We were supposed to drive to Houston today to meet my aunt and cousin. The two of them had flown in from CT earlier in the week to stay with my grandmother. Unfortunately, my grandmother just called to say both of them were sick and that it we should probably stay home. This leaves us with a big gap in our schedule which we plan to fill with shelf building, painting and cookie baking; me, only participating in the latter.
In the meantime, here's the recipe for the Butterscotch Macadamia cookies I made for my grandmother and which will now be eaten by us. This recipe is a twist on the previous and in my opinion, tastes a little better. Here, I halved the first recipe, used browned-and-set butter, milk instead of Bailey's, a mix of all-purpose flour & cornstarch, more vanilla and butterscotch chips instead of vanilla. These are crunchy/crispy around the edges and tender but not cakey in the middle. They taste like the look in the picture.
Butterscotch Macadamia Cookies
8 tablespoons butter (I used salted)
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons whole milk
1 ⅓ cups all purpose flour
2 ½ tablespoons cornstarch
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup chopped, toasted macadamia nuts
1 cup butterscotch chips (morsels)
First, brown the butter. Place butter in a saucepan and heat over medium until the butter melts, smells good and turns brown around the edges. This should take about 3-5 minutes. Butter might foam up a bit. Remove from heat and pour butter into mixing bowl. Place mixing bowl in refrigerator for two hours or until butter is just set but still kind of soft. If you leave it in longer, you'll need to soften it again.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Add both sugars to mixing bowl with butter, and using an electric mixer, cream butter and sugars. Beat in egg, vanilla and milk. Stir together flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Stir flour mixture into butter mixture until incorporated. Stir in toasted macadamia nuts and butterscotch chips.
Drop dough by rounded tablespoons onto a parchment lined pan. Bake for 12 minutes (11-13 - check at 11).
Makes about 2 dozen
valchemist
these look very good! I tried the masterpiece white choc cookies and thought they were great, but mine didn't look as puffy/craggy as yours. in fact, they look almost identical to the altered version. anyway, they tasted great and had a nice texture. crisp and tender but not cakey at all.
I plan to try these soon.
Jami
Happy New Years Anna!!!!
Anna
Claire, give these a try.
https://www.cookiemadness.net/chocolate_chip/fat_but_not_cakey/
These are all butter, but will definitely not come out flat.
Anna
Claire, butter definitely promotes cookies which spread more, but your butter-based cookies should not ALL be coming out flat and crisp. I notice my cookies are a little flatter and crisper when I let the butter get to warm. It should be about 60 degrees -- not too warm, not too cold. I think you just need to try a few different recipes.
I don't use margarine anymore. I grew up on the stuff, but the transfats in margarine bother me.
Claire
Sorry to hear about your aunt and cousin. These cookies do look good. However, I have a question about butter in baking. I can NEVER get butter to bake without getting really flat and super crisp. This makes it to where I have to use margarine, which I don't mind but it sometimes leaves the cookies looking really "airy" and "spongy." Any suggestions?