Parmesan Brown Butter Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 1½ cup salted butter
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 tablespoon molasses
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla bean paste
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for dusting
- 1½ teaspoons nutmeg
- ½ cup finely grated Il Villaggio Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
- ½ cup diced pecans, toasted
At a glance
Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: Italian
Instructions
- Slice butter into tablespoon sized chunks. Place butter in a medium saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly until butter melts and begins to foam. Stir and cook until butter is lightly browned, 4-5 minutes. Pour butter into a large bowl and refrigerate 1 hour, until cooled and slightly solidified.
- Add sugar, molasses, and vanilla paste to bowl with cooled butter. Stir on low until just incorporated, then beat on high for 2-3 minutes until fluffy, scraping down the sides as necessary.
- In a separate large bowl, sift together flour, nutmeg, and Parmesan. Pour dry ingredients into butter mixture all at once, and stir together with a wooden spoon until it comes together as a thick dough. Stir in toasted pecans until evenly incorporated.
- Turn dough out onto generously floured work surface. Carefully pat dough into rectangle that is roughly 4 inches in width and 1 inch in height. Wrap dough tightly and refrigerate for 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Once dough has finished cooling, remove from refrigerator and set on work surface. Using a sharp knife, slice dough in half lengthwise, and then again width-wise into ½-inch thick slices, repeating until all dough has been sliced. Place cookies on parchment paper ½-inch apart. Bake in preheated oven 15-20 minutes until baked through. Remove from heat and let cookies rest on baking sheets for 5 minutes before removing to cooling racks. Makes approximately 48 cookies.
