The Club’s Brown Butter Shortbread

Browned butter is the fastest way to make something simple taste like a secret.

This is the bake we send new members to first. It teaches you to watch butter, handle a short dough gently and wait for something to cool.

Ingredients

• 226 g (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 100 g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon fine salt
• 270 g (2 1/4 cups) all-purpose flour

Method

1. Brown the butter. Melt it in a light-colored pan over medium heat, swirling. It will foam, go quiet, then smell nutty, with amber flecks at the bottom. Pour it into a bowl, flecks and all, and chill until it has the texture of soft paste, about an hour.
2. Mix. Stir in the sugar and salt, then the flour, until no dry patches remain. The dough will look crumbly.
3. Press. Line an 8-inch square pan with parchment and press the dough in firmly. Dock it all over with a fork and chill for 30 minutes.
4. Bake. Bake at 325 F for 35 to 40 minutes, until the edges are golden.
5. Cut. Slice into bars while warm, then let it cool completely in the pan. See the hardest step.

Variations

Sprinkle flaky salt over the top before baking, or add the zest of one orange with the sugar. Dip one end in dark chocolate if you need to impress someone’s mother-in-law.

Tightly covered, these will keep for a week. They rarely get the chance.