Brown Butter Pecan Sandies

Instructions

To make the brown butter: Cut butter into pieces and place into a pan over medium heat. Move the butter in the pan around as it melts. The melted butter will begin to foam and after a few minutes turn golden brown. Watch the butter carefully to make sure that the milk solids do not burn. Once the milk solids have turned medium brown, turn off the heat and transfer the brown butter to a heatproof bowl to stop the cooking process. Set aside and allow to cool to room temperature. You should have about 172 g of brown butter. Place in the fridge until ready to use.

In a food processor, pulse the chopped pecans until fine. Remove 4 tbsp of the finely chopped pecans and place in a small bowl. Add remaining pecans to a medium bowl and add flour, cinnamon, and salt. In the bowl of a stand mixer or using a large bowl with a hand mixer, combine the cooled brown butter with the sugars. Mix for 2 - 3 minutes until the mixture is lighter in color. Add vanilla extract and mix to combine. Add the dry ingredients until combined. Add milk slowly to the mixture. The dough will be crumbly, but should stay together when pressed. Dump out the dough onto a work surface and divide the dough in half. Create two small logs of dough about 2 inches in diameter. Sprinkle the reserved pecans onto the work surface and roll the logs on the pecans. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350 deg F. Using a sharp knife, cut about 12 cookies per dough log and place about 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes until the edges of the cookie have slightly browned. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.