Brown-Butter Toffee Sandwich Cookies Recipe (2024)

By Sohla El-Waylly

Brown-Butter Toffee Sandwich Cookies Recipe (1)

Total Time
1½ hours, plus cooling
Rating
4(627)
Notes
Read community notes

These crisp butter cookies incorporate blitzed toffee in place of some of the sugar and butter for a rich caramel flavor. To really amplify that almond-toffee essence, the cookies are topped with sliced almonds, and a nutty brown-butter icing is sandwiched in between. Be sure to roll the cookies very thin (about the thickness of two stacked pennies) so they stay crisp and light. The sturdy sandwiches have a long shelf life, making them ideal for shipping.

Featured in: 24 Days of Cookies

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Ingredients

Yield:36 sandwich cookies

    For the Cookies

    • cups/226 grams English toffee bits without chocolate (such as Heath Bits O’ Brickle)
    • ½cup plus 1 tablespoon/112 grams granulated sugar
    • 1teaspoon baking soda
    • ½teaspoon kosher salt (Diamond Crystal)
    • 3tablespoons/42 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature
    • 1large egg, white and yolk separated, at room temperature
    • teaspoons vanilla extract
    • cups/224 grams all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
    • cup/40 grams sliced almonds

    For the Icing

    • 12tablespoons/170 grams unsalted butter, cut into pieces
    • 1teaspoon vanilla extract
    • ¼teaspoon kosher salt (Diamond Crystal)
    • 2cups/240 grams confectioners’ sugar

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Nutritional analysis per serving (18 servings)

316 calories; 15 grams fat; 9 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 4 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 43 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 33 grams sugars; 2 grams protein; 157 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Brown-Butter Toffee Sandwich Cookies Recipe (2)

Preparation

Make the recipe with us

  1. Step

    1

    Make the cookies: In a food processor, process the toffee bits, sugar, baking soda and salt until the toffee is mostly ground and the mixture is sandy, about 1 minute.

  2. Step

    2

    Transfer the toffee mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl if using a hand mixer). Add butter, egg white and vanilla. Mix together with the paddle attachment on medium until creamy and fluffy, stopping once to scrape the bowl and paddle, about 2 minutes. Add flour, and mix on medium-low until the mixture comes together into a soft dough, about 30 seconds.

  3. Step

    3

    Divide the dough in half. Pat each half into a disk. (If the dough is very soft, wrap and chill in the fridge for 15 minutes before proceeding.) Line three sheet trays with parchment paper.

  4. Step

    4

    Dust the counter and dough with flour. Working with one piece of dough at a time, use a rolling pin to roll the dough out until just under ⅛-inch thick (the thickness of two stacked pennies), turning the dough frequently to ensure it moves freely on the counter and dusting with more flour as needed. Each sheet of dough will be about the size of a standard sheet of paper.

  5. Step

    5

    Using a 2-inch round cookie cutter dusted in flour, cut out cookies from one sheet of dough. Using an offset spatula, transfer rounds to a prepared sheet tray, leaving about ½ inch of space between cookies.

  6. Step

    6

    Repeat with the remaining sheet of dough. Gather and knead together any scraps, reroll and repeat until all the dough has been rolled out for a total of 72 cookies. Freeze on sheet trays for at least 30 minutes before baking. (Alternatively, once the cookies have firmly frozen, stack them between parchment in a freezer-safe container or zipper-lock bag for up to 3 months.)

  7. Step

    7

    Set racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and heat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together the egg yolk with 1 tablespoon of water and evenly brush on the tops of half of the chilled cookies. Sprinkle the yolk-brushed cookies with almonds, pressing gently to adhere. Bake the first two trays of cookies until deeply browned like a pretzel, switching the sheet trays from top to bottom and rotating from front to back halfway through, 10 to 14 minutes. Repeat with the third and final batch. Let cookies cool completely on sheet trays.

  8. Step

    8

    Once the cookies are cool, make the icing: Set a piping bag in a tall and narrow container, like a deli quart container, and fold over the top edge to secure. Flip over the cookies without almonds. (You need to pipe the icing onto the cookies immediately after mixing, so make sure you are set up.)

