These delicious Brown Butter Sorghum Cookies in 3 Easy Steps are reminiscent of old fashioned molasses cookies – delightfully chewy and perfectly spiced.
I woke up one day with a fierce craving for a molasses cookie. You know the type – boldly spiced, chewy and absolutely delicious with a tall glass of cold milk. As I began gathering my ingredients on the counter, I soon realize I didn’t have any molasses in the pantry. That didn’t concern me too much though since I have an overflow shelf where I keep backup stock of pantry staples – with baking supplies taking up the greatest slice of real estate on the shelf. No surprise there, right? Naturally, I calmly looked around, fully expecting to find molasses, but I didn’t even have a backup jar there. That’s about the time shock and disappointment set in.
After checking and rechecking both places once more, I finally accepted the fact there was no molasses to be found in the house. And then I noticed the jar of Sorghum syrup that was sitting patiently off to the side, just waiting to catch my eye. I love happy accidents, and this recipe is exactly that.
Jump to RecipeFailures and successes while experimenting with ingredients
I only recently started experimenting with Sorghum syrup. My interest in this substitute sweetener was first piqued while developing a recipe for Appalachian Cranachan – a take on a classic Scottish dessert. The inspiration for the Cranachan recipe came by way of a connection my husband made with a distant relative of his in Scotland through his genealogy research.
Through emails, my husband’s cousin and I quickly discovered we both enjoyed baking, and she kindly shared with me some recipes and insights into traditional Scottish cuisine. I’m always looking for new inspiration, and since I didn’t know a lot about Scottish food, she recommended Cranachan among a few other traditional dishes for me to try.
Cranachan is a traditional Scottish dessert – much like a trifle. My recipe for Appalachian Cranachan in 3 Easy Steps places an American spin on it by using regional ingredients. The recipe was an homage to the history and heritage of the Scots-Irish immigrants who settled in the Appalachian Mountains in the early 1700s. They contributed greatly to the history and culture of the region – bringing with them their music, agriculture, culinary and artistic heritage, as well as their desire for a new beginning.
With yet another Scottish family connection to Kentucky, I began to dream up ways I could highlight regional products such as mulberries and bourbon in the Cranachan recipe. I also experimented with sweetening the dessert with Sorghum Syrup in place of the heather honey, which is the traditional sweetener of the Scottish version.
Although I enjoyed the molasses notes of the Sorghum syrup, it completely overpowered the fruit in that recipe. It also didn’t pair with the bourbon as well as I had hoped. Even so, I saved the jar I had purchased at a local store – occasionally dipping the tip of a spoon into the tangy syrup to sample and perk on the flavor profile. Sorghum syrup is quite bold, so I knew it would have to be the featured flavor of a recipe.
It took me a while to return to it. However, it wasn’t until that day I found myself craving a molasses cookie that it finally hit me; Sorghum would lend itself perfectly to cookies. The tangy, slightly citrus and sour notes of the sorghum syrup pair perfectly with the cinnamon, ginger and cardamom spices used in this cookie recipe. And so, the idea for these Brown Butter Sorghum Cookies in 3 Easy Steps was conceived.
What’s not to love about this recipe for Brown Butter Sorghum Cookies in 3 Easy Steps?
Give your stand mixer the day off. This cookie recipe is one you can make with just a bowl, a whisk and a wooden spoon. First, mix the wet and dry ingredients separately. Next, mix the the wet and dry ingredients together. Finally, form the dough into balls, roll in sugar and bake. These three simple stages and a very short bake time are all that stand between you, a cold glass of milk and a plate full of warm sorghum cookies. Mmmm, warm cookies!
But before we skip to the making and baking, let’s talk about the brown butter component of this recipe first.
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, but with a rich, nutty flavor. However, for this sorghum cookie recipe, I call for salted butter because I found it gave just the right amount of salt to the cookie.
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 a matter of 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 (roughly the color of the finished cookies), the butter is ready. I recommend pouring 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 the butter in the pan, it will continue to cook. So, it’s best to transfer the butter to another container to ensure it doesn’t burn.
In this recipe, browning the butter delivers a depth of flavor that makes them that much more special. Don’t be tempted to skip this step. It makes all the difference.
Brown Butter Sorghum Cookies in 3 Easy Steps
Course: DessertCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy12
cookies10
minutes12
minutesDelightfully chewy and perfectly spiced! This recipe yields 12 large cookies or 24 mini cookies. Bake large cookies for approximately 12 -14 minutes. Small cookies need only 8 – 10 minutes.
Ingredients
2 cups AP Flour – sift before measuring
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
1/2 cup (1 stick) salted, European-style butter
1 large egg, room temperature
1/3 cup sorghum syrup
1/3 cup white granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup additional granulated sugar for rolling
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.
- In a small saucepan, brown the butter over medium-low heat until just golden brown. Approximately 2-5 minutes, depending on how cold your butter is when you start. Transfer the butter to a large mixing bowl to cool while measuring the other ingredients.
- In a small bowl, measure 2 cups of sifted AP flour using the scoop and sweep method (see notes below). Add the baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and cardamom. Stir with a fork or whisk to incorporate and set aside.
- When the butter has cooled, add the sugars, sorghum syrup and egg to the browned butter and whisk until incorporated.
- Add the dry mixture to the wet and stir with a spatula or wooden spoon until completely mixed.
- Divide the dough into 12 equal portions for large cookies or 24 smaller portions for mini cookies. Roll the dough into balls.
- Coat the dough balls in the extra granulated sugar and place them on the baking sheet spaced 2 inches apart.
- Bake at 375 degrees. Bake large cookies for approximately 12 -14 minutes. Small cookies will only need to bake for 8 – 10 minutes. The cookies will be lightly browned just set around the edges when ready. They will feel quite soft still in the center, but will firm up as they cool.
- Remove the finished cookies from the oven and allow them to rest on the baking sheet for approximately 5 until they are firm enough to transfer to a rack to finish cooling.
- Cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for one week.
Notes
- Scoop and Sweep Method for measuring flour. In order to get a more accurate measurement of flour, it’s important to first sift the flour. Then, use the scoop and sweep method to measure the flour. Once sifted, gently scoop the flour into a measuring cup until it is just over the top of the rim. Use the back of a knife to sweep the excess flour off the top, leaving a level surface. Do not tamp down the flour as this will compact it and add additional weight to the cup.
