Breton_Style Palets (Buttercup Babies)

The release of Dorie Greenspan’s new cookbook guilted me into getting on the J-O-B and writing this post.  It seems like only a nanosecond ago I made them when actually, the recipe for these Breton-Style Palets is from her newsletter a couple of months ago.  At the time, I posted a pic of these delicious morsels on IG.  The caption of course read, ‘notes, coming soon on 3Jamigos.  I do abuse the ambiguity of the word “soon” a little too frequently.

Without Further Ado

Breton-Style Palets.  Ah, one bite had me singing “Smooth like butter, like a criminal undercover, breaking into my heart like that”.  A tender buttery cookie that sits at the intersection of shortbread and Madeleine.  An absolute delight, not too sweet with a little pop of salt in each bite.

These cookies are very straightforward with a genius tweak from Dorie.  First, start with great butter, this is the cornerstone of these cookies, no skimping.  The other essential ingredients are flour, and powdered sugar, which tenderizes the cookie and gives it that sweet kick. Egg yolks which add another layer of richness, and finally, salt, for that burst of contrast at the end.  According to Dorie, you can add vanilla and or citrus zest, but I’m a purist, I didn’t.

If you start with soft, NOT melted butter, you can actually make these cookies by hand with a bowl and wooden spoon.  I used a mixer, being very careful not to overbeat the butter or the dough after adding the flour.  Overmixing the butter adds too much air.  Aim for a smooth and creamy mixture, NOT light and fluffy.  Over-beating the dough after adding the flour, develops the gluten creating one tough cookie.  So a light hand peeps.

Logging In with Dough Boi

The dough is very soft and sticky after mixing.  I leave the dough in the mixing bowl, press Saran Wrap on top, and chill it for 30-60 minutes before shaping it into a roll.  It makes life easier, trust me.  Take the dough out of the fridge and shape it into 2 logs about 6 inches long, wrap,  and then throw those bad boys into your freezer for at least two hours.  When they are thoroughly chilled, it is “slice and bake” time.

Don’t look too closely, this roll is not the butter babies of this post.  It is here to illustrate how to make a slice and bake roll round.  Roughly shape your dough into “a just short of” the size log you want. Place the dough on parchment or wax paper ( a large enough piece to surround the dough and then some), fold it over the roll, place a straight edge on top of the parchment, tucked right into the bottom part of the roll.  Hold onto the bottom edge of the parchment and pull while simultaneously pushing on your straight edge.  This creates pressure and forces the dough to form a nice round log, ta-da.  Why didn’t I make a video?  That would have been so much easier.

The Dorie Move

Here come the Dorie pearls of baking wisdom and technique.  This is a soft dough, which will spread when baking.  So to get those perfectly round, lovely cookies, Dorie bakes the slices of dough in a muffin tin, that’s right Buttercup, in a cupcake pan. Genius!  Beautiful, perfectly round, how did you do that-cookies.

Now go and make these cookies, they are a ray of sunshine to combat the coming winter weather.  Come back to this blog when you’re done, by then I will have posted Dorie’s Caramel  Chocolate Chunk Cookies baked in that very same cupcake pan you used for these cookies…  You’re welcome.

*Hmmm, made the Caramel Chocolate Chunk Cookies yesterday night, they were not up to expectations so I’ll have to tinker with the recipe a little…Stay tuned!