Stuffed Brown Butter Cookies

Hungry for more? This recipes was featured in a podcast episode!

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Heather was inspired by the Great Canadian Baking Show to try to achieve a stuffed cookie. The result is a brown butter cookie, stuffed with apple butter and toffee. This is a fun recipe to try with your own ideas for what to stuff inside!

Prep Time: 20 min for the dough + 4 hours chill Add 15 min to stuff each sheet of cookies

Cook time: 10 min per sheet

Yield: approx. 16 large cookies

BEFORE BEGINNING: I highly recommend you read through the recipe, notes and instructions in advance. The filling I put in my cookies was frozen (plan at least 12 hours ahead). Depending on what you put in yours, you may need to plan similarly.

Also, this is one of those cookies recipes that benefits from chilling time before baking - that's another four hours to plan into your baking time!

Ingredients

For the cookies:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 tbsp cornstarch

• 3/4 tsp salt

• 1 tsp pumpkin spice mixture (or ground cinnamon)

• 1 tsp baking soda

• 227g (8 ounces) unsalted butter, melted until browned

• 1 cup dark brown sugar, packed

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

• 1 tbsp vanilla extract

• 2 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk, at room temperature

For the filling:

• approx. 12 tbsp apple butter, frozen in ~1/2 tbsp sized dollops*

• 16 toffee squares

  *I used homemade apple butter, but I'm sure store-bought would work just as well. I froze it (in advance) on a cookie sheet in small dollops - you can break the frozen bits into smaller pieces to fit your cookies, so don't worry too much about the size when you pop them in the freezer).

Directions

1. In a large bowl combine flour, cornstarch, salt, pumpkin spice mix and baking soda; whisk well to combine then set aside.

2. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Continue to cook the butter, swirling the pan occasionally. Keep a close eye until the butter becomes foamy. And you should hear tiny popping noises. The butter will develop into a rich amber colour, with tiny brown bits at the bottom and it will have a slightly nutty aroma. Once the butter reaches this stage, remove from heat immediately and pour into a large mixing bowl.

3. Add both sugars into the mixing bowl and whisk well. 

4. Add in vanilla, then beat in eggs and egg yolk, one at a time, until the eggs are just combined.

5. Using a rubber spatula fold in the flour, stirring until just combined.

6. Cover bowl and refrigerate for 4 hours.

Stuff your cookies!

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees (F). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.

   NOTE: This recipe makes approx. 16 large cookies. I suggest baking six at a time (well, the last sheet will have four). Also, it helps to keep the frozen apple butter frozen! So keep it nearby in the freezer and only take a piece out when ready to place it in a cookie.

   
   

2. Unwrap six toffees and place them between two pieces of parchment paper, with space between. Using a rolling pin, flatten the toffees so that they are thin but do not have holes in them.

3. Grab a large cookie scoop of dough, roll into a ball in your palm and then flatten slightly in the centre to create a divot to hold your filling.

4. First, place a flattened toffee on the dough, then a small piece of frozen apple butter. Carefully form the cookies dough around the filling so that it comes together and there are no openings where the apple butter or toffee will come out during baking. Work quickly so the heat of your hands doesn't melt the apple butter!

5. Place the cookie on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

6. Repeat until you have six cookies on the sheet, spaced 2 inches apart. Bake for approx. 10 mins until golden. Allow to cool for about 10 mins on the baking sheet before carefully removing to a wire rack to finish cooling (the toffee may have ooozed out and stuck to the paper).

7. While those are baking, you can work on filling the next sheet of six cookies. Repeat the process until you've used all the cookie dough.

Zhuzh it up!

• Because the apple butter is very moist, the toffee was used to help insulate the apple and keep it from running out during baking. If your filling of choice is thicker and less likely to melt and run away, you could maybe skip the toffee. Get creative with fillings - jam, hazelnut chocolate spread, nut butter, maybe even a whole fruit like a cherry or raspberry. We haven't tried these, but if you're feeling the inspiration, get creative and give it a whirl!

This amazing base cookie recipe is inspired by Butter Pecan Cookies from Baker By Nature.