Americas Test Kitchen Brown Sugar Cookies Recipes

Steps:

• Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350°F. Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in medium bowl. Set aside. Place sugar and cream cheese in large bowl. Place remaining 1/3 cup sugar in shallow baking dish or pie plate and set aside. Pour warm butter over sugar and cream cheese and whisk to combine (some small lumps of cream cheese will remain but will smooth out later). Whisk in oil until incorporated. Add egg, milk, and vanilla; continue to whisk until smooth. Add flour mixture and mix with rubber spatula until soft homogeneous dough forms. Divide dough into 24 equal pieces, about 2 tablespoons each (or use #40 portion scoop). Using hands, roll dough into balls. Working in batches, roll balls in reserved sugar to coat and evenly space on prepared baking sheet, 12 dough balls per sheet. Using bottom of drinking glass, flatten dough balls until 2 inches in diameter. Sprinkle tops evenly with 4 teaspoons of sugar remaining in shallow dish (2 teaspoons per tray), discarding any remaining sugar. Bake, 1 tray at a time, until edges are set and just beginning to brown, 11 to 13 minutes, rotating tray after 7 minutes. Cool cookies on baking sheets 5 minutes. Using wide metal spatula, transfer cookies to wire rack and cool to room temperature.

Steps:

• 1. Adjust oven rack to middle and heat to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
• 2. Heat 10 tablespoons of butter in 10 inch skillet (not non-stick if possible, they make it harder to judge when butter is browned). Swirl melted butter over heat until it is dark golden brown and smells nutty, 1 to 3 min. Transfer butter to heatproof bowl. Add remaining 4 tablespoons of butter into hot butter to melt. Set aside for 15 min.
• 3. Combine granulated sugar and 1/4 cup brown sugar and a dash of salt in a shallow bowl. Set aside.
• 4. Whisk the flour, soda, baking powder,together in a medium bowl.
• 5. Stir the remaining 1 3/4 brown sugar and 1/2 teaspoon salt in to the cooled butter until evenly combined. Add the egg, yolk, and vanilla and mix until fully incorporated, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the flour mixture, mix until just combined, about 1 min.
• 6. Working with a small cookie scoop, 2 inches, or 2 tablespoons of dough, roll the dough into balls. Working in batches, roll the balls in the reserved sugars and place them on prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart.
• 7. Bake cookies, ONE sheet at a time, until browned slightly around the edges, set but soft in the center, rotating the sheet half way through the baking time. In my oven it is 11 minutes. Do not overbake as they become crisper when cooling. They do not look quite done. Bake only a few if you want to to try out your oven and timing. I always turn cookie sheets in the middle, all cookies.
• 8. Cool the cookies for 5 min. on sheet then transfer to a wire rack and cool to room temp. if you can! Bake next batch the same way, turning in the middle. The cookies keep 3 days in air tight container. We never get to the second day.

Steps:

• Heat 10 tablespoons (5 oz) butter in small saucepan over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Continue to cook, swirling pan frequently until butter is dark golden brown and has nutty aroma, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and transfer browned butter to large heatproof bowl. Stir remaining 4 tablespoons (2 oz) butter into hot butter to melt; set aside for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 large (18 by 12-inch) baking sheets with parchment paper. In a pie plate, mix granulated sugar and 1/4 cup packed brown sugar, rubbing between fingers, until well combined. Whisk flour, baking soda, and baking powder together in a small bowl. Add the remaining 1 3/4 cups brown sugar and salt to bowl with cooled butter; mix until no sugar lumps remain, about 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl with a rubber spatula. Then add the egg, yolk, and vanilla and mix until fully incorporated, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the flour mixture and mix until just combined, about 1 minute. Give the dough a final stir with rubber spatula to ensure that no flour pockets remain and ingredients are evenly distributed. Divide dough into 24 portions, each about 2 tablespoons, rolling between hands into balls about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. The easiest way to do this is to use a 2 tablespoon sized disher. Working in batches, toss balls in reserved sugar mixture to coat and set on prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart, 12 dough balls per sheet. Bake one sheet at a time until cookies are browned and still puffy and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft (cookies will look raw between cracks and seem underdone), 12 to 14 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Do not overbake. Cool cookies on baking sheet and then transfer the cookies to wire rack and cool to room temperature.