Browned Butter Shortbread with Peach Glaze

I absolutely love the smell and taste of browned butter. It is so buttery and nutty and rich. Browned butter will take any recipe to the next level. It manages to do just that with this shortbread recipe. The sweet peach glaze on top rounds it all out. It’s the perfect bite to enjoy with a cup of coffee or tea.

You will need ...

Browned Butter, 8 ounces
Brown Sugar, 1 Cup
All Purpose Flour, 4 1/4 Cup
Vanilla Extract, 1 tsp

Step One

First, make the browned butter. Place some butter in a heavy bottomed pot. Turn the heat to medium low. Watch the butter as it melts. The first stage is the butter melting. Next, the butter will begin to bubble. Then, the butter will begin to foam. This is when you need to keep a close watch. Once you start to see a little golden-brown color appear in the foam, slowly stir the butter and scrape the bottom of the pot with your spatula. After a minute or two, pull the pot off the stove. Carefully pour the butter into a glass dish to cool, being sure to scrape in all the browned bits – that’s the flavor! Let cool, stirring occasionally so that it does not solidify with all the browned bits on the bottom.

Step Two

Once the butter has cooled and solidified to a softened butter stage, measure out your ingredients.

Step Three

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the browned butter and brown sugar together until fluffy and light in color. This will be about 2-3 minutes. Add in the vanilla. Then, add in the flour in two batches, scraping down the bowl between batches. Stop mixing as soon as the flour is incorporated.

Step Four

Turn out the crumbly dough onto a small parchment lined baking sheet. Pat the dough down with your hand or a spatula. To smooth it out, you can use a tiny roller to press and smooth the dough. If you do not have one, I wrap some plastic wrap tightly over a soda can and use that to compact the dough. Cover and chill in the fridge for at least 1-2 hours.

Step Five

Once the dough has been properly chilled, remove it from the fridge. Carefully turn out the dough onto a large piece of parchment paper. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into rectangles. Then, use a fork to poke holes into the tops of each rectangle. You can re-chill these rectangles for another hour, or you can freeze them for 30 minutes. This is to ensure sharp edges.

Step Six

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Place the chilled rectangles onto a parchment lined baking sheet, spacing them about an inch or two apart. Bake for about 25-30 minutes, depending on your oven. Once the edges are golden, remove the pans from the oven and let cool for 5-10 minutes. Remove the rectangles with a spatula and place them onto a wire rack on a baking sheet.

Step Seven

While the shortbread is cooling, make the peach glaze. In a medium bowl, combine 3 cups of powdered sugar with 4 tablespoons of milk and 3 tablespoons of peach preserves. Once cookies are cooled, use a spoon to drizzle the glaze over the cookies.

An optional addition is to add some toasted pecan bits to the glaze before it hardens.

These cookies will keep in an airtight container on the counter for about 3-4 days. You can also freeze them for a few months. Enjoy!

The Mom Touch