[Cookie 091] Sesame Seed Cookies

Hello folks, I'd like to introduce you to someone. This is Marjorie. She is my hero/tailor.

I am forcing her to be my friend.

And obviously, my first step towards achieving this goal was to make her cookies. Specifically, these Sesame Seed Cookies.

Okay, I think I should do some 'splaining. First off, I am taking a Projects in Photography class this semester, and it focuses primarily on portrait photography. Which is pretty rad, in my opinion, since I never get around to actually shooting posed portraits and I have really wanted to give it a try. For our most recent assignment we had to pick a Ghanaian that we were relatively chummy with (or not--just depends on how confident you are with potentially awkward situations) and photograph this subject over an 8-12 hour block of time. So, I chose Marjorie, who is the go-to seamstress for most of the students in my program. She always came off like somewhat of an enigma to me, in part because of her no bullshit attitude and somewhat stony countenance. Plus, she can sew a pretty 1960s cocktail dress in about 6 minutes, from raw fabric to ironed lapels.

So I set up a date to come in and shoot some pictures of her, and in preparation I make a batch of these Sesame Seed Cookies (mainly to get on her good side before I would proceed to bug the hell out of her with my camera). Another example of how baking cookies has helped me where my social skills are lacking! I hand her the tupperware containing the cookies, and she takes a bite, and says "You did good" and then continues her cutting and measuring. I felt like I was in a detective movie and had just returned to my boss with a particularly juicy bit of info, and the P.I. gruffly patted me on the shoulder and told me "Ya did good, kid." Yay!

Anyway, I shot a million pictures, only got a few that I like, and none that I love. Oh well, c'est la vie. At least the cookies were a hit, and that's what I should be talking about anyway! So I'll hop to it.

These cookies are really good. You must excuse their appearance, because once again my crazy oven situation messed them up pretty badly. But the dough is delicious and the flavor of the actual baked cookie is pretty awesome. The sesames get all toasty and pack a bunch of flavor as well as crunch. I would most definitely make these again, because not only are they easy to make, but they are unusual, so you can impress your friends (and friend-crushes) without breaking a sweat.

Sesame Seed Cookies

Makes about 4 dozen

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup hulled sesame seeds, toasted

Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line four baking sheets with parchment paper, and set aside. Sift together flour, salt, and baking soda, and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, and beat until combined. Add reserved flour mixture, and beat until combined. Add toasted sesame seeds, and beat until incorporated.

Using a spoon, drop cookie batter, about 1 tablespoon at a time, onto prepared baking sheets, allowing at least 2 inches between cookies for spreading.

Bake until golden, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from oven, and cool on a wire rack.

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{End Results}
Baking Difficultly: 1/5
Ingredient Accessibility: 4/5
Tastiness: 4/5
Attractiveness: 3/5
Is it worth it?: Yes! Especially those of you who are fans of sesame flavor...you know who you are.

{Pairings}

Drink: No drink. Nothing.

Song: Side with the Seeds -- Wilco
Activity: These would be good served at a nice little tea party or to give as a gift. See above anecdote.

[Cookie 066] Hazelnut Cookies

Movin' right along, aren't we. Well, as you can tell, I had leftover Hazelnuts from the last recipe so what better cookie to make than the one with this very nut as its name. Yes, that sentence was poorly written, but you probably caught on that I am referring to Hazelnut Cookies (note to self: do not write blog entries past 11 pm, especially when sick).

Yeah, I'm sick with a cold. Boo hoo, so is everyone else in the world. But all I really want when I'm sick is a nice cup of soup (Matzo ball, anyone?) and then a cookie. Unfortunately, I don't think this one cuts it. Nope. And the recipe isn't even listed on the Martha Stewart website, and for good reason. It's another bizarro recipe that didn't work, and this time it wasn't my fault (I think/hope).

So, I was all gung-ho about the idea of a egg white-based nut cookie at first. I was imagining a meringue (which Martha did a bang up job making a recipe for, if you remember) with finely ground nuts mixed in, but I think the recipe got the order of the steps all wrong. First, you beat up the eggs until soft peaks--no prob. Then--then--she has you add a bunch of sugar, without any cream of tartar and without doing the subsequent whisking over a pot of simmering water. Ever made marshmallows before? Well you're about to.

