These Earl Grey brown butter shortbread cookies featuring chocolate chunks have a rich, buttery bite. They’re easy to make, mix and match the chocolate as you please, and are a simple slice-and-bake recipe!
Equipment
- Small pot
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
- Mixing Bowls
- Parchment Paper
- Spatula
- Knife
- Baking Sheet
Ingredients
- 13 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp butter
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp brown sugar lightly packed
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups flour
- 2 tbsp flour
- 5 tbsp cornstarch
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 ½ tsp Earl Grey tea leaves fine
- 2 oz milk or dark chocolate chopped
Instructions
- Start by browning your butter. Add your 13 tbsp of butter to a pot and place it over medium heat. Once it melts, swirl the butter in the pan, occasionally scraping down the sides, every minute or so. The milk solids will rise up to the top before falling and browning. Once the solids are golden brown, immediately pour your browned butter into a heat-safe bowl. Add in the remaining 1 tbsp of cold butter and leave to cool slightly at room temperature for 15 minutes, before placing in the fridge to “harden” to a softened, room temperature state (about an hour)
- Once your browned butter has cooled, add it to a bowl with both sugars and beat for a minute. Mix in vanilla
- In a separate bowl, combine your flour, cornstarch, salt, and fine tea leaves
- Gradually add your dry ingredients to the butter/sugar, and when there are still a few flour streaks, fold in your chopped chocolate. Mix until just combined (it will be crumbly), then use a spatula to smear the dough along the sides of the bowl to help bring together
- Transfer your dough to a piece of parchment paper. At this stage, it will still be very crumbly. Press and roll into a 2-inch diameter log. Don’t stress, this will take a few minutes to press together
- Wrap your dough log tightly in parchment paper, and place it in the fridge for at least 3 hours or overnight
- Preheat oven to 350°F
- Remove your shortbread log from the fridge, cut it into ¾-inch thick discs, and place it on a parchment-lined baking tray. You should be able to bake 5 cookies at a time.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, until you see a very light golden halo around the edges of the cookie. For a more tender shortbread, be careful not to overbake or risk having a more crunchy cookie!
- Remove from the oven and leave your cookies on the tray for 5 minutes. Then gently slide the parchment paper with the cookies off the tray, onto your counter, and cool completely. Repeat with the remaining cookies!
Notes
*You want to chop your chocolate so you have some “chunks,” no bigger than the size of a chocolate chip, and some finer bits. If the chocolate is too big, the dough won’t properly stick together.
*This dough is crumbly, don’t fret! Smear it together as much as you can in the bowl before transferring to your parchment and pressing into a log. This will take you a few minutes.
*Leave your cookies alone until they cool completely! These are shortbread, so when they come out of the oven, they need time to cool and set together. If you touch them too early, they will be very crumbly.
