 |  |  |
 mix the dough |  roll into a log by hand |  smooth log w parchment paper |  slice to bake |
 ready to bake |  they puff up & spread |  after baking |  note how thick they are |
We're going to a community "Havana Nights" tonight, so wanted to bring some CUBAN SUGAR COOKIES. I found several recipes on line, and they were all a little different ~ but I noticed flaws in all of them. So, I took what I liked from each ~ made some additions and changed what I thought was wrong. The results were delicious and different from your usual sugar cookie. You form the dough into a log and chill. Then slice & bake as many as you want fresh at a time.
CUBAN Shortbread SUGAR COOKIES
2-1/4 cups flour ........................................2 TB cornstarch
1/2 cup white sugar.................................. 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 tsp. baking powder ...............................1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening (i.e. Crisco) .............. 1 egg
1 lime (get as much zest off of it as you can ~ and then juice it)
1 tsp. vanilla extract ..................................1/2 tsp. lime extract (if you can find it)
If you can't find lime extract, then use about 2 tsp. lime jello powder (you don't want to turn the cookies green, but just to give a faint lime flavor)
the lime juice from the lime
***
1 egg white (or liquid egg white) whisked with about 1 tsp. lime jello powder or lime juice ~ clear Sparkling Sugar or sanding sugar
***
Cream the butter & shortening (in electric mixer bowl) with both sugars until smooth and creamy. Add the egg, salt, vanilla, lime extract (if you have it) and lime jello powder ~ beat until smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides.
Add the baking powder and cornstarch to mix them in & scrape down the sides. Gradually add the flour (I did a cup at a time & held a towel around the mixer b/c my smaller one doesn't have a splash guard). It should start to come off the sides and around the paddle ~ but if it still feels sticky to the touch, you can add another couple TB of flour (and beat them in well).
I used a piece of parchment paper to wrap the dough up in for chilling. The width of the paper was just the right size for my log and maybe about 12" long. I put big spoonfuls on the parchment paper and smoothed them together into a log. As you roll the log up in the parchment paper, press down slightly so that it's mostly even all the way down. Refrigerate at least 2 hours. (If you're going to refrigerate for days, put the log into a plastic bag when it's hardened)
Ready? Preheat the oven to 350. Line baking sheets with parchment paper (I used 3 big baking sheets ~ staggering 12 on the