Wouldn’t these be incredibly adorable at a tea party or baby shower? So sweet! (Cut out before baking if you want the edges to brown.)
Can’t Resist a Little Gilding
These were perfectly charming without additional decorating, but I can’t resist a little gilding. Luster dust does help the relief patterns ‘pop’.
Honey at Work
These browned up a little bit more than the previous batch of cookies — I think that must be the honey at work.
Got a New Set of Cutters
Fluted on one side, flat on the other. Clever.
Fluted Edges Work Just Fine
I thought about cutting them out in hexagons, but realized that was going to be tedious and fiddly to do well; fluted edges work just fine and is much faster. 
Shortbread-Obsessed
Another batch for the Patreon boxes…salted honey & lavender shortbread. I’m a little shortbread-obsessed.
Pistachio & Pandan Elephant Shortbread
For the summer Patreon boxes, part of the theme is ‘wild grasses.’ Now, I didn’t actually come up with any grass-tasting cookies, but I thought this was pretty darn close. Pandan’s flavor is strong, described as grassy with hints of rose, almond, and vanilla, verging on coconut. And elephants are quite wild. These little cookies are lovely with a cup of tea.
*****
Pistachio & Pandan Elephant Shortbread
Ingredients:
3/4 pound unsalted butter at room temperature
1 c. sugar
2 scraped vanilla beans or 2 t. pure vanilla extract
3/4 t. salt
1-3 T pandan extract paste (to desired color and flavor)
3 1/2 cups flour
1/2 c. pistachio, chopped fine
1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Cream together the butter and sugar; add the vanilla, salt, and pandan extract. Then add flour and mix on low until dough forms. Stir in chopped pistachio.
3. Turn out dough onto floured board. (If it’s not coming together into a dough, the heat of your hands will help.) Firmly pat flat (to desired cookie height, usually about 1/2 inch). If using cookie cutters, cut out shapes, place on parchment-covered baking sheet, and chill for 15 minutes (to help hold shape).
NOTE: Can be kept chilled at this point for several days, covered in plastic wrap, and then rolled, cut, and baked fresh.
Alternately, press into baking pan or shortbread mold, prick with fork. (You can also cut shapes out after baking — shortbread is very forgiving that way — but then the individual cookie edges won’t be browned.)
3. Remove from fridge and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the edges begin to brown, then remove to wire rack to cool.
Cardamom & Honey Snickerdoodles
I really didn’t feel like working today, so while I managed to pull myself together for an hour-long SLF monthly meeting (we have three interns right now! three!), I have given myself permission to goof off for the rest of the day.
Which apparently means watching Leverage: Redemption (three episodes in so far, v. good) and baking snickerdoodles for the summer Patreon treat boxes, which I suppose does qualify as working, but is also just lovely, with a cool rainy day outside and the kitchen smelling so yummy. (The kids are excited.)
I took a base snickerdoodle recipe, replaced some sugar with a little honey, which makes them just a touch moister and more complex in flavor, and added some cardamom to the traditional cinnamon inside and out, which makes them beautifully aromatic. Happy with the result.
*****
Cardamom & Honey Snickerdoodles
(30 minutes, makes about 36 cookies)
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1/2 t. + 1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1/4 t. + 1/4 t. ground cardamom
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup + 3 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 t. honey
1 t. vanilla
1. Preheat oven to 375F. Either grease or use parchment paper on baking sheets; set aside.
2. In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, 1/2 t. cinnamon, 1/4 t. cardamom; set flour mixture aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream the butter and 1 c. of sugar together until fluffy. Beat in the egg, honey, and vanilla, then slowly beat in the flour mixture.
4. In a small bowl, combine the remaining 3 T sugar, 1/2 t. cinnamon, and 1/4 t. cardamom.
5. Form dough into small (roughly 3/4-inch) balls. Roll the balls in the sugar-cinnamon-cardmom mixture, then place the balls 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets.
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown and slightly cracked on the top; transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool.
Ocean Cookies
A Little Tricky
It can be a little tricky working with embossed rolling pins, because if the dough is too chilled and hard, it’s tough to press enough for a good impression, but if it’s too soft and warm, it just smooshes and tears. With my shortbread dough, I usually find that 15 minutes in the fridge is about right:
– make dough & preheat oven
– put a sheet of parchment paper on a large cutting board
– pat out half the dough
– add a second sheet of parchment paper and roll flat to desired thickness
– chill 15 minutes in fridge
– remove top sheet of parchment paper and roll with embossing pin
– cut into squares (or as desired)
– slide parchment paper with embossed cookies to baking sheet (I like the insulated ones for even baking) and
– put baking sheet in fridge for another 15 minutes — don’t skip this, or the dough will spread too much and you’ll lose a lot of definition
– bake 12-15 minutes
Making cookies this way is a bit of a process; I did a batch last night, and I think it took about 2 hours total. But I was reading a great book, so it was mostly do a thing, set a timer, read for a while, do a thing, set a timer, read for a while, repeat. Pleasant and peaceful way to spend an evening. With a nice big cookie as reward when I was done.
