Brown Butter Buckwheat Bourbon Almond Croquant Smash Cookies
Brown Butter Buckwheat Bourbon Almond Croquant Smash Cookies
Nutty, chewy bourbon laced brown sugar cookies get folded in with butterscotchy caramelized almond croquant and get a little smash half way through the baking process for those signature crinkle edges. Thanks to the high content of almonds in the cookie dough, these cookies are super soft and have a great chew to them. If you are not familiar with almond croquant, it is a simple almond brittle that is made with sugar, golden syrup and lots of almonds.
The high content of crush almonds in the cookie dough prevents this cookie from spreading too much. To get a flat cookie, smash the cookie half way through the baking process using a cup measure.
Brown Butter Buckwheat Bourbon Almond Croquant Smash Cookies
Serving: Makes 24 cookies
Ingredients:
For Almond Croquant
1/2 cup of white sugar (175 grams)
1/2 teaspoon golden syrup (3 grams)
2 tablespoons water (30 grams)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon bourbon
pinch of salt
1/2 cup chopped toasted almonds
For Brown Butter Bourbon Buckwheat Cookie Dough
2 sticks of butter, at room temperature (226 grams)
2 1/4 cups of all purpose flour (330 grams)
1/4 cup of buckwheat flour (30 grams)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup of white sugar (250 grams)
1/2 cup of dark brown sugar (100 grams)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon bourbon
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup of large crushed Almond Croquant,
Finely crushed almond croquant
Method:
Make the Almond Croquant
In a light colored pot pour white sugar in a mound in the center of the pot, making sure it does not touch the edges of the pot.
To that same pot, add the golden syrup, vanilla extract, bourbon and salt on top and pour the water evenly over the sugar.
Gently place the pot over a high flame and let the sugar mixture melt down.
While keeping an eye on the melting sugar mixture, gather a baking tray lined with parchment along with the chopped almonds and set them close by.
Note: Make sure you have these two items ready to go. As soon as the sugar is done caramelizing you have to work fast to pour the melted sugar out of the pot onto the parchment. If you wait too long after pulling the mixture off the heat the sugar will begin to harden.
Swirl the pan to encourage caramelization and gently stir the mixture with a heat resistant spatula.
Once the sugar mixture turns into a light to medium golden amber color and begins to smell smoky or slightly smoke, pull the mixture off the stove quickly and pour the contents directly onto the parchment lined pan.
Quickly sprinkle the chopped almonds evenly over the sugar mixture and let it cool for at least 20 minutes or until cooled and hardened.
Once hardened, break the croquant into small pieces. Set half aside and pulse the other half on low in a food process until they become small pieces. Set aside.
Note: The larger pieces will be folded into the cookie dough and the finer mixture will be used to roll the cookie dough and top after baking.
For Brown Butter Bourbon Buckwheat Cookie Dough
First make the brown butter: Place the butter in a light colored pot over medium heat and let it melt down until liquid. Once liquid, constantly stir the mixture and scrape the bottom and sides. Keep a watch on the butter for the next 5 to 8 minutes as it starts to sputter, bubble and become warm golden brown. There will be a lot of foam, to check on the color of the butter, pull the pan off the stovetop for a few minutes to let the foam subside. The butter should be nutty and golden. Set aside to cool until it is back into a solid state and is soft to the touch.
While the brown butter cools. Combine all purpose flour, buckwheat flour, baking soda, salt and whisk until incorporated. Set aside.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
In a stand mixer or with an electric mixer, whisk the solidified softened brown butter for about a minute on medium speed until fluffy and pale.
Add white sugar and dark brown sugar to the butter and beat for another 2 to 3 minutes until light in color and creamy.
Note: Scrape the sides of your bowl in between to ensure that everything is combined.
Add vanilla extract, the egg and egg yolk into the creamed butter/sugar mixture and beat for 2 to 3 minutes or until the mixture is well combined.
Note: Scrape the sides of your bowl half way to ensure everything is getting mixed.
In batches, add the buckwheat flour mixture to the wet mixture and blend on low speed until barely combined.
Note: Make sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to get any dry bits that haven’t been incorporated.
Measure a scant 1/4 cup of the larger crushed almond croquant and mix it into the cookie dough until just combined.
Using a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop, measure out cookie dough onto a parchment lined tray. For super accurate cookie dough balls, measure out the cookie dough into 40 gram dough balls.
Place the finely crushed croquant in a small bowl. Gently roll the top side of the cookie dough ball in the fine almond croquant mixture.
Place 5 to 6 balls of dough on a 1/2 sheet baking tray, leaving about 2 inches or more of space between each and bake for about 5 to 6 minutes. The cookies will look like they aren’t spreading, so use the back of a cup lightly press the cookies down so they spread a bit. This will give you those signature crinkle edges. Continue baking for another 4 to 5 minutes.
At the 8 to 9 minutes mark, check to see if the edges of your cookies are set. It’s okay if they look slightly under baked in the center, they will firm up as they cool.
Note: Pulling them out when they look under baked will help keep them chewy and soft after they cool.
Once the cookies are finished baking pull them out top the cookies with more finely crushed almond croquant.
Eat them hot or let them cool and enjoy them later!