It got gross, guys, I'm tellin' you the truth. I add the sugar and then these eggs just don't stiffen up for the life of them (I want to make a "that's what she said" joke here, but I don't think I know how...). They just got gummy and gooey, like taffy, and it was nasty. I whisked and whisked with my little red electric mixer, but to no avail. They just wouldn't stiffen (that's what she said! Hmm...the "they" part of that sentence just makes that joke gross). Anyway, I pushed on and added the nuts and flour and all that. Yeah, no way, this was not working.

However, I think it could have worked if the ingredients were added in a different order. Maybe if you whisk up the egg whites until they form stiff peaks and then fold in the dry ingredients, then the dough wouldn't get gummy and it would be more edible. Who knows. I'm open for suggestions, as always!

End results? They tasted hard and chewy. The exact polar opposite of the category they were listed in: "light and delicate." FAIL. Okay, Martha, I don't know what's up with this, but thanks for trying. I did dip these in my coffee, and that made them a little more edible, but coffee makes everything better. Seriously, yesterday I took a DayQuil, an Airborne tablet, and then drank 2 cups of coffee, and let me tell you--I was ready to FLY! Whoooooweee! Probably not the best medical advice, but if you want to feel like a rockstar for 5 hours, drink that medical combo and avoid making these cookies. Done and done.

(No recipe, because it's not on the MS website, but you wouldn't want it anyway.)

But wait! Don't go! Cheer up, I have a really tasty super yummy delicious chocolatey goody happy snappy fabulous recipe for you after this one! Get ready! I'm gonna go take a NyQuil and pass out--but keep an eye out, I'll be posting this next recipe soon! Until then, lovelies...

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{End Results}
Baking Difficultly: 3/5
Ingredient Accessibility: 4/5
Tastiness: 1.5/5
Attractiveness: 2/5
Is it worth it?: No

{Pairings}
Drink: Coffee--Hazelnut coffee, if you're really crazy. Throw in a DayQuil for good luck!

Song: Haven't Got a Clue -- The Flaming Lips
Activity: Have you ever ate an AirBorne tablet without water? It's insane, but probably better than these cookies.

[Cookie 059] Chocolate Meringues

I'm all about pretty things. If it looks really nice, or is designed really well, or is just very aesthetically pleasing, chances are I'll overlook it's other flaws simply because I'm so infatuated with it's visual appearance. This goes for many things: dresses, tea pots, shoes, fabric, photographs, animals (like this one). Some call it superficiality, but I just appreciate style in any form I guess.

But, there are limitations. Cookies, though I am often attracted to the prettiest ones, are generally not better tasting when they're better looking (duh). I mean seriously, those Orange Cardamom Madeleines I made ages ago looked like all Madeleines do (read: adorable!), but they tasted baaaaaad. And those Lime Meltaways? Remember? They tasted like rainbows and sunshine and world peace, but they didn't look like much.

What I'm trying to say is that I have reservations when I see a cookie in The Book that's really fancy lookin' and takes a lot of pastry-chef skills--I tend to think it might lack in the taste department. So when I come across a recipe for a super purdy cookie that tastes amazing too, then I'm totally sold. I'm giddy. It's cute? And tastes cute?! When can I organize my next tea party??

Okay, that was a huge preamble to today's adorable and totally amazing cookie: the classic Meringue (this time in Chocolate!). Two particularly notable aspects of this cookie are it's perfect size and it's perfect texture. Oftentimes Meringues are made to be about the size of an egg or a tad larger, and then they're just impossible to eat because once you bite into them they shatter and explode everywhere. Messy. You'll get escorted out of your tea party with behavior like that. Crumbs in your chiffon dress or chiffon cake? Party foul, indeed--call Security.

And other times, Meringues come out too hard and dense, also causing them to be tricky to eat. Broken teeth are another tea party faux pas, in case you didn't know. These, on the other hand, were perfectly bite-sized and light and airy. And their chocolate flavor really tasted like that of chocolate milk or hot cocoa, so you can think of them as crunchy hot cocoa (or don't think of them that way...that's a little weird/gross).

