[Cookie 023] Bourbon Currant Cookies

So as of late, I've been on a cleaning rampage. It seems strange, considering I spent 10 years in the current house I live in refusing to clean my closet out even just once. Stuff has been piling up for years, forming geological strata in correspondence with my various interests and (toy) acquisitions throughout my childhood years. So as I dig through all of this crap, the more time I spend at it--the further down I delve--the more I realize what a strange kid I was. I had (and still do) this strong love of lists and organization: I've found hundreds of silly little to-do lists from way back in the 90s (way way back, man).

I just liked to have everything in order (barring the state of my closet, evidently). I'm still this way, and I still find it easiest to complete a task when I have a to-do list to guide me. I suppose this is also why I like to follow recipes very diligently, and also why I like to bake so much. Baking, obviously, is a very precise method of cooking, which leaves little room for straying from the original recipe. You really have to add the exact correct amount of everything, or else you'll end up with a completely different result.

Now, having said that, I would like to share with you my experience baking these Bourbon Currant Cookies. The recipe yeilds 6 dozen cookies, and considering only my dad and I are at home right now, I thought it best to divide the recipe in half. So, this is when you say "OK, instead of adding 2 eggs, I shall only use 1!" But, be forewarned: you should ALWAYS READ THE RECIPE THROUGH COMPLETELY before diving it. I, as you might suspect, did not follow this golden rule. So when I saw the recipe say "add one egg" I added that 1 egg to the dough post haste. But it just so turns out I was only supposed to add HALF an egg, reserving the other half for the glaze.

Oh, silly me. I knew something was up when I had finished the dough and it was more the consistency of a drop cookie, when the recipe tells you to roll out the dough and use cookie-cutters it it. At first, I thought that maybe the recipe was faulty, and that it messed up the order of sifting the flour to measuring the flour, and didn't have me add enough. So I added more flour into the mix until it became the right consistency and then I cut and baked it. Obviously, since I incorporated 2 times as much egg and an awkward amount of flour, the cookies did not bake for the right amount of time. In fact, they were still underbaked even after I left them in the oven for 7 extra minutes. But it was okay in the end! As my dad put it, they tasted like delicious mini-scones! A happy accident!

So if you want to be an idiot like me, add twice as much egg and make Mini Bourbon Currant Scones. Or you could be a rational, cognizant human and follow the directions. My 6-year-old self would probably advise you to do the latter. Either way, the addition of Bourbon really gives these a nice mellow sweetness, similar to that of the Cassis Crisps.

Bourbon Currant Cookies
Makes 6 dozen

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 3 cups sifted all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
• 1/3 cup bourbon
• 1/2 cup dried currants
• 4 tablespoons heavy cream

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until smooth. Add 1 egg, the flour, bourbon, and currants; mix until well combined.
2. Roll out dough on a lightly floured work surface to 1/4 inch thick. Cut into desired shapes (such as 2-inch card shapes). Whisk together remaining egg and the cream in a small bowl, and brush cookies with egg wash. Space 1 inch apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
3. Bake until pale golden brown, about 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 2 days.

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{End Results}
Baking Difficultly: 2/5
Ingredient Accessibility: 3/5
Tastiness: 4/5 (Granted, I am rating this on the "scones" I made; making the cookies correctly probably tastes better, but who knows! Try it out and let me know!)
Attractiveness: 3.5/5
Is it worth it?: Yeah. Very little ingredients and steps, so they are quick and taste yummy!



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P.S. I changed the header of the blog. Not sure how much I like it...maybe I'll change it again.