These Butterscotch-Pecan Cookies Are Irresistible, Because of This Sudden Ingredient

I was snobby about butterscotch. Positive, I preferred it in concept. However in observe, I judged its flat, intense sweetness—an endorphin rush of sugar that appeared to ask for nothing in return. 

I’ve grown up a bit since (and principally stopped making use of my lapsed-Catholic guilt to baked items). However I’ve additionally realized that one of the simplest ways to tame the high-key sweetness of butterscotch isn’t by chopping again however fairly by leaning arduous into different intense flavors that may convey out its deep caramel bass notes.

Take into account this cookie recipe, then, each an apology to butterscotch and an ode to maximalism. My working title for this recipe was a mouthful of modifiers, figuratively and actually: “Brown Butter Toasted Sugar Miso Spelt Butterscotch Chip Toasted Pecan.” After the primary batch, my husband gave up and simply began calling them “Liz Prepare dinner-ies.”

The Huge Flavors Wanted for the Final Maximalist Cookies

As a compromise, I’m naming them after their most assertive elements: miso, butterscotch, and pecan. The spelt, brown butter, and frivolously toasted sugar are the duck legs paddling furiously beneath, lending depth with out distraction. The result’s a wealthy, chewy cookie with advanced butterscotch notes and micro-pockets of savoriness and sweetness in every chunk.

Each miso and brown butter have change into unwitting victims of the recipe hype cycle, however they’re well-liked for good motive. Browning butter amps up the butterscotch taste whereas including a tempering nuttiness. By cooling the brown butter to 62°F earlier than continuing, you may cream the butter and sugar collectively, yielding the sunshine, fluffy, properly aerated combination wanted for completely chewy cookies.

 Early in testing, I attempted ditching the miso in favor of additional salt. However I discovered that white miso has each textural and taste advantages in baked items. I missed the deeper savory notes and refined tang of the cookies made with miso, however I missed their fudgy facilities much more. I don’t advocate substituting yellow or pink miso for white. Each yellow and pink miso have a extra intense taste that might overpower the cookie in a one-to-one substitution; and lowering the quantity to compensate would result in a crumblier cookie. 

The Greatest Flour for a Balanced Taste

I additionally strongly advocate going the additional mile to supply spelt flour to make use of alongside normal all-purpose flour on this dough. Spelt flour has a nuttier, sweeter taste than both all-purpose or complete wheat flour, offering a wholesome-tasting, nutty, virtually toasted spine to all that candy butterscotch. I experimented with completely different proportions of spelt to AP, however a easy 50/50 cut up was the winner, providing a notable taste increase with out sacrificing tenderness and chew. 

To Relaxation or To not Relaxation the Dough

Many cookie doughs profit from an in a single day relaxation within the fridge—doing so hydrates the flour and thickens the dough, which helps restrict oven unfold whereas bettering the dough’s taste, as former Critical Eats editor Kenji explains in his chocolate chip cookie recipe. You probably have the time, go for it. However with so many nutty taste boosters on this recipe, I’ve discovered solely minor taste enhancements from chilling in a single day. An hour within the fridge is sufficient to forestall undesirable spreading.

The best way to Give the Cookies a Picture End

Should you’ve maxed out your fuss-budget by this level, you may simply measure out your two-ounce parts of (chilled) cookie dough and chuck the baking sheets straight into the oven. However maximalist cookies deserve maximalist aesthetics, so I prefer to press two to a few butterscotch chips into the highest of every cookie after which give them a lightweight bathe of flaky sea salt earlier than they bake. 

After they arrive out of the oven, I prefer to quickly swirl an upside-down deli container over every cookie whereas it’s nonetheless heat—the purpose is a “wax on,” Karate Child–fashion motion that can gently bump the smooth edges of the nice and cozy cookies in opposition to the spherical wall of the container, yielding a superbly curcular cookie.

Is it essential? No. However strictly talking, neither is dessert. From time to time, it’s OK to drag out all of the stops (and use all of the modifiers).

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