillet to brown the butter. The dark color of nonstick coating makes it difficult to see when the butter begins to brown.

Makes about 26 cookies

INGREDIENTS:
14 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
¼ cup granulated or superfine sugar
2 cups packed dark brown sugar, divided
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:
1. Heat 10 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Continue to cook while swirling the pan until butter is dark golden brown and has a nutty aroma, 1 to 3 minutes. Off the heat and transfer browned butter to a large heat-safe bowl. Stir in the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter to melt. Let the butter cool for 15 minutes.
2. While butter cools, adjust the oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. In a shallow dish, mix granulated sugar and 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar, until well combined; set aside. Whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, and fennel seeds together in a medium bowl; set aside.
3. Add the remaining 1 3/4 cups dark brown sugar and salt to the bowl with cooled butter; mix until no lumps remain, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula; add egg, yolk, and vanilla and mix until well incorporated, about 30 seconds. Scrape down bowl. Add flour mixture and mix until just combined, about 1 minute. To be sure that no flour pockets remain and the ingredients are evenly distributed, stir the dough once again.
4. Divide the dough into two batches. Then make each cookie about 2 tablespoons in size, rolling the dough between hands into balls about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Roll the first batch of cookie dough balls in reserved sugar mixture and set on a prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart.
5. Only bake one sheet at a time until cookies are browned and still puffy and the edges begin to set but the centers still look raw (the cookies will seem underdone), 12 to 14 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Make no mistake - do not over bake!
6. Cool cookies on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Then, transfer the cookies to a wire rack and cool to room temperature.

* The French have been browning butter since medieval times to add a nutty complexity to fish, vegetables, and many other dishes. Beurre noisette (say this instead of brown butter if you’d like to annoy the plebes) is made when butter is heated to about 250 degrees, the water boils off, and milk sugar and protein react with each other turning brown and releasing new flavors and aromas.

Recipe adapted by Cristina Paul