Brown Butter Espresso Bean Cookie Tart
Okay. It’s officially fall. So it’s officially time for a rich, indulgent, comforting dessert.
Namely, a giant gooey cookie disguised as a tart. Because I’m pretty sure that giant cookies disguised as tarts are mandatory in the first week of fall. I’m just following the protocol.
Here’s the thing: a cookie tart is one of my favorite desserts. Because, as mentioned, it’s basically one gigantic cookie. And. Cookies are my fave. But a cookie tart will do you one better — it’s a cookie, but a much more thick and gooey cookie. Because all the cookie dough gets stuffed into a tart pan. So the dough bakes up so thick and dense.
To summarize: cookie dough -> pressed into a fancy tart pan -> biggest, gooiest fancy cookie ever.
Now. Another favorite of mine: browned butter. AH. Browned butter.
Brown butter takes just minutes to make. Basically, after you melt your butter, you let it sit and cook a couple more minutes in the pan, until amber flecks appear in the butter.
And these amber flecks produce a flavor that is so rich and deep, with caramel-hazelnut-butterscotch undertones, and you just ain’t ever gonna get this typa flavor with regular ole melted or creamed butter.
And. Once you brown the butter. You pour it into a bowl. Mix in the rest of the cookie dough ingredients. And your cookie tart has been created.
To summarize again: a rich brown butter cookie dough filled with caramel undertones. Made in minutes.
Oh. And then I figured. Instead of the classic chocolate chips. Why not add a whole new dimension of flavor and crunch. With chocolate covered espresso beans.
WAY more fun. And unique. And sophisticated. Cuz hey, this is kinda a fancy cookie, what with the intricate edges the cookie gets from the tart pan and all.
Another summary: crunchy, flavorful, dark, rich chocolate covered espresso beans. Get dispersed throughout the gooey brown butter quick and easy cookie dough.
Quick and easy. Comforting and indulgent. Sophisticated and unique. Soft and gooey. Rich and dense. Thick and flavor-packed.
Brown butter espresso bean cookie tart — I appreciate you being a part of the autumn rules.
Brown Butter Espresso Bean Cookie Tart
Yield: 8-10 servings
½ cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ½ cups packed flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate covered espresso beans
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-10” tart pan with a removable bottom.
2. In a light-colored (so you can observe the browning) skillet, brown the butter: chop the butter and place it into the skillet over a medium flame. The butter will first melt before foaming and bubbling rapidly. Stir the butter periodically with a rubber spatula. After a few minutes, the bubbling will subside and golden specks will appear on the bottom of the pan and the butter will start smelling nutty. This means your butter is browned! Warning: butter should have golden/amber specks, not completely brown ones. If the butter is too browned, your tart may have a burnt/bitter taste.
2. Immediately remove skillet from the flame and pour the browned butter into a large bowl to stop the cooking. Make sure to scrape in all the golden specks from the bottom of the pan.
3. Stir the brown sugar into the browned butter. Whisk in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract until mixture is smooth.
4. Pour the flour, baking soda, and salt over the wet ingredients and stir everything together until just combined. Stir in the espresso beans last.
5. Drop dough into the tart pan and flatten it to fill the pan evenly. Bake tart for 20-25 minutes, until the top is golden brown but the center is still slightly under baked and gooey. Dig right into the hot tart, or let tart cool completely before slicing wedges.
