Brown Butter Tahini Cranberry Cookies

Directions

Candied Cranberries

1. Add the water and ¼ cup of white sugar into a medium pot and bring it to a boil.

2. Once the sugar mixture comes to a boil, reduce the flame to low and let the sugar mixture simmer for about 3 minutes.

3. Once the sugar mixture has simmered, add the cranberries into the sugar syrup mixture to fully coat the cranberries.

4. Pour the cranberries onto a lined baking pan and let them sit for about an hour. This will help them become tacky and allow the sugar mixture to adhere to the cranberries.

5. In a medium bowl, add the ½ cup of white sugar and salt. Stir to combine.

6. Once the hour has elapsed, add the sugar syrup coated cranberries into the white sugar mixture and toss the cranberries until they are fully coated. Set aside until ready to use.

Brown Butter Tahini Cranberry Cookies

1. First make the brown butter: Place the butter in a light-colored pot over medium heat and let it melt down until liquid. Once liquid, constantly stir the mixture and scrape the bottom and sides. Keep a watch on the butter for the next 5 to 8 minutes as it starts to sputter, bubble and become warm golden brown. There will be a lot of foam so in order to check on the color of the butter, pull the pan off the stovetop for a moment to let the foam subside. Once the whey of the butter has turned into a nice golden brown and releases a nutty aroma, turn the heat off and set the butter aside to cool.

2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

3. In a separate bowl combine all purpose flour, bread flour, buckwheat flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Whisk to evenly mix. Set aside.

4. Once the brown butter is cooled, pour it into a medium sized bowl along with the light brown sugar and white sugar. Beat the mixture with an electric blender for a minute or the butter and sugar is combined.

5. Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla bean paste and beat the mixture for about 2 minutes or until very fluffy and thick. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowls in between mixing.

6. Once beaten and fluffy add the tahini and beat for another minute until the tahini is fully incorporated and the mixture is thick.

7. Add the dry ingredient mixture and fold it into the wet ingredients just until barely combined. Fold in the unsweetened dried cranberries until no more dry pockets of flour remain. 

8. Line a baking pan with parchment paper. Scoop the dough into 3 tablespoon sized balls. You should have about 10 cookie dough balls. Baking into two batches, place 5 cookie dough balls on the tray, leaving 2 inches of space between each ball. 

9. Bake the cookies for about 8 minutes or just until the edges are golden brown and set. Pull the cookies out and smack the pan on your counter to help create wrinkles and ridges in your cookies. Place the cookie tray back in the oven for another minute (for a total baking time of 9 minutes)

10. The cookies should look a little puffy now. Pull them out of the oven and smack the tray on your counter once more to encourage rippling to form on the cookie. Scoot the cookies into position using a round ring to make the cookies thicker and circular.

11. As the cookies cool, top each cookie with a few candied cranberries. Top with flaky salt and optional edible flowers. Let them cool for at least 15 minutes and enjoy!