Cultured Club with Girl Deb (Cultured Butter Cookies)
Last but not least of the trio of slice and bake cookies, Cultured Butter Cookies from Melissa Clark via The New York Times. On a trip to my neighborhood Trader Joes, I came across Cultured Butter. What? “cultured butter”, my curiosity was peaked. As if the planets had just aligned, what should pop up on my feed? An article by Melissa Clark in the NYT on the virtues of cultured butter. A recipe for Cultured Butter Cookies was included. Butter Cookies? A cousin to my favorite cookie, Shortbread? I’m on it.
Cultured butter is slightly tangy and salty. Throw out the notion that you should only use unsalted butter to cook and bake. Cultured butter, from Brittany, wears salt like a badge of honor. The process of pasteurization kills the live cultures in the milk. Adding back a bacteria culture to the milk gives the butter a nice tang. So, a live culture, salt, and higher butterfat content, what do you get? Butter on “roids”.
Trader Joe’s carries a very good Cultured Butter (according to Bon Apetit’). Imported from Brittany, its a bargain. Not just perfect for Melissa’s cookies, but delicious on toast, spread on a baguette or drizzled on vegetables.
The remaining logs of dough of my trio of slice and bakes are chilling in the fridge. All I have to do is slice, bake, and arrange them on a festive plate, and I’m good to go…to any holiday party, even yours (hint, hint).
Bout’ the cookies
Beat softened butter with sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg yolk and combine. This results in a lighter, crisper cookie. Blend in the dry ingredients, do not overbeat. The dough is then molded into a log (helpful hints for creating logs) and chilled. Roll the logs in sugar, I like white sanding or sparkling sugar which gives the cookies a festive look and provides a bit of crunch.
Slice at least 1/4 inch thick, no less for a nice edge and then bake on parchment-lined sheet until the edges turn a nice deep golden brown. The cookies taste even better on the second day as the flavors have a chance to develop.
These cookies are lovely. Light, crisp, buttery perfect with tea, champagne, just about anything. I’ll be baking a batch for New Year’s Eve too.
The trio of slice and bakes and the stamped Mexican Hot Chocolate Shortbread were the cornerstone of my #f52HolidaySwap box this year. What’s that you say? Think…
Secret Santa
Hosted by Food52, this is a wonderful, fun way to share the holiday spirit of giving with a stranger and donate to a worthwhile cause. For a small donation (this year’s recipient was No Kid Hungry) you are sent a name and address of someone in the world (yep, you read that right-world, although most likely stateside) to send a package of goodies. My holiday box went to Kim in Ohio, filled with not only cookies but spiced pecans, homemade granola, kitchen towels I trimmed myself (so easy) and a beautiful bowl made by my friend, Snook. In turn, I received a box from Massachusetts, with cute flour sack towels, homemade cookies, and a festive spatula.
I am already thinking about next year’s box!
Cultured Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups 250 grams all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon 3 grams baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 cup 2 sticks salted, cultured butter, at room temperature
- ⅔ cup 130 grams granulated sugar
- 1 large egg yolk
- ¼ cup coarse sanding sugar for rolling
Instructions
- In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt.
- In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and granulated sugar until lightened in color and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Beat in egg yolk until combined. With mixer running on low, add flour mixture until incorporated.
- Divide dough half. On a clean surface, roll each halfinto a 1 ½ inch log.
- Sprinkle the coarse sanding sugar over a sheet of parchment. Roll each log in the sugar until the outside of the dough is thoroughly covered.
- Cover logs tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour, or overnight.
- When you are ready to bake the cookies, heat oven to 325°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Use large, sharp knife to cut each log into ¼ inch-thick rounds. Place cookies 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake until cookie edges and bottoms are deep golden brown, about 15 minutes. Cool 5 minutes on baking sheets, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in a tightly covered container at room temperature.