But look at them. Really. They really are cute as a button, right? And despite their fancy looks, they are dead easy to make! All you do is whip up your egg whites into oblivion and then fold them into the chocolate and scoop a bunch of the batter into a star-tipped pastry bag. Then you just squeeze them out one by one and bake for two hours. Yeah, a really long baking time, but it is worth it in every way. Friends will be impressed. You'll swoon the opposite sex. Your boss will give you a promotion. You'll find the meaning of true happiness.

Maybe not. But you'll get to eat a cookie without feeling guilty! And they're perfect for Valentines Day/S.A.D. Day too! So who ever said that pretty things were useless? I'm pretty sure no one did, but here's more proof that that's false anyways. Go forth! Bake! Don you prettiest apron, set out your prettiest China, and go buy some false eyelashes. Beauty calls!

Note: First you make the Swiss Meringue, which is a plain, unflavored meringue, and then you add the cocoa! That's why there are 2 parts of the recipe.

Chocolate Meringues

Makes about 4 1/2 dozen

Ingredients

Chocolate Meringue

• 1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

Swiss Meringue

• 4 large egg whites, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 pinch cream of tartar
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

Chocolate Meringue

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Sift 1⁄4 cup of cocoa over the meringue, and fold so that streaks of cocoa remain.
3. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a tip of your choice (we used an Ateco #5 star tip); pipe out cookies in small coils or desired shapes onto baking sheet. Bake until cookies lift off parchment easily, about 2 hours. Cookies can be stored in a single layer in airtight container at room temperature up to 2 days.

Swiss Meringue

1. Fill medium saucepan one quarter full with water. Set the saucepan over medium heat, and bring water to a simmer.
2. Combine egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar in the heatproof bowl of electric mixer, and place over saucepan. Whisk constantly until sugar is dissolved and whites are warm to the touch, 3 to 3 1/2 minutes. Test by rubbing between your fingers.
3. Transfer bowl to electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and whip, starting on low speed, gradually increasing to high until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 10 minutes. Add vanilla, and mix until combined. Use meringue immediately.

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{End Results}
Baking Difficultly: 2/5
Ingredient Accessibility: 5/5 (If you don't have these ingredients, who d'ya think you are??)
Tastiness: 4.5/5
Attractiveness: 4.5/5
Is it worth it?: Duh!!! The pay off totally outweighs the minimal amount of effort involved in making these!

{Pairings}
Drink: Milk, or maybe a strong tea, like a Rooibus. Coffee would probably over-power the delicateness of the cookies.

Song: Fold -- Jose Gonzalez
Activity: Playing dress up. Or, on the contrary, you could dress like a slob and eat fancy petit-fours and finger food in your basement. It's up to you.

[Cookie 057] Honey Florentines

Okay, it's really 100% official. I am, without a shadow of a doubt, actually 7o years old on the inside. I even surprise myself sometimes with the extent to which I fulfill the general stereotype of an aging, hokey grandma. Let me paint you a picture to illustrate my point better: Last night, a lovely Wednesday night when I could have been out doing any other number of things that a freshly turned 20-year-old could/should do, I chose to stay home and bake cookies and then...work on my quilt that I'm sewing. Quilting. What the hell. Aren't I supposed to be going to cRaAaAaAaaazy house parties, doing keg-stands, and having drag races down in the L.A. river? Guess it's just not in the cards for me.

And even as I type this, I'm trying as hard as I can to rationalize why I choose these activities over the others that I listed earlier. And I've got nothing. No reason. I just like to do fuddy-duddy, anti-social things, with the company of a few cats. God, I wish you were here so you could laugh at the fact that a Beach Boys song just started playing on my iTunes. Wait, no! I just found a way to rationalize (or at least subdue) my grandmothery ways: As I was quilting last night, I was listening to the music that all the kids listen to these days! I was listening to...102.7 KIIS FM and POWER 106! YEAH! Gotta get my Lil Wayne and Lady GaGa some how, right? Okay, good, so I do have one or two underlying qualities of an average young adult. Good.

