Brown Butter Cookie Company (Cayucos, CA)

First, let's discuss brown butter. Have you ever tried brown butter? It's like an almond-walnut crossbreed that has busted out of its shell and ruptured into a stream of caramel-y goodness. Let's not even begin discussing the smell...it's pretty much ridiculous...in a good way (-:

Brown butter(beurre noisette) is made by cooking butter long enough to turn the milk solids and salt particles brown while cooking out any water present in the butter. It's fun to watch the process because the milk solids separate and fall to the bottom...but watch out, these milk solids will burn if you don't keep your eye on 'em! To brown butter at home, put some butter in a pan on medium heat, stir the butter frequently until it smells nutty and looks brown...voila!

My first experience with brown butter was at Central City Market in Santa Maria (my previous place of employment). I was told to make brown butter chocolate chip cookies wiuth sea salt sprinkles. I learned to brown only 1/2 to 3/4 of the butter because the cold butter is needed for the traditional cookie texture due to the emulsification of butter, sugar, and eggs. Try this technique the next time you bake...it can add a dimension of flavor to almost any baked good (-:


Cayucos is the first city in the US to open a brown butter bakery; these women know what they're doing. The quite successful business location has been open for 2 years now. Owned by sisters Traci Nickson and Christa Hozie, the company sells 8 cookie varieties-4 of which are made with browned butter. Each cookie is hand sprinkled with sea salt, another unique characteristic of the bakery...the best part of the cookie! Check out their website and buy some for yourself: http://brownbuttercookies.com.
You can even join their Facebook group...I did.

They also sell some amazing granola by the pound! I liked it.

It is really worth the experience to go to the bakery itself. They allowed and encouraged me to try all eight of their cookies; the honey brown butter one is my favorite, made using locally made honey from Atascadero. Sadly, the only cookies offered for sale online are the "original" and "cocoa" brown butter flavors. The other six flavors are only offered in-store for fear that the delicate taste and texture will fade if not eaten fresh. There is one gluten-free option: double chocolate chunk...it's delicious, and my mother can eat it (-:

The packaged cookies come with an ingredients list...are you ready for this!?!: flour, butter, brown sugar, vanilla, baking soda, sea salt. The end.

So, I liked it. I paid $14 for a dozen cookies packaged with a cute bow and label...kinda steep if you ask me. I would take my grandmother here (-: with her money...on a college budget, I would pass.