This post is a good 12-hours late, but in the spirit of the holidays I know you’ll cut me some slack. 😉 Posting new recipes every day in a row for 12 days always proves to be quite the challenge! But this one is worth the wait, it’s probably my favorite Blogmas recipe so far!
If you haven’t noticed, brown butter has become quite the food trend in the past few years (on par with salted caramel mania). And that’s because when browned correctly, there’s pretty much nothing that is equal to the richness and deep, toasty flavor of it. Brown butter takes these cookie bars from “Yum!” to “Holy crap, get me another one right now.”
- 1/2 c. brown butter (if you don’t know how to make it, Allrecipes has a [url href=”http://allrecipes.com/howto/browning-butter/”]great tutorial[/url]), cooled to room temp
- 1/2 c. light brown sugar, packed
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 t. vanilla extract
- 1 c. all-purpose flour
- 1/4 t. salt
- 1 c. semisweet or milk chocolate chips
- 1/3 c. toasted pecans, chopped
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Mix the butter, brown sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla on medium-high speed with an electric mixer until the ingredients are creamy.
- Add in the flour and salt and mix on low just until everything is combined.
- Press the dough into an even layer in the bottom of a parchment lined 9×9 baking pan.
- Bake this crust for about 25 minutes, or until it turns golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and immediately top with chocolate chips. Set the pan aside for 5 mins.
- With a spatula or knife, spread out the now melted chocolate chips to coat the crust in a later of chocolate.
- Sprinkle pecans evenly over melted chocolate. Set aside at room temperature until the chocolate hardens completely (at least an hour).
- Cut into squares and enjoy!
The recipe is super easy and because the crust is shortbread, these will also last several days in an airtight container. Which makes them great for gifts! Or great for hoarding all to yourself.
My next post contains the next GIVEAWAY of the series! Excited to share it with you!
-Lauren
2 Responses
Athena R
I need these in my life. They look so good.
CakePants
Oh wow, these look fantastic!! I have a weak spot for shortbread…and for browned butter (but then again, who doesn’t?!) 🙂