Honey Florentines, though, seem like such an old lady cookie to me. I could be wrong--maybe their Beyonce's favorite cookie of all time (doubtful)--but I can only imagine a group of 80-year-old socialites playing Bridge, wearing pants up to their ears, and delicately nibbling on a few of these ultra thin and dainty cookies from a porcelain dish resting on top of a doily.

Unfortunately, these dignified old ladies would probably have turned their noses up at my feeble attempt of making these tea cookies, because in all honesty, mine weren't that great. They came out underbaked, and although I tried crisping them up a bit in the toaster oven, they always got stuck in my teeth after a few seconds of chewing. In all likelihood this was because I used a caramelized honey which had a totally different consistency than regular honey: it was far, far thicker and more viscous, which probably caused the cookies to bake up differently and be a lot less delicate after a few chews. Caramelized honey is totally delicious, however, so I highly recommend buying some to mix into your Metamucil or Benefiber.

But despite the lackluster batch that I produced, I really like the idea of these cookies. Maybe that's just my inner old lady speaking (her name is Agnes, by the way), but these cookies are just so pretty and delicate and lacey looking that they just really appeal to my tea-party-loving, doily-making sensibilities (yes, I crochet doilies too, and I'm not lying). So, if you're like me and relate more to people that are about half a century older than you, or perhaps you are one of these people, you should make these. Preferably with regular honey. And then you could dip them in some chocolate! Or stick them in a scoop or two of raspberry sorbet! Or have them with a tea cup full of Chamomile! With a side of homemade whipped cream and macerated berries! I could call Beyonce to see what she likes to eat with them, but I think she's busy today, you know, dancing or singing to the President or just looking super fly or something.

>>The recipe is not listed on the Martha Stewart website, so I'm not sure if it's kosher for me to copy it straight out of the book. Is that illegal? If you know anything about copyright, let me know! The last thing I want is to be sued by Mama M. Also, I'm too lazy to copy it by hand. Thanks for understanding folks.<<

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{End Results}
Baking Difficultly: 2/5
Ingredient Accessibility: 5/5
Tastiness: 3/5 (If you make the cookies with normal honey--as you should--this number should go up!)
Attractiveness: 4.5/5
Is it worth it?: If you're having a tea party, or really any sort of refined celebration, these should totally be on your list.

{Pairings}
Drink: Tea, tea, tea. Chamomile would be nice, but I'm not a huge fan, so maybe a nice herbal tea with rosehips?

Song: Video Phone -- Beyonce ft. Lady GaGa -or- Daydream -- Lovin' Spoonful (depending on how old you're feelin)
Activity: Playin' Bridge with the ladies, or shuffleboard if that's more your style.

[Cookie 053] Coconut Macaroons

I have a very vague, small, hidden away memory that is of relatively little importance in my life as a whole, but makes for a good starter topic for today's cookie: Coconut Macaroons. I was in the kitchen of my Nana and Poppy's house circa 1995, and my Aunt was sitting at the glass kitchen table, right beside the faux-colonial painted plates mounted on the wall and across from Sam (Nana's Parakeet with a nasty habit for screeching and a sweet tooth for human flesh) who was pacing inside her rattly cage. On the table were a lot of things, most of which I don't remember (I'm sure there must have been at least 3 pairs of knitting needles though), but I do remember my Aunt offering me a Macaroon from a small box. I was hesitant to taste them--partly because I was a picky eater as a kid, and also because I was worried it might taste like Gefilte fish--but I reached into the box anyways and pulled out a wad of golden, flaky strangeness. A Macaroon. I think I tried it. And I'm pretty sure I hated it.

I don't remember much of what it tasted like because I only ate about 0.0001 grams of it, but it didn't go over that smoothly on the ol' palate. It had a funny chewy texture unlike anything else I had eaten--unlike any real food at all--and it tasted like coconut (a long time foe during my childhood, and only recently a friend as of about 3 months ago). Not my cup of tea, to say the least, and I most likely spit it out in favor of a couple of slices of Kraft American cheese or a bag of M&Ms that had been sitting in the pantry since 1983. What can I say--I was 5 and notion of cheese coming in such perfect, prepackaged slices was beyond awesome to me. But, what I'm trying to get at is that Macaroons actually are derived from real ingredients, with real flavors, that are actually pretty delicious and edible.

