December 16, 2010

• Dammit.

  
  illustration by Jean Phillippe Delhomme

  Just dammit. I'm happy enough - I'm getting the things I want. Work is okay and I've finally managed to get up a little earlier and have time to myself. So why is filling this stupid page so hard?

   

   

  Russian Tea Cookies

  preheat oven to 325° F

  BLEND:
  1 c butter (room temperature, salted)
  1/2 c confectioner's/icing sugar 
  2 tsp vanilla extract

  ADD:
  (with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon - no electric mixers)
  2 c flour
  1/4 tsp salt

  HAVE READY:
  jam, preserves, or nuts according to your taste
  try to use a variety of colours and textures 

  • Roll dough into balls about 1.5' in diameter and place on cookie sheet. 
  • The original recipe says to dent the tops of each ball with the back of a spoon, but I prefer to use something that leaves a more defined hollow (the top of a small bottle or even your thumb).
  • Fill the hollow of each cookie with preserves or nuts (or both). I especially like the flavour of seedless raspberry jam or pear jam, or chopped pecans with a little brown sugar. The deeper depression (yes yes, very funny) will help keep the jam from bubbling out during baking. Be careful not to overfill.
  • Bake 15-20 mins, until the cookies are a light golden brown.
  • Let cool thoroughly (that jam is sticky). They suggest dusting these with icing sugar before serving and it looks nice, but they're already pretty sweet, so that's your call.

  I got this recipe from the Mrs. Fields Best Cookie Book Ever! (a small but excellent collection). It's also similar to one my mom had for Thumbprint Cookies. The beauty of it is that it uses minimal, simple ingredients, the dough is easy to handle, and the finished product looks fancy. It makes a pretty contribution to holiday parties and potlucks and things, and people get all stoked and think you're a genius.

  

   

  • 7:15 am
  • 1 Comment