  9. Step

    9

    In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter until foamy, about 3 minutes. Continue cooking butter, stirring and scraping frequently with a stiff silicone spatula, until the sputtering has subsided and the butter solids look deeply browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Scrape the butter and any brown bits into the bowl of a stand mixer (or into a large bowl if mixing by hand).

  10. Step

    10

    Stir in the vanilla and salt. Sift over the powdered sugar. With the paddle attachment, mix on low until creamy and combined, about 1 minute, stopping once during mixing to scrape the bowl and the paddle. (You can also mix with a stiff silicone spatula until creamy and combined.)

  11. Step

    11

    Transfer the icing to the piping bag and cut a 1-inch wide opening at the tip. Pipe a scant tablespoon of filling onto a flipped cookie and immediately top with an almond-topped cookie. Gently press to adhere so that the filling reaches the edges of the cookie. Repeat with remaining cookies and icing. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 month.

Ratings

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out of 5

627

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Cooking Notes

Cathy Grossman

who has a freezer that can accommodate 3 sheet pans????

compass.kitchen (Ryan)

Just made these cookies and they are delicious. I love how snappy they are, and the brown butter frosting is phenomenal. I would cut back the sugar just a tad in the frosting as I found it a touch too sweet. Also I rolled the dough out between sheets of floured parchment, which I find prevents sticking better. The cookies themselves (sans frosting) make great little biscuits for tea and coffee.

Heather

Making these with salted pecans on top and bourbon in the filling.

Tommy

Ok first, cookies are amazing. Second, these are a pain in the butt to make and you need patience. Third, doesn’t make the amount it says. I only got 24 cookies out of this. Lastly, when you take these out of the freezer and start the egg wash, the egg wash freezes fast and almost no time to get the the almonds on so have the almonds in your other hand as soon as brush the egg wash. Lots of steps and time to make these but my god the taste is unreal!

Sharon

How about dividing the dough and shaping into logs about 1 1/2 inch in diameter than slicing into rounds. Saves time, no rolling and no scraps.

Sarah

Anyone brave enough to try these with GF flour and want to report back?

neighome

In the video, the dough had a slight crumble that she was able to bring together with a bit of coaxing. My dough came out impossibly crumbly, no amount of coaxing could save it. It finally came together for me after adding both an extra tablespoon of butter and an extra egg white. The modified dough rolled out easily and baked up snappy. I got 68 2-inch cookies. Sweetness level of icing was right for me, love the brown butter. Tastes best next day.

Reilly

Did anyone else’s dough come out of the mixer very crumbly? Even when I mix by hand it doesn’t seem to come together…any suggestions?

Susan Rogers

I nominate you!

Louise

Wow, these were delicious. A fun project. For the filling I didn’t use a pastry bag but simply scooped with a teaspoon.

KK

Had to make my own brickle, everything turned out wonderfully! No way will this make 72 2” cookies, everything including the icing will make 36 halves. Also not sure why the urgency to be ready to pipe the icing, it’s just buttercream.

Andrea

Delicious!! Made using 1 1/2 inch round cookie cutter, good size for sandwich cookies. Rolled the chilled dough out between parchment and used a 2 mm rolling pin guide to get thin enough. Baked 8-9 minutes. This made 60 sandwich cookies. I wish the cookie had just a little more salt to bring out the salty-sweetness. I doubled the salt in the icing and added 1 1/2 tb whiskey as seen in another comment here, this toned the sweetness of the icing down. Add whiskey in when browning butter.

Ed

Can these be frozen once baked?

Sarah

I made these with pecans instead of almonds and the are absolutely delicious. The recipe worked really well. I kept the dough in the fridge over night and there was absolutely no sticking (used enough flour for rolling).

Leathem

The first time I made these the dough was too cumbly. So I tried the extra egg white. But also, after watching Sohla's Youtube video I noticed that when she ground the toffee and flour in the processor she ground the mix very fine. I think that's important. My dough rolled out with no problems. But the cookies swelled up in the oven, which I'm attributing to the extra egg white, which I won't use next time. Also, the baking time to "brown like pretzels" seemed to be more like 15 minutes.