A Macaroon is quite a simple treat--and I say 'treat' not 'cookie,' because it really doesn't have any of the qualities of the latter. It's basically a glob (sorry--horrible word choice) of coconut, egg whites, and sugar, plus a few add-ins here and there. For this recipe I made the Macaroon entirely chocolate, and though I might not have baked them long enough, they tasted pretty good.

Now, I'm not raving about this recipe. The recipe itself is fine, but I still haven't been won over by the Macaroon committee. I love coconut. I love love love chocolate. But they were a little on the "eh" side for me. Maybe I'll try again and bake them a little longer to get them more toasted on the outside. Or maybe I'll just make a different recipe. Either way, if you like Macaroons, give it a go! It's dead easy, and they look like dog poop! Hahaha sorry, but they do. Proof:

Don't worry--it's wheatgrass. Stayin' healthy!

So by now you are reaching for your cookbooks to find a completely different recipe to make, but don't let me discourage you! Okay...this is beginning to sound like I'm pleading, so I'll stop writing and let you make the decision. Go coconut!

Coconut Macaroons (Chocolate)

Makes 2 dozen

Ingredients

• 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, broken into small pieces
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
• 3 large egg whites
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil. Reduce heat, and allow it to simmer. Place chocolate in a small bowl, and set over saucepan. Stir until chocolate is melted, and set aside to cool.
3. In a large bowl, combine cooled chocolate, cocoa, sugar, coconut, egg whites, vanilla, and salt. Use your hands to mix well, completely combining ingredients.
4. Dampen hands with cold water. Form 1 1/2 tablespoons of mixture into a loose haystack shape, and place on prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining mixture, placing macaroons 1 inch apart.
5. Bake until just firm to the touch but still soft in the middle, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove baking sheet from oven to a wire rack, and let cool on baking sheet. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

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{End Results}
Baking Difficultly: 1.5/5
Ingredient Accessibility: 4/5
Tastiness: 3.5/5
Attractiveness: 1/5 (Even when they are made perfectly, they aren't much to look at)
Is it worth it?: If you like Macaroons, this recipe is easy and tasty! But you don't have to stop what you're doing and make these ASAP, by any means.

{Pairings}
Drink: French-press coffee. No sugar. Take Macaroon. Drop into coffee. Drink/Eat. Done.

Song: Give Me Just a Little More Time -- Chairmen of the Board
Activity: Washing your hands--this shits messy! (Get it?! Get the pun?? Okay, I apologize...enough's enough.)

[Cookie 028] Amaretti Crisps

I have a very hard time falling for the so called "healthy" cookie. I simply do not believe it exists, and if it does, it probably doesn't taste that good or simply isn't really a cookie. Sure, I've seen a fair share of vegan recipes, ones fortified with 30 pounds of whole grains, and those that substitute butter with various low-calorie remedies, but I am still not convinced. I do not want my cookie to try and be something it isn't: a cookie, by definition, cannot--nay SHOULD not--be good for you. That's half the fun of eating one, right?

Right. But, having said that, there are indeed a few recipes in The Book that happen to be ever so slightly more healthful than the others. Generally speaking, cookies that are crumbly and sandy have more butter in them than others do because in order to achieve this crumbly texture, butter is needed to break up the glucose strands in the flour, thereby giving the cookies the distinctly brittle quality (think Classic Shortbread...). Meringues, on the other hand, have no butter whatsoever, and instead rely heavily on egg whites. And now we come to my cookie du jour: the Amaretti Crisps I made, again with my father, were completely devoid of butter, and perhaps on the "lighter" side of the cookie-nutrition spectrum.

The fat in these cookies comes entirely from the excessively huge amount of toasted almonds in them, which are ground up with confectioners' sugar. Then you add a bit of almond extract (not Amaretto, in fact, which is much too mild in almond flavor) and then fold in only 2 egg whites. This is not when you are supposed to drop the glass bowl that you had the almond mixture in on top of the fluffy egg whites and squash them to oblivion. That is not advisable.

