Brown Butter Sourdough Shortbread

5 from 6 votes

Brown Butter Sourdough Shortbread

A delicious twist on traditional shortbread, this brown butter sourdough shortbread is filled with nutty brown butter, uses up your sourdough discard and results in melt-in-your-mouth delicious cookies. Crisp, sweet and flavorful, this is the perfect little shortbread cookie.

Prep Time20

Cook Time10

Refrigerated Time1

Total Time1 30

Course: cookies, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: cookies

Author: Amy Coyne

Equipment

Ingredients

140 grams unsalted butter about 10 Tablespoons
60 grams powdered sugar about 1/2 cup
60 grams sourdough discard see recipe notes
4 grams vanilla extract about 1 teaspoon
2 grams salt about 1/2 teaspoon
180 grams all purpose flour about 1 1/4 cup flour

Instructions

Brown Butter: Place 140 grams of butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Let the butter melt and cook. Check back frequently. After a few minutes, the butter will brown, leaving little brown bits in the pan. Pull the brown butter off the heat (don't let the brown bits turn black–you don't want burned butter). Let cool to room temperature.
To the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment (or using a hand mixer), beat the cooled brown butter and the powdered sugar together until light and fluffy. Add in the sourdough discard, vanilla extract and salt. Beat until fully combined.
Add the flour to the butter mixture and mix until the wet and dry ingredients are incorporated.
Dump the dough out of the bowl onto a large piece of plastic wrap. Shape the dough into a rectangular log and roll so the plastic wrap is covering the entire log. Refrigerate the dough for an hour or longer, until the dough is chilled completely and firm.
When you're ready to bake the shortbread, pre-heat the oven to 350 ºF and prepare a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Use a sharp knife to slice 1/2 inch pieces of shortbread from the log and place on the parchment lined baking sheet. Poke small holes using a fork or skewer to decorate the shortbread if desired.
Bake for 10 minutes and let cool completely. Enjoy!

Notes

Sourdough Discard: In order to avoid a stronger sourdough flavor, use sourdough discard that is fresh or no more than a day or two old. I always use 100% hydration sourdough discard. If your discard is very runny, you may need a little extra flour in this recipe.

Nutrition