eat make read

This year has been full of vegetables and all sorts of things that are good for me, so I decided it was high time to bake something. Enter the most delicious, incredibly light and grown-up cookies that I found in Breakfast Lunch Tea, the Rose Bakery cookbook. Seriously, these little cookies are melt-in-your-mouth delicious.

They’re also unlike any cookie I think I’ve ever had. They consist of walnuts, toasted then finely ground until they become almost powdery, superfine sugar, flour and lots of butter. What could go wrong? I had a tiny voice in the back of my head fretting whether these little guys would flatten out and become crisp little mistakes, but alas, after about 1o minutes in the oven I checked on them and they were little puffed out cookies. I let them stay in the heat a little longer so they could get nice and golden. When it was time to pull them out, I gave them a nice little dusting of confectioners sugar and anxiously let them cool a bit.

Sweet goodness, as if you can’t tell already, I’m in love with them. They are incredibly light and soft, even a few days later (the restraint I’ve had!)… I might even compare them to delicious little clouds. I call them “grown-up cookies” because they’re definitely not overly sweet. The walnut comes through as a lovely, subtle undertone while the butter brings an indulgent richness. Yummm!

walnut cookies
these are actually called pecan biscuits in Breakfast Lunch Tea, you can switch out the walnuts for pecans.
makes about 24-30 cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup walnuts
1/4 cup superfine* sugar, plus 1 T
1 t vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
confectioner’s sugar, to decorate

Preheat oven to 350°

1
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and arrange the nuts in a single layer. Roast for about 10-15 minutes, until they begin to give off a nutty smell.
2
Place the nuts along with 1 T  of the superfine sugar in a food processor and finely grind them. Set aside.
3
Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then add the vanilla.
4
Mix in the flour, then the ground nuts.
5
If the dough is too soft, put it in the fridge for 15 minutes.
6
Roll the dough into 3/4″ balls.
7
Place on the baking sheet, about an inch apart and bake for about 15 minutes or until lightly golden.
8
As soon as you take them out of the oven, sprinkle with confectioners sugar. Let cool.

*I didn’t have superfine sugar, so I just ran regular sugar through the food processor for a few whizzes.