Aside from that little fumble of mine, the cookies came out very delicious, just not as airy as I had expected. Piping the dough into Os is a little tedious at times, but the recipe as a whole is very quick and easy. One issue I ran into was the baking time: my cookies were golden and hard in almost as little as half the time suggested (15 minutes, or so). So, keep an eye on these babies! If you pull them out of the oven in time, you should have some cute little cookies that look like either oversized cheerios, onion rings, or both.

And they are just too too easy to play with! So here's to fun, "healthy" cookies--and to playing with your food.

Amaretti Crisps
Makes 20

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups sliced almonds (about 5 1/2 ounces)
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 2 large egg whites
• 1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread almonds in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet, and toast in oven until lightly browned and fragrant, 7 to 9 minutes. Remove from oven; let cool.
2. Combine almonds and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, and grind to a fine powder. Transfer to a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold egg whites into almond mixture; fold in almond extract.
3. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Transfer almond mixture to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain tip. Pipe twenty 2-inch rings onto prepared sheet, about 1 inch apart. Bake until golden brown and firm to the touch, about 25 minutes. Remove from oven, and immediately transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

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{End Results}
Baking Difficultly: 4/5
Ingredient Accessibility: 2/5
Tastiness: 4/5 (Really almond-y!)
Attractiveness: 4/5
Is it worth it?: Yes, it is. But it uses a helluva lot of almonds for only 20 cookies.

{Pairings}
Drink: English Breakfast tea with milk
Song: Instant Party (Circles) -- The Who
Activity: Hula-hooping

[Cookie 019] Peanut Crisps

Okay, so I've come to realize 2 important things about my life this summer: 1) I've been baking a lot of cookies, obviously. 1) I have no (paying) job, and yet I am spending money. So I've finally begun to put 2 and 2 together and realize that I need to make money, and perhaps these cookies can be the way. But I don't know how to realize this dream just quite yet.

Psst! I got a Silpat! So awesome so awesome so awesome!

I want to sell cookies. Package them up all pretty and sell sell sell. But where? How? The farmer's market? Don't I need a permit and doesn't that cost money to get a stall? Who would buy them? Help! If anyone has any advice on how to sell baked goods for profit, please, I'd love some tips! Plus, I think my mother isn't so crazy about all the addictive, fatty baked goods continually circulating the household. I'd have to agree, but when I have nothing better to do, baking cookies always seems like a good idea.

Okay, now that I'm done whining and begging, let me tell you about these Peanut Crisps! They are so so so delicious! And plus, you can trick yourself into thinking that they are healthy because they only have 1/2 a stick of butter and have all that protein from the peanuts (hah, sounds like straight up health food, no?)

I chose this recipe because I really wanted a lighter cookie, so I wouldn't feel like I was going into cardiac arrest after eating a few (see Pecan Bars). In that regard, these were a success; but at the same time, they are highly addictive. I seriously can't stop myself from eating them. If you are a peanut fan, watch out, really.

My only complaints would be that the cookies weren't "light and airy" like Martha said. This could easily have been my fault (I didn't let the butter get to room temperature...maybe that's why?), but regardless, they are very crunchy, yet hard and chewy at the center. This is not a problem, by all means, but I would have liked them to be a little lighter.

I also think they need more salt, or at least I should have used salted peanuts that were more heavily salted. Either way, this problem can be easily remedied by adding a few extra shakes of salt.

Peanut Crisps
Makes about 3 1/2 dozen

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup salted whole peanuts

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir together flour, salt, and baking soda in a small bowl; set aside. Put butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
2. Mix in egg and vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Gradually add flour mixture; mix until combined. Stir in peanuts.
3. Drop 2 teaspoons of dough on baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing about 3 inches apart. Lightly flatten to 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are just golden, about 13 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks.Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 1 week.

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{End Results}
Baking Difficultly: 1/5
Ingredient Accessibility: 4/5
Tastiness: 4.5/5
Attractiveness: 4/5
Is it worth it?: Absolutely! If you like peanuts, you must make these, simple as that.

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P.S. I started up my old blog, Notions and Curios, again! Check it out!