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| Photo by R |
Meh.
I know. I felt the same way too.
Vanilla Cookies? Isn't this what bakers call plain cookies because they're all out of other ingredients?
But wait. Just hang on a second. This ain't just any recipe you find on the streets. (Or the internet.) This recipe ain't shy about its pedigree. Known as Ovis Mollis in Italy, this recipe was from one of Italy's baking bibles: the 1927 classic Il Pasticcere e Confettiere Moderno. When Francine Segan was writing Dolci: Italy's Sweets, Giancarlo Gonizzi from Academia Barilla in Parma recommended this recipe above all others.
Taste-wise, this, without a doubt, is one of the most impressive cookie I've eaten. No exaggeration. This ranks among the top of my list, alongside other winners like Famous Amos Cookie recipe, cocoa tuiles and Hazelnut Cookies. Actually, scratch that. This recipe is so simple, it beats all of the others. Hands down. This recipe needs no exotic nuts or chocolate to bolster its flavour. In fact, this recipe doesn't call for any exotic ingredients at all, just the things that you probably already have in your fridge.
Make the full recipe. Don't halve it. You'll thank your lucky stars you did.
Makes about 30-40 cookies. Recipe published in Dolci: Italy's Sweets by Francine Segan.
Ingredients
5 Hard-boiled egg yolks
100g (1/2 cup) sugar
200g Butter, softened
85g (3/4 cup) Cornstarch
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
198g (1 1/2 cup) all-purpose flour
Confectioners' sugar, jam, or melted chocolate (optional)
Steps
1) Line a baking sheet with baking paper, or parchment paper. Boil 5 eggs until hard-boiled, about 15 minutes at a rolling boil. Scoop out the egg yolks, and add to the sugar in a large bowl. Mix until smooth.
2) Add the butter. With an electric mixer, or by hand, continue mixing until creamy. Add the cornstarch and vanilla, mixing until just combined. Add in the flour, using your hands to incorporate the flour until just combined. Do not overwork the dough.
Ovis Mollis (Vanilla Cookies)
Makes about 30-40 cookies. Recipe published in Dolci: Italy's Sweets by Francine Segan.
Ingredients
5 Hard-boiled egg yolks
100g (1/2 cup) sugar
200g Butter, softened
85g (3/4 cup) Cornstarch
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
198g (1 1/2 cup) all-purpose flour
Confectioners' sugar, jam, or melted chocolate (optional)
Steps
1) Line a baking sheet with baking paper, or parchment paper. Boil 5 eggs until hard-boiled, about 15 minutes at a rolling boil. Scoop out the egg yolks, and add to the sugar in a large bowl. Mix until smooth.
2) Add the butter. With an electric mixer, or by hand, continue mixing until creamy. Add the cornstarch and vanilla, mixing until just combined. Add in the flour, using your hands to incorporate the flour until just combined. Do not overwork the dough.
3) Pinch off bits of dough and shape them into 1/2 inch balls. Place them on the prepared sheets and make a dent in the center of each ball with your thumb. Make the cookies small! You want them to be tender and crunchy all the way.
4) Place the filled baking sheets in the refrigerator for 10-30 minutes to firm up the dough and preheat the oven to 165C. (Actually, if I'm short on time, I am guilty of just putting each baking sheet into the freezer as I finish molding the dough on each tray, and then putting everything straight into my oven when all the dough has been molded.)
5) Bake for about 20-25 minutes, until the cookies are light coloured and dry to the touch. Halfway during the baking, the cookies might spread just a little and make the thumbprints shallow, so I just stick my finger in each dough again to reinforce the pits.
6) Cool to room temperature on the baking sheets without handling them, as they are fragile when hot. Serve as they are, or fill the thumbprints with jam or chocolate, or dust with confectioners' sugar.
Note:
The original recipe mixes all the ingredients with a food processor, which you could certainly do.
Protip!: The original instructions was "shape [the dough] into 1/2 inch balls", but I like to make mine taller than they are wide. This way, after you make the indentation, the walls of the cookies remain taller and the cookies spread out less during baking.
Protip!: Jam-filled vanilla cookies do not travel well. If packing some up as a gift, chocolate-filling is probably safer. f your container is just of the perfect height, putting chocolate-filled cookies under jam-filled cookies would be a pleasant surprise for the recipient.
4) Place the filled baking sheets in the refrigerator for 10-30 minutes to firm up the dough and preheat the oven to 165C. (Actually, if I'm short on time, I am guilty of just putting each baking sheet into the freezer as I finish molding the dough on each tray, and then putting everything straight into my oven when all the dough has been molded.)
5) Bake for about 20-25 minutes, until the cookies are light coloured and dry to the touch. Halfway during the baking, the cookies might spread just a little and make the thumbprints shallow, so I just stick my finger in each dough again to reinforce the pits.
6) Cool to room temperature on the baking sheets without handling them, as they are fragile when hot. Serve as they are, or fill the thumbprints with jam or chocolate, or dust with confectioners' sugar.
Note:
The original recipe mixes all the ingredients with a food processor, which you could certainly do.
Protip!: The original instructions was "shape [the dough] into 1/2 inch balls", but I like to make mine taller than they are wide. This way, after you make the indentation, the walls of the cookies remain taller and the cookies spread out less during baking.
Protip!: Jam-filled vanilla cookies do not travel well. If packing some up as a gift, chocolate-filling is probably safer. f your container is just of the perfect height, putting chocolate-filled cookies under jam-filled cookies would be a pleasant surprise for the recipient.
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