Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Vanilla butter rounds

Vanilla butter rounds

It’s been such a while since I last posted cookies I almost did not recognize my own blog – Technicolor Kitchen without cookie recipes is like a Tim Burton movie without Johnny Depp. :D

These are deadly simple to make and, aside from the nuts, only simple ingredients are involved – I’m sure there’s a little butter and a couple of eggs in your fridge.

Vanilla butter rounds

Vanilla butter rounds
slightly adapted from Big Fat Cookies

2 ¾ cups (385g) flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups (340g/3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup (200g) sugar – I used vanilla infused sugar
3 large egg yolks
2 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
18 whole unblanched (with skins) almonds or pecan halves

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl and set aside. In a large howl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and sugar until lightened in color and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing. Mix in the egg yolks and vanilla extract until smoothly blended, about 1 minute. On low speed, add the flour mixture, mixing just until it is incorporated. The dough will be soft and sticky. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the dough is cold and firm enough to roll into balls with your hands without sticking, about 1 hour.

Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 165ºC/325ºF. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Using an ice cream scoop or measuring cup with a ¼-cup capacity, scoop out mounds of dough. Roll each mound between the palms of your hands into a smooth ball, flatten it into a 7.5cm (3-in) circle, and place the cookies 5cm (2 in) apart on the prepared baking sheets. Press a nut into the center of each cookie.

Bake the cookies one sheet at a time until the edges are light brown, about 22 minutes – mine needed 30.
Cool the cookies for 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then use a wide metal spatula to transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

The cookies can be stored in a tightly covered container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Makes 18 cookies - I halved the recipe, shaped 5cm (2in) cookies using 1 ½ tablespoons of dough and got 18

Vanilla butter rounds

24 comments:

Alexandra said...

Mmmm... I loooooooove almonds with my cookies. Such a nice taste. Great thing about this cookie recipe is that you can use the egg whites left over to make an egg white omelet OR a light fluffy almondy meringue to sandwich the cookies between :D

Sarah said...

I love such simple cookies.

Anonymous said...

I love the new style of photographs Patricia! They're so gorgeous :) Did you get a new camera or are you experimenting with your current one? If so, it looks great!

Anonymous said...

I love the new style of photographs Patricia! They're so gorgeous :) Did you get a new camera or are you experimenting with your current one? If so, it looks great!

Chris said...

I really like the simplicity of these cookies that highlights the vanilla and butter flavors. The addition of crunchy almonds also looks like it adds a great dimension of flavor :)

Cynthia said...

I love your food styling. The pics and the subjects are gorgeous.

CY said...

These look fantastic and I"m sure they taste even better! yummo!

ChichaJo said...

Simple and delicious...must love these buttery cookies!

Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) said...

I love your photo styling here. There is something simple and elegant about the bits of string -- great balance with the color palette of the cookies.

Peter G | Souvlaki For The Soul said...

True! These are very easy Patricia...I also love the pictures...beautifully styled!

The Food Librarian said...

Love these! Looks so beautiful and delicious.

Anonymous said...

Those are so adorable! I think I'm going to try them - I definitely have all the ingredients and I wanted to use up some egg yolks. Yum!

cindy* said...

these look so buttery and yummy...and they are cute too!

RecipeGirl said...

How on earth did you get these to look so perfect? So cute what you did with the food styling too.

Vanilla & almond are my two favorite flavors :)

Elyse said...

These cookies are so gorgeous! Butter cookies are one of life's great comforts. By the way, I love your analogy...Tim Burton and Johnny Depp do belong together, just like your blog and cookeis!!

Manggy said...

Somehow I also think that TCK without a movie reference is unrecognizable. Kidding ;P The cookies look simply delicious-- I even feel like salting the almonds for that sweet-salty thing. Am I crazy?

KJ said...

I love simple things. These look delicious.

pam said...

My grandmother used to make a cookie like this. I loved them.

Snooky doodle said...

How nice these buttery cookies! I bet their taste is awesome. :)

Unknown said...

these look lovely cookies and buttery at the same time.

Anonymous said...

I love simple cookies like this. Buttery, a bit of vanilla, topped with almond. Your photos are tempting! Pure goodness!

Patricia Scarpin said...

Alexandra, tks for stopping by!
That sounds amazing - what a great idea!

Sarah, me too.

Lorraine, thank you, sweetie! It's the same old Sony Cybershot. :D
xx

Chris, vanilla and almonds are great together, indeed.
Tks!

Cynthia, thank you, darling!

CY, thank you!

Joey, you definitely must. ;)

Lydia, thank you, sweetie! You made my day. ;D

Pete, thank you, my friend!

Food Librarian, thank you!

Anna, I hope you try them!

Cindy*, thank you!

RecipeGirl, you are far too kind, darling!
xoxo

Elyse, yay!
Thank you!

Mark, I do like movies. :D
Not crazy - that is a fantastic idea. Some Maldon sea salt, perhaps?

KJ, thank you, darling.

Pam, really? How nice!

Natalie, simple but good!

Arfi, they are buttery, indeed.

Lisa, you are just too sweet, thank you!

How To Eat A Cupcake said...

Aww I love the little almond on top! So cute :D

Simply Married said...

Oh YUM! I can't wait to make these! They look so simple and delicious! Love that combination! Thanks for sharing!

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