Brown butter butter cookies

Yes, I realize I used the word butter 2x in the title of this post.

But they're the most amazing, simple, butteriest cookie there is.

Dubbed by some to be the BEST COOKIE EVER, who am I to disagree with such proclamations?

I might also have to crown them the sexiest cookie ever...

My cookies didn't come out *quite* as lacy as the originals, but they still had some little holes.

Plus I still got those crispy edges with the chewy middles. (Drool.)

Ohhh, and there's a secret ingredient in these cookies that makes them the perfect dessert to make when putting together this lasagna soup. Check out the recipe below to see what it is...

Yours in browning alllll the butter,
Jacqueline

Brown butter butter cookies, adapted from Serious Eats
Makes about 35 cookies. Process photos are below the recipe.

Ingredients
5 oz unsalted butter (about 10 tablespoons; 140g)
7 oz plain or toasted sugar (about 1 cup; 195g)
2 tsp (10g) vanilla extract
1 tsp (4g) Diamond Crystal kosher salt; for table salt, use about half as much by volume or the same weight
¼ tsp (1.25g) baking soda
4 oz cold ricotta (about 1/2 cup; 110g), strained if watery (see note)
4 ½ oz all-purpose flour (about 1 cup, spooned; 125g)

Directions

1. Brown the butter: In large skillet, melt butter over medium-low heat. When melted, increase heat to medium. Simmer, stirring and scraping with a heat-resistant spatula as the liquid begins to bubble and evaporate. When butter is nicely browned, but not burnt, remove from heat and pour into a medium bowl (make sure to get all the making toasty brown bits from the bottom of the skillet). Cool until slightly thickened and opaque, but still slightly warm, around 80°F (27°C). This may take about 75 minutes at room temperature or 25 minutes in the fridge; if refrigerating, stir butter every 6 minutes or so to prevent it from hardening around the edges of the bowl.
2. Make the dough: Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat to 350°F (180°C). When brown butter has cooled, stir in sugar, vanilla extract, salt, and baking soda. Stir until baking soda is well distributed, about 1 minute, then fold in cold ricotta. Once ingredients are combined, stir in flour to form a soft dough.
3. Divide the dough into 1-tablespoon portions (I like to use an ice cream scoop) and arrange on a parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving about 4 inches between cookies to account for their spread. (If you want to keep the dough for later, freeze the individual balls on parchment paper until firm, then transfer to a ziploc bag. The cookies can be refrigerated for up to 1 week or frozen for up to 3 months.)
4. Bake until cookies are lacy, thin, and golden brown around the edges, but still rather pale in the middle, about 12 minutes. Cool completely on baking sheet, as the cookies will be doughy and soft while warm. Enjoy after cooling, or store up to 1 week in an airtight container at room temperature. 

   

   Very soft dough

   
   

   

   
   

   Ice cream scoop makes portioning the cookies a breeze

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

Light little balls of dough

Before and After