Diane

Overall I loved these. I made my own toffee due to almond allergies. I cut with a 2 inch cutter but they spread quite a bit so I would go to 1.5inches. The brown butter frosting was fantastic and really worked well with the cookies. I took one pan out too early and they were chewy. Those that I cooked long enough stayed crisp for days. Since I could not decorate with almonds I sprinkled on some fine crushed toffee but it melted in. Maybe a little large grain sugar would have been better.

Ally Dalman

Really good but a lot of work to roll out and cut. Sweet but no way around that

Julie

These are crispy and delicious! The brown butter filling is melt in your mouth phenomenal. A couple notes: cut down on sugar(in frosting and batter... a tad too sweet), did not get 72 cookies (more like 44), I did not freeze them, kept in refrigerator for 30 minutes and they baked beautifully. Worth the time!

Mary

I was nervous about these after reading the comments, but they turned out great! I weighed the flour and rolled the dough out between parchment, then chilled two trays at a time.Pay extra attention to the 1/8 inch thing. I ended up rolling out my scraps 3 times to get the full 72. For the Canadians reading this: I couldn't find Skor pieces anywhere so close to Christmas, but 5 Macintosh Creamy Toffee Bars smashed then blitzed up worked well.TLDR: Fiddly and take a *while*, but delicious!

Marlette

Forgot to mention my dough was fine, just a tad softer than my biscotti dough and easy to handle. Perhaps if the flour is beaten too long it gets crumbly.

Jake

These will now be a staple in my household. Two changes: use the entire egg it addresses the crumblyness, and double it.

Marlette

Made these cookies yesterday and froze overnight. Today I baked. My oven is fussy so had to watch carefully. I did use my convection option just to keep the temp up as it will drop to 300 or lass in the bake mode at 350 . Miscalculated butter amt and melted 2sticks of butter instead of 1 1/2. So had to add more p. sugar and decided on 1/2 tsp of. Bourbon vs vanilla for the xtra amt. Everything turned out well, very tasty, but will make more when I’m not making other bake goods.

street

On my third (fourth?) time making this recipe I accidentally bought the heath bits WITH chocolate although Sohla said not to use those…anyway it turned out fine. I wouldn’t do it on purpose but the cookies are still good.

Ricki

I ended up not sandwiching after frosting. Worked out great.

Maddie

Delicious cookies that I would make again! They are very crisp and sturdy for storing and shipping as Sohla states in the video. Wonderful with a cup of coffee or tea.

Matt B.

Was able to make 72 cookies come out, but they were thin. Cookies were too hard too quickly. Was hoping for a chewier cookie. Between the toffee and the sugared icing these were too sweet for my taste. Guests loved them, but it would probably need some more tweaking before I made them again. Also, 1 1/2 hours is a lie. Was closer to 2+. Time consuming.

Denise

I made these with no problems. The dough was a bit crumbly, but I just smooshed it together & put it in the fridge overnight. Rolling it out takes a light hand & I actually stacked two pennies along side the rolled-out dough to check the thickness. Also, I added extra salt to the filling, about 3/4 t., to cut the sweetness. Next time I’d make an Italian buttercream. Not a fan of powdered sugar. They are very sweet. Weighing your ingredients is key with this recipe. I made 42 cookies.

Ashley

Perfect! My brother (who doesn’t like sweets) ate three and claimed they were the best cookies he ever had.

Alyssa

An absolute labor of love- these cookies are delicious but oh boy do they take some time. Don't make these if you are short on stamina or time since it will take a fair deal of both, but they are so tasty they are completely worth it. I have people begging me to make them again!

neighome

Update for 2022. I loved these so much last year, I had to dive in again. Like last year, I did have to add a bit more butter to get the dough to come together. I found the almond topping, while pretty, didn't add much flavor. So this year I topped with a sanding sugar/flaky salt mixture for a little bling. I also added 1/2 tsp almond extract to both the dough and the icing to amp the almond flavor. Thank you Sola for such a nice recipe. It's sure to be a classic in my house!

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Brown-Butter Toffee Sandwich Cookies Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why did my brown butter cookies get hard? ›

Too much flour in your brown butter chocolate chip cookies can make them dry, tough, crumbly, or too thick, none of which are good.

Is browned butter better for baking? ›

Brown butter really is the secret sparkle to so many baked goods. Brown butter adds a depth, richness, and irresistible nutty flavor to cookies, cakes, and breads.

