I am posting this one so soon after the crap Conversation Heart Cookies, that you may have missed it! If you did, click here.

These were planned for a pre-Valentine’s Day post, but since I was delayed with frustration, I made them late.

Look at that! Card suits! Deal me a hand of blackjack and play slot machine sounds and I’m happy!

What is brown butter? Oh, it means you brown the butter. Great. Remember my stint cooking sugar? I needed to be cautious.

Step 1: Gather ingredients: sugar, eggs, baking powder, salt, vanilla, toffee bits, flour, butter, brown sugar

I was really happy this recipe only required 1/2 cup of white sugar because it was the last ingredient I pulled out and that’s all I had.

Step 2: Butter a 9×13 pan and line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the parchment paper

Step 3: Cook butter over medium heat until golden brown

Like I said before, I was nervous. “Golden brown” turned to “burned” in 2 seconds when I was cooking sugar so I didn’t want the same thing to happen.

I took a million pictures of the butter because it could change at any second. I edited it down to a few.

That was quick. I took this one 1:30 after the first.

And this was 2:30 after that.

Now, I kept a close eye on it. My house was beginning to smell like butter, which was bad, but not as bad as burnt butter.

Hmm…froth. I wasn’t expecting that. Anyone want a butter latte?

The froth’s gone and we’re boiling. It had to be done any second now.

That’s more golden than the last picture, right? I’m too scared to wait and burn.

Is THAT golden? I pulled it off the heat because it looked less pastel-y, but not burnt.

Step 5: Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt

Yep.

Step 6: Let butter cool. In the bowl of the electric mixer, combine butter with both sugars.

Paula Deen’s dream right there.

Kinda looks like wet sand. Still want some?

Step 7: Add eggs and beat until combined

I feel like there’s a lot of excess in this recipe for such a small batch. 3 eggs? 17 million pounds of butter and sugar?

Step 8: Add vanilla

Finally it started to smell less like butter and more like something I’d want to eat!

Step 9: Add flour mixture until combined

It only kind of threw up on me this time. And yes, I had the guard on before I took this.

Step 10: Mix in toffee bits

These were Heath brand toffee bits. I don’t really like Heath bars, so I thought I probably wouldn’t like these.

Step 11: Pour into prepared pan

Shit. Remember Step 2? FLOUR THE PARCHMENT. I realized now that I forgot that step.

Step 10: Bake for 35-40 minutes. 

35-40 minutes?! I don’t have time for this! Okay, it was 10:30 p.m. I had time.

It turned out pretty nice. It got very thick, though.

Step 11: Let completely cool and turn over to release from pan

Cooling is what took the longest. Over an hour! Came out nicely thanks to the butter/parchment combo.

Step 12: Peel off parchment

Looks nice and golden! And it survived the absence of flour!

Step 13: Cut out with 2.5- to 3-inch cookie cutters

Okay, this was not happening. The edges were taller than the center and it was all thicker than the cookie cutters. I tried flipping it and the cookie cutter didn’t really work. I decided just to cut it with a knife.

Ignore that bite. I cut the outside rows in half again after tasting it. They were very rich.

I guess I’m glad I made them late. I would have been really disappointed if they were Valentine’s Day blondies, but weren’t hearts.

Link to original recipe

Really, Martha?! Another video on your site that’s not on the app?!

Oh, you’ll also notice if you read the recipe that it called for walnuts. This blog (and many of its readers) has a “screw walnuts” policy, so they were omitted.

Also, don’t read the comments on the recipe. Someone posted the nutrition facts.

Yields: 12
I got: 36

Most of Martha’s recipes have been great because the cookies aren’t too sweet. I wouldn’t say these were too sweet, but I think a smaller size was more appropriate.

Start time: 9:55
End time: 12:36 (2 hours, 41 minutes)
Martha’s estimated time: 3 hours

What did I learn? 

• I guess I don’t have to be so afraid of burning the butter. I probably could have waited longer.

What do I need to learn? 

• Why did the center “fall” causing an uneven surface? Martha’s looked perfect in her video.
• How long does it actually take to brown butter? What does it look like?
• How would the taste differ if the butter had been properly browned?

If you eat one, please leave a comment! People want to know how these taste!