I picked up the first volume of Garth Ennis and Matt Dillon’s Preacher comic on a whim four or five years ago. I was home in Bangkok for Christmas break, and had found myself – as usual – prowling the shelves of Kinokuniya to kill a couple hours and find something new to read. I wolfed it down in one sitting that night (jet lag does have its advantages) and could not get back to the store quickly enough to get the rest. As the dog ears and cracked spines now suggest, these comics have seen quite a bit of traffic – probably more than most books on my shelf.

Ennis’ West is a modern day ode to that mythical, mystical place where steely-eyed men ride after the American dream with nothing but his horse, his revolver, and his resolve; where justice is served the old-fashioned way: with a side of whoop-ass.

Similarly, these brown butter Snickerdoodles brings complexity to a well-loved, well-trodden recipe that can, at times, come off as one-dimensional. The original recipe comes from Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito’s Baked Elements, another well-thumbed volume in our household.  While Matt and Renato recommend straining the butter before use, I like the added depth that the browned milk solids bring (besides, washing strainers is the worst). I also recommend using Vietnamese cinnamon if you can find it, since it is stronger and spicier than other varieties.

Recipe below the jump!

Brown Butter Snickerdoodles

Adapted from Baked Elements by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito

8 oz (2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 cup granulated sugar

½ cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

2 eggs

1 tbs whole milk

2 ¾ cups all purpose flour

2 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp nutmeg

1 tsp salt

Cinnamon sugar:

3 tbs granulated sugar

1 tbs cinnamon

Makes about 2 dozen cookies

Start by browning the butter over medium heat (about 10 minutes). Make sure to keep an eye on it – after the foam starts to subside, the butter will turn from brown to black very quickly… and you know the saying:

Once the butter reaches a nice nut brown color, pour into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the sugars and start beating on medium speed to release the heat.

In the meantime, whisk together the dry ingredients to evenly distribute the spices and leveners. In another bowl, beat together the eggs and milk until just combined.

Once the butter mixture is at room temperature, beat in the egg mixture until combined (another 2-3 minutes).

Add the dry ingredients to the butter in three parts, stirring each time until just combined. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours (the longer you refrigerate, the hard the dough will be to scoop).

When you are ready to bake, crank your oven to 400F.

Combine the remaining sugar and cinnamon in a shallow bowl.  Portion the chilled dough with a small (2 tablespoon) ice cream scoop and roll the dough balls in the cinnamon sugar. Set them on a baking sheet lined with parchment or silpat, making sure to leave at least 3 inches of space between each ball to allow for the cookies to spread. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the tops are nicely cracked and the bottoms have set.

Store any dough balls you’re not going to bake right away in a ziplock bag (I like to dump the rest of the cinnamon sugar in the bag as well). You can keep these in the fridge for about three days or in the freezer for a couple weeks (there is nothing more reassuring than a stash of ready to bake cookie dough). They can be baked straight out of the freezer.