Ahead of the 2020 presidential election, interest in election cake resurfaced from its heyday more than 200 years ago. While mentions of the cake predate the American Revolution, the first-known published recipe is in the 1796 book “American Cookery” by Amelia Simmons. That yeast-risen butter cake called for a pint of wine and quart of brandy, which sounds pretty great.
Election cake is a sturdy dessert that takes days to prepare and lasts for weeks, so it may have been just the thing to prepare while waiting for results. Waiting’s the one sure thing in any election, and the same is true of baking. Whatever goes in the oven takes time, and among baked goods, cookies are the least likely to fail.
Cakes require more attention than cookies, the easiest of which call for only dropping dough on a baking sheet. If you’re new to baking or distracted while in the kitchen, your cookies will come out fine, even if they’re shaped like amoebas. Chocolate chip cookies, invented nearly a century ago by Ruth Wakefield in Massachusetts, are always a good choice, ideal for just about every occasion. But for variety, try these chewy brown butter cookies sustain with a grounded maple sweetness and strata of buttery richness.
When butter cooks long enough for its dairy solids to separate and darken from gold to copper, it develops a savory nuttiness. That flavor is magnified in this dough: Pecans are stirred into the butter as its milky bits turn tan, and both toast to a deep brown. The scent is as warming as a wood fire and lingers nearly as long.
To make sure this pair doesn’t burn to bitterness in the residual heat of the pan, oats and salt are stirred in. The butter stops cooking and instead soaks into the oats, seasoning and moistening them.