The MELTED butter, rather than room temperature butter, in this yummy Brown Sugar Cookie recipe increases the chewiness of the cookie – when used just right.
It’s like rich molasses and brown sugar – the depth and caramelization and butterscotch flavor – that the melted butter provides. You know, like “brown butter.” The Maillard Reaction:
The Maillard reaction (/maɪˈjɑːr/my-YAR; French: [majaʁ]) is a chemical reaction between amino acids and reducing sugars that gives browned food its distinctive flavor. Seared steaks, fried dumplings, cookies and other kinds of biscuits, breads, toasted marshmallows, and many other foods undergo this reaction. It is named after French chemist Louis Camille Maillard, who first described it in 1912 while attempting to reproduce biological protein synthesis. The reaction is a form of non-enzymatic browning which typically proceeds rapidly from around 280 to 330 °F. Many recipes call for an oven temperature high enough to ensure that a Maillard reaction occurs. At higher temperatures, caramelization (the browning of sugars, a distinct process) and subsequently pyrolysis (final breakdown leading to burning) become more pronounced.
And then, with the addition of cornstarch, we get a thick and chewy and fluffy smooth, simply soft, chewy, cookie – like a kiss from the heavens! 😇
Brown Sugar Cookies
Brown Sugar Cookies
1 cup Kerrygold Irish Butter, melted and slightly cooled
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. sea salt
3 cups all purpose flour
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Once the melted butter has cooled mostly (still liquidy), whisk in the eggs, sugar, cornstarch, baking powder, vanilla, and salt. Mix until smooth.
Add the flour, 1/2 cup at a time. The dough will be “chewy,” like taffy for a bit, until all the flour is added. It will still be pretty soft.
Drop 1″ sized scoops of dough on parchment lined cookie sheets and bake for about 10 minutes, until fragrant and golden brown.
