Frosted Cashew Cookies

These frosted cashew cookies take a shortcut with biscuit baking mix (Bisquick) as the base, which means no measuring flour, baking powder, or salt separately. Brown sugar, sour cream, and an egg go in to create a soft, cakey dough studded with salted cashews.

The sour cream is what gives these cookies their tender, almost cake-like crumb. It adds moisture and a slight tang that balances the sweetness of the brown sugar. The cashews stay crunchy through baking and add a buttery, salty contrast against the soft cookie.

But the real star is the browned butter frosting. Margarine or butter gets heated in a pan until it turns a delicate brown with a nutty aroma, then gets cooled and beaten with powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk. This frosting has a toffee-like depth that regular buttercream doesn’t come close to, and it complements the cashew flavor beautifully.

Kitchen Tips

• Watch the butter carefully when browning. It goes from golden to burnt in seconds. Remove from heat as soon as it smells nutty and turns amber.
• Cool the browned butter before adding the powdered sugar. Hot butter makes a runny, greasy frosting that won’t set.
• Let cookies cool completely before frosting. Warm cookies melt the frosting into a sticky mess.
• The batter is soft and sticky. Rounded teaspoonfuls are the right size. Any bigger and the cookies spread too thin.

Variations

• Maple frosting: Add a teaspoon of maple extract to the frosting for a maple-cashew combination.
• Mixed nut version: Replace half the cashews with macadamia nuts or pecans for a varied nut texture.