5-Star Brown Butter Peanut Butter Cookies

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This recipe for 5-Star Brown Butter Peanut Butter cookies is a big kid’s version of a classic. I love peanut butter cookies, but my craving for a cookie with a richer, nuttier flavor pushed me to experiment until I came up with this recipe. Brown butter, almond flour, buckwheat flour, crunchy peanut butter and walnuts deliver a sophisticated nutty flavor and caramel notes. And when finished with a little sea salt, they are divine!

Did I mention they are a lovely gluten free option? And they pair beautifully with my recipe for Easy GF Brown Butter Brownies. Although I’m not gluten free I do like to have some options for my friends and family who are. These are two easy and delicious recipes I like to keep in my back pocket for whenever I need a quick GF dessert.

Choose the right peanut butter for the job

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Although I enjoy specialty peanut butters for everyday eating, Jif Crunchy Peanut Butter is my choice for these Brown Butter Peanut Butter Cookies.

At their core, all peanut butters are a combination of peanuts and oil with a few other added ingredients. Natural peanut butters tend to have less sugar, are thinner and separate more easily. For this reason, I prefer Jif for this recipe. The oils in the peanut butter didn’t separate during the baking process like some other nut butters I experimented with. The resulting texture of the cookie is crisp on the outside, but still a little chewy on the inside.

What makes these 5-Star Brown Butter Peanut Butter Cookies so nutty good?

These gluten free peanut butter cookies are so nutty good. The almond flour, buckwheat flour, crunchy peanut butter and walnuts deliver layers of nutty flavor. They all work together, yet you can taste their separate elements. But the foundation flavor and star of the show is brown butter.

Brown butter primer

Essentially, brown butter is unsalted butter that has been cooked until the milk solids brown and any water has cooked off. What you are left with is something similar to clarified butter. However, brown butter takes on a rich, nutty flavor in the cooking process.

Browning butter is easy, but you do have to stick with it. It only takes 2-3 minutes to brown. However, it can go from just melted to burnt in seconds. For this reason, you need to stir the butter constantly.

When browning butter, I like to use a stainless steel saute pan and a white spatula. This allows me to see the milk solids more easily and know exactly when the butter is ready to come off the heat.

By keeping the butter over medium heat and stirring constantly, you minimize the risk of burning the milk solids.

Finally, when the milk solids are a toasty brown (the color of the finished cookies), the butter is ready. I like to pour the butter immediately out of the pan into another container to stop the cooking. Even when you turn off the burner, there’s still residual heat in the pan. If you keep it in the pan, the butter will continue to cook. So, it’s best to transfer the butter to another container to ensure it doesn’t burn.

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5-Star Brown Butter Peanut Butter Cookies

Recipe by Maria Ostrander Course: DessertCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy

Servings

18

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Baking Time

9

minutes

This recipe for 5-Star Brown Butter Peanut Butter cookies is a big kid’s version of a classic.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, browned and cooled to room temperature

• 1 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

• 3/4 cup crunchy peanut butter

• 1 large egg

• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

• 1/4 cup milk (skim milk is fine for this recipe)

• 1 cup almond flour

• 1/2 cup Gluten Free A.P. Flour

• 1/3 cup buckwheat flour

• 1/2 tsp. baking powder

• 3/4 tsp. baking soda

• 1/2 tsp. salt

• 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

• 2 Tbsp. each of Turbinado sugar and white granulated sugar for sprinkling on top of the cookies (optional).

• Sea salt flakes for sprinkling on top of the cookies (optional).

Directions

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Line a cookie sheet with a non-stick mat or parchment paper. Set aside.
• In a small saucepan, brown the butter over medium-low heat until just golden brown. Approximately 2-3 minutes. Immediately transfer the butter from the saucepan to the mixing bowl and allow to cool to room temperature.
• While the butter is cooling, sift together the almond flour, G.F.A.P. flour, buckwheat flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Set aside.
• Add the brown sugar to the cooled browned butter and blend together until thoroughly combined over medium speed. Approximately 1 minute.
• Add the peanut butter to the sugar mixture and blend together until thoroughly combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
• Add the egg, vanilla and walnuts. You guessed it – scrape down the sides of the bowl.
• Add the milk to the creamed mixture. Continue mixing over medium speed until thoroughly combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
• Add the sifted dry ingredients and blend over medium speed until thoroughly combined. Approximately 1 minute.
• Using either a 2 inch cookie scoop or a 1 inch scoop, space cookie dough evenly on the cookie sheet. Allow 2 inches between cookies so they have room to spread.
• Bake larger cookies for 12 – 13 minutes. Bake smaller cookies 10 – 11 minutes. Cookies are ready when they are light brown around the edges.
• Allow cookies to rest on the cookie sheet for one minute before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. Store in an airtight container.

Notes

• G.F.A.P. Flour is code for Gluten Free All Purpose Flour
• If using a 2 inch scoop, this recipe will yield 18 cookies. When using a 1 inch scoop, you’ll get 36 cookies.