by 
These Brown Butter Shortbread with Dark Chocolate + Sea Salt are made with high quality ingredients to create a delicious shortbread cookie that’s the perfect addition to any holiday party. Dark chocolate and flaky sea salt make this shortbread even more irresistible!
Fah la laaaa…it’s really is starting to feel like Christmas, isn’t it? Christmas tree farms have officially replaced all of the pumpkin patches, candy canes and peppermint bark are on the shelves of all the grocery stores, and Christmas music is blasting on all of the radio stations. It seriously feels like this year has breezed on past, but I’m ignoring that and focusing on my favorite part of the holidays: the baking part (of course).
Christmas cookie making is absolutely one of my favorite parts of winter! If you think I bake a lot the rest of the year…I seriously start to churn out the cookies in December. Today my roommate Ally and I went on a big grocery shopping trip and I got a whole bunch of baking ingredients. I mean seriously a lot, as in: I got EIGHT POUNDS OF BUTTER.
Eight. Pounds. Most people probably use less than that in year. It embarrasses me to say that I hope it lasts me through the new month or two. What can I say…holiday baking requires a heck of a lot of butter.
In this recipe for Brown Butter Shortbread with Dark Chocolate + Sea Salt? The butter really, really shines. I’m sort of obsessed with this recipe, and I’ve been making it for a while. These cookies got put into all my Christmas cookie tins last year and the cookies had a gorgeous appearance on my Instagram. <– if you click to see that photo, yes, I totally intentionally photographed the cookies like that again cause I loved the way it looked.
Making brown butter shortbread
It’s about time I shared this recipe with you! The butter is important. I used Challenge butter because as I said…the butter is important! It’s one of the stars of the show, so it’s definitely preferable to use high quality. We warm the butter on the stove until bubbling and toasty brown, but not burned. Then, we stir in dark brown sugar, vanilla, sea salt, and flour. Then we press the simple dough into the pan, and let it stand at room temperature for a few hours.
Letting the dough stand helps the dough cool down to room temperature and lets the flavors meld together. The process of cooling slowly creates an irresistible sandy texture with a bold brown butter flavor and light caramelization from the dark brown sugar.
We bake this shortbread low and slow for 45 minutes. Then, we slather it in dark chocolate and sprinkle it with a bit of fancy sea salt. I like using Maldon’s Fleur de Sel. The result is an irresistible cookie with a warm caramelized flavor, crisp and sandy shortbread texture. The smooth chocolate topping has just the perfect hint of sea salt.
I made these are part of Challenge Dairy’s 12 Days of Cookies! I think these brown butter shortbread are a contribution that you’ll definitely want to put on your wish list and/or your gift list. If you’re giving them away though, be sure to snag a few for yourself. Enjoy! :)
Want more holiday cookie recipes?
Brown Butter Shortbread with Dark Chocolate + Sea Salt
Ingredients
- ¾ cup 1½ sticks unsalted butter, I used Challenge butter
- ½ cup dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- 3 oz. dark chocolate, chopped
- Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling
Instructions
- Lightly grease a 9½” round fluted tart pan or a 14″x5″ rectangle tart with a removable bottom. If you don’t have a pan with a removable bottom you could line a 8″ or 9″ square cake pan with aluminum foil, leaving an overhang of foil on two opposite sides so you can easily lift the shortbread out of the pan.
- In a small saucepan over medium melt the butter and continue to cook until it caramelizes and emits a nutty, butterscotch aroma. You will notice brown flecks in the bottom of the pan as the butter deepens in color. Be careful not to burn the butter. Remove from the heat.
- In a medium bowl, combine the melted butter with the brown sugar, vanilla and salt. Add the flour and mix until incorporated. Spread the dough evenly in the prepared pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand for at least 2 hours or preferably overnight. Do not refrigerate.
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 300°F. Bake for 45 minutes.
- Let cool completely. Melt dark chocolate in the microwave and then spread evenly on the shortbread. Sprinkle with fleur de sel.
Yummy! This looks really good. So excited for christmas! :)
What a beautiful looking cookie! I love the dark chocolate and salt combo! I’m with you on the whole lotta butter! Gotta have it this time of year!
Rachel, this looks INCREDIBLE and so sinful – not to mention, insanely beautiful! I’m definitely on board the browned butter train, so I must try this!
This shortbread looks unreal! Pinning :)
As usual, too delicious to put into words! Could anyone tell me if this is similar to a recipe I came across called “Chocolate-dipped Buttercrunch?” (http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2015/12/02/diy-holiday-food-gifts)
Are these all various forms of toffee? I love toffee, and I apologize if these are such basic/novice questions.
Hi Amanda! This recipe is a cookie, not a toffee, which is a candy. Hope this clears it up!
I go through so much butter and sugar during the holidays — I truly bake more cookies in December than I do any other time. This shortbread looks so addicting! I love the salted chocolate.
Gah, Rachel! This is so beautiful! And sounds so good, brown butter, shortbread, chocolate, sea salt – I drooled a little. Also, I had to laugh at the eight pounds of butter – I don’t bake as much as you but I just bought 4 pounds and my husband def gave me a raised eyebrow. Such is life during the holidays! :)
You had me at brown butter. Love this shortbread!
ahh!! I’m not usually a big fan of shortbread but with brown butter…and dark chocolate…and sea salt…ohhhh yes then I am in looove
Shortbread is my all time favorite cookie anytime of year. But when the holiday season comes, like you, butter is bought by the truck load! No doubt high quality ingredients make a difference in the taste of these treats. Absolutely love the flavor combination here, Rachel!! And the presentation is gorgeous! These would make just perfect cookies for a gift! Thank you my dear!
Thank you so much for your kind words, Traci! I love shortbread this time of year as well – though it’s always delicious :)