5 things I learned on New Recipe Wednesday - Browned butter cookies

I did it this week!!!!! I managed to actually do a new recipe on new recipe Wednesday. Go me! It was another classic from the Pioneer Woman – her Browned Butter M & M cookies (confession time – I didn’t have any M & M’s). They are still in the oven, but given how the dough tasted I think they will be a real winner. Here is the link

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/browned-butter-mm-cookies/

What deliciousness! What inspired this you ask? Well a friend of mine made some accidental cookies the other day. She was attempting to bribe a group of teenagers (her students in fact – and apparently it worked!! No surprises there – I still remember bribery chocolate cake from my favourite Math teacher, and I don’t even remember any math!!!!). The students remarked that they tasted like cheesecake. Now, I have actually mentioned this friend to you before, as she has an aversion to following recipes. I asked her if she was trying to make cheesecake and accidentally made cookies, and somehow I walked away from that conversation craving accidental cookies!!! A day or so later, I saw the Pioneer Woman making these brown butter cookies on her Food Network © show, and then there was some butter on sale in the supermarket!!! I call that serendipity!!

And so today on a rainy and mildly productive new recipe Wednesday, here are some of the lessons I learned:

1.       Brown butter is life. I do not mean this lightly. Just the smell of the butter browning, and even the smell of the cookies coming out of my kitchen right now… Just the type of thing I can bottle and sell. I read somewhere that you can take out a portion of the butter in your cake or cookie and brown it to add a rich, nutty flavor, and that my friends is the truth. Try it – I dare you.

2.       That mini ice cream scoop – it isn’t for ice cream. I have used it for mini cupcakes, and now for cookies. I don’t know who wants a tablespoon full of ice cream but if you want the perfect sized cookie then this is the tool to buy.

3.       If you have a great phone camera, then cheers look like M&M’s in the photo and no-one can tell the difference! – Cheers are a local version of the colourful candies, and given that there are about 2 or 3 of these per cookie, it definitely isn’t worth the cost.

4.       It really is worth following those fiddly instructions like – only bake one pan at a time if you don’t have a fan oven. The cookies are crunchy and delicious without being ridiculously brown. Of course, there are those who like totally brown cookies, and call me a cookie racist, so I will leave you to have that internal dilemma yourself.

5.       Use the cooling rack – I have friends who laugh at me for using my multiple cooking racks. My cookies are crispy on the outside and slightly chewy on the inside… Who’s laughing now?

Ok, I am off to eat some cookies… See you tomorrow!!

Big love from cookie monster!

Ps I took loads of photos, so that I could put another collage up there, but the one photo I posted captures the very essence of these cookies. Cheers Pioneer woman!