Art and Cookies
Brown butter and my father, the great egg artist
When I was a little kid, my dad was the great scrambler of eggs. It didn’t matter how many times he scrambled an egg for me; every single one was the most delicious thing I’d ever eaten. After I grew up and had children of my own, Dad continued to scramble eggs so well and so often, the kids began to call him The Great Egg Artist. He doesn’t have a fancy recipe or a complicated technique: just one or two eggs at a time to ensure a high ratio of surface area to egg, a fork for scrambling, a seasoned pan and a generous sprinkling of salt…
And did I mention the butter? Dad is a food expert in many ways, but he’s not a trained chef and he’s never heard of “beurre noisette,” the French name for brown butter. Still, his dreamy eggs turn on an innate understand of butter, perfectly cooked to that toasty, nutty point just before burning. Any time I catch a whiff of that delicious aroma, I’m like Proust with his madeleine, carried away on a river of nostalgia and childhood memories.
I knew I wanted something sweet for this week’s newsletter (don’t we all need a bit of sweetness right now?) but it was only while taking in the art at the McMichael Gallery last weekend that my mind skipped from visual art to art in the kitchen, to Dad, to beurre noisette, to a cookie that would have both butter, browned to the colour and flavour of hazelnuts, and actual hazelnuts.
If you don’t like hazelnuts or if you don’t have a source for high-quality fresh ones (mine starts with Trader and ends with Joe’s but sometimes I run out) these are just as good with walnuts, pecans or any other nut, as long as it’s fresh. And while we’re on the subject of improvisation, I will mention that the butter and sugar were already creaming in the mixer when I realized I was out of vanilla extract and scraped a quarter of a whole vanilla pod into the batter instead. DELICIOUS.
Maybe even a little too good. Since making the cookies last night, I’ve had many (many) and am now packing up the rest to take over to Dad’s. I need them out of the house and I think he’ll love them. I wonder if he’ll guess what I did to the butter.
Brown Butter Hazelnut Cookies With Chocolate Chunks
1 cup unsalted butter
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1/4 whole vanilla bean, split and scraped (or 1 tsp pure vanilla extract)
1 cup coarsely chopped hazelnuts (taste first for freshness)
1 100-gram chocolate bar such a Lindt Excellence 78%, coarsely chopped
In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium-low until it stops foaming and begins to brown. This will take at least ten minutes, but it could be closer to thirteen. Butter burns easily. Don’t walk away.
Transfer browned butter to the metal bowl of an electric mixer, using a spatula to make sure all the brown bits go with it. While butter cools, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl. When butter has cooled to lukewarm, add both sugars and cream for 1 minute. Add eggs and vanilla and mix on medium high another two minutes. With mixer on lowest speed, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
Use a spoon or a spatula to mix in nuts and chopped chocolate. Allow dough to rest at room temp for 20 minutes, if you can stand it. (You can also cover and put in the fridge overnight.) Grease a baking sheet (or line it with parchment paper or use a Silpat) and drop cookies about 3 inches apart. (They will spread.) Bake in centre of oven preheated to 350F for 9-11 minutes, until brown at the edges but still chewy in the centre.