Dear friends,
Happy new year! I love a good round number like 2020 and am looking forward to Lunar New Year this coming weekend. I hope you all had a lovely holiday and got to make new memories with friends and family.
I don’t make resolutions nor did I make a birthday wish, but I’m feeling somewhat optimistic about this year. Yet, when I really think about it, things aren’t starting so well in the world. International politics, natural disasters, and new viruses are causing havoc in so many parts of the globe. Honestly, it can be too overwhelming and scary to talk about, but I’m grateful to still have a job that I love. A roof over me. My family and friends are healthy. My cat is generally happy….
Most of all, I am still learning and discovering things that I love. There are amazing books to read, fun shows to watch, music to bop to, and recipes to try! Please don’t be mad that I’m very late to the Alison Roman bandwagon. Naseem told me about her. Michelle told me about her. Our office cookbook club is basing lunch around Nothing Fancy. But you know what? She’s so freaking popular that I still haven’t been able to get my hands on a copy of her cookbook to read through.
However, the internet supplies. I freaking adore the New York Times YouTube videos with her. I wish they did one every week. Am I asking for too much? Every other week then. Go search for them and watch her cook and revel in her personality.
During my online searches, “the cookies” kept popping up. These famous cookies are all over the place, so I’m not doing anything new here. But I did want to give them a try to see what everyone was raving about.
Salted Butter and Chocolate Chip Shortbread
Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit
Makes about 35 cookies
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (2¼ sticks) cold salted butter
½ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1 large egg
Demerara sugar
Flaky sea salt
- Cut the salted butter into chunks or cubes. Add the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla extract into your mixing bowl. Using your stand mixer with the beater attachment, whip on medium to medium high until it’s light and fluffy and looks like frosting. You want to incorporate air into this so it’ll take about 5 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add in the flour and mix on low until combined.
- Add in the chocolate chips. The original recipe calls for chopped up chocolate chunks, but I didn’t have any on hand! Don’t get mad. They still come out yummy.
- Take the dough out and separate into two. Roll out two logs about two-inches in diameter. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least two hours.
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Cover your baking sheet with parchment paper. Fill a plate or shallow pan with Demerara sugar. Beat the egg.
- Unwrap the dough, feel free to trim it to size so that it’ll completely fit in the plate or pan of sugar.
- Brush the egg onto the dough. Then roll it in the sugar.
- Slice the log into half-inch wide rounds. Place them on the parchment paper, about one or two inches apart. Sprinkle the tops with flaky salt.
- Bake for 15 minutes, the edges on the cookies should be lightly brown. Remove from the baking sheet and let it cool completely on a rack.
If your knife hits a chocolate chip and causes the dough to crumble and fall out. Don’t fret! It is supposed to do that! Just push it back into place. I had to manually fix many pieces and it molds back together easily.
Make sure you get that sugar to stick to the egg wash. It’s my favourite part to eat after it’s all done.
And please, please, please do not skip the salt!
These cookies are crisp! They snap, crackle, and pop despite the fact that there’s no rice in them.
Sincerely,
Syl
Sincerely, Syl 