These cookies are crunchy and sweet with a mouth full of brown sugar and walnutty goodness. The finished cookie is something between a sweet sugar cookie and a shortbread. This recipe was not tested by Bob's Red Mill.
Melt 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter in a small saucepan set over medium heat. Watch the butter carefully and remove from the heat when the butter reaches a light nutty brown color. Let the butter cool back down completely to room temperature even if it starts to harden slightly. While the butter cools, finely chop the walnuts until they are about the size of a piece of rice (I pulse them in a food processor). Set aside.
Mix the cooled browned butter with the rest of the butter and brown sugar in the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer. Beat on medium speed until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the salt and vanilla and beat again, scraping down the sides. Add the flour, mixing until just combined, and then fold in the nuts.
Place half the mixture on a long piece of plastic wrap and form into a long rope about 1” wide and about 12” long. Repeat with the second half of the dough forming two long thin rolls of dough. Refrigerate the dough for at least two hours, or until it is hard and cold.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice each roll of dough in half and then each half into twelve even “coins” forming 48 small cookies. Place the cookies on baking sheets lined with parchment or a non-stick baking mat – 24 to a baking sheet. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are slightly browner than the middle and the middles look set. Let the cookies cool before removing from the baking sheets and store tightly covered until serving.