Why are my brown butter cookies greasy? ›

Let the brown butter cool sufficiently.

Using hot, melted butter will yield greasy dough and cause the cookies to spread too much when baked. By allowing the butter to solidify before adding it to the dough, you're able to bake the cookies immediately—no chill time required.

Does browning butter dry out cookies? ›

Browning all the butter removes the water content, but the dough still needs some of that water to come together. Browning only some of the butter is enough to achieve that signature nuttiness, while the remaining unbrowned butter provides enough water content for the dough to come together.”

Is brown butter healthier than regular butter? ›

While brown butter is not a health food, it can be used as a healthier substitute for regular butter in some recipes. Since it has a nutty flavor, it can be used to replace other nuts in some dishes, and it can also be used in place of butter in some baked goods.

What is the secret ingredient to keep cookies soft? ›

If you enjoy your cookies soft and chewy, chances are likely the recipe contains a common ingredient that serves a very specific purpose. No, it's not granulated sugar, nor the butter. It's not the egg, all-purpose flour, or even the vanilla extract. The simple, yet oh-so-necessary component is cornstarch.

What makes cookies fluffy and not flat? ›

Room temperature butter is just the right consistency to incorporate air when it's creamed with sugar. These trapped air pockets result in risen, fluffy cookies. If the butter is any warmer, it won't incorporate enough air and your cookies will have less rise.

How long to cool brown butter for cookies? ›

Use room temp ingredients.

After browning your butter, make sure it's cool enough to touch before adding it to your dough. I usually set it aside to cool for 10-15 minutes before making the recipe.

What is the trick to brown butter? ›

How to Brown Butter, Step-By-Step Guide
  1. Step 1: Cut the Butter Into Equal Pieces. Start by cutting unsalted butter into equal-sized pieces, which melt more evenly.
  2. Step 2: Cook the Butter Over Medium Heat. ...
  3. Step 3: Let the Butter Bubble. ...
  4. Step 4: Stop Cooking the Butter as Soon as It Smells Toasted.
May 16, 2023

Is Burnt butter the same as brown butter? ›

There is a difference between dark-brown butter and burnt butter. Dark-brown butter is the outer limit of browning and has a deep, rich flavor that will make your baked goods taste extra special. Burned brown butter, on the other hand, is black and lacks any nutty aroma.

Does brown butter make cookies taste different? ›

Not only is the color different, but so is the taste. Adding brown butter results in a rich and nutty flavor that is partly born out of the blending of the butter with the molasses found in the brown sugar. Here at Tasting Table, we love a good chocolate chip cookie made with browned butter and have our own recipe.

Why do my cookies go flat when I take them out of the oven? ›

OVEN IS TOO HOT

Oven temperatures are a crucial factor in baking. If your cookies consistently come out flat, you may have selected the wrong baking temperature. If you bake cookies using too much heat, the fats in the dough begin to melt before the other ingredients can cook together and form your cookie's rise.

Can you overbeat cookie dough? ›

Unless you want extra-crispy cookies, avoid overmixing your dough. "Overmixing your dough will result in flatter, crispier cookies," Cowan said.

Why do my cookies taste like cake? ›

Using too much flour will make your cookies too cakey, so try reducing the flour amount by two tablespoons. Avoid using cake flour instead; try a mix of all-purpose flour and bread flour for a more dense and chewy texture. Using too much baking powder. According to the science geeks at Serious Eats—we love you!

What does brown butter taste like in cookies? ›

Browned butter has a sweet and savory flavor, almost like toffee, which makes these cookies rich, delicious, and a little caramelly!

Does browning butter change the flavor? ›

Browned butter adds a rich, complex flavor to any dish and, although it may sound intimidating, it's actually a very simple process. With a few quick tips, you'll soon be on your way to adding this nutty flavor and aroma to a variety of baked goods and meals in your very own kitchen.

Does browning butter reduce the amount of butter? ›

During the process of browning, much of the water evaporates from the butter. So if you start out with 1 cup of butter, you'll be left with just a hair over 3/4 cup of butter. You'll lose a couple tablespoons in the process. This is the evaporating effect.

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