Brown Butter & Pepita Cookies

Okay I'm officially ready for fall baking.  I've been fighting it, but after seeing so many great recipes popping up on countless blogs, I surrender!  What better way to jump right into fall baking than with a new cookie, and even better, a brown butter cookie.

 I've actually wanted to make these for a few weeks now, and I'm so happy I finally got the chance to create these little gems over the weekend.  They turned out so good that I made a second batch the same day!  When the first step of a recipe is to brown butter it's pretty much a guarantee that the result is going to be awesome.  I don't know about you, but the moment butter starts to turn brown and let off that wonderful nutty aroma,  it immediately feels like fall to me.  Once my kitchen was filled with the captivating aroma, I couldn't  help but think I wanted to add another layer of "fally" flavor to the cookies.  After about 10 minutes of rummaging through my cabinets, I saw them - pepitas!  Pepitas are edible pumpkin seeds which are very popular in Mexican cuisine.  They have a lovely earthy flavor, and are even better when they are roasted and salted.  I just had a feeling they would be the perfect addition to these cookies, and they were!  I added some roasted pepitas to the cookie dough, and I also used them to garnish the cookies along with sea salt.  Once the cookies were baked and cooled, I frosted them with a brown butter glaze.  The more butter the better, right?!  The glaze was definitely on the sweet side, but once I topped them with the pepitas and sea salt, the flavors were beautifully balanced!

I'm obviously all about these cookies right now, and I couldn't wait to share them with one of my dear friends who stopped by this weekend.  This friend also happens to be my web designer, how lucky am I?!  We decide that it's time for Buttercream Blondie to get a makeover so over the next few weeks stay tuned for some exciting changes on my blog and website!  I can't wait for it to all come together!  We spent the whole day going over ideas, working out the details, and eating these cookies. My friend absolutely loved them, and they were the perfect treat to get us through the day.  Good thing I made that second batch!

Love how you can see the specks of brown butter in the glaze!

Brown Butter Cookies

• 6 oz. unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2t. baking soda
• 1/4t. baking powder
• 1/2t. salt
• 1 & 1/2 cups AP flour
• 1/4 cup pepitas plus extra for garnish.

1. Roast pepitas at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.  Set aside to cool.
2. Brown butter over a medium heat stirring occasionally.  Take it off the heat once it gets a nice color. Once you remove it from the heat it will continue to cook and get a bit darker. Keep a close eye on it because once it starts get color it burns very quickly.
3. Once it cools down a bit mix it with both brown sugars on low speed and let it go till it's completely cool.
4. Add the egg on low speed.
5. Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
6. Mix in pepitas till combined.
7. Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.  Refrigerating the dough ensures that when you bake them, they bake evenly.
8. Scoop the dough - I used a 1 oz. scoop.
9. Bake at 350 degrees for 9 minutes rotating once half way through.

Brown Butter Glaze

• 3/4 stick unsalted butter
• 1 & 1/4 cups powdered sugar
• 1t. vanilla extract
• 2-3T. milk

1. Brown butter and whisk in to powdered sugar.
2. Whisk in vanilla.
3. At this point you may need to add an extra Tablespoon of powdered sugar.
4. Start adding milk 1 Tablespoon at a time till you reach desired consistency.
5. Frost cooled cookies. If you notice the glaze sets up and is difficult to use, nook it for 10 seconds.
6. Garnish with toasted pepitas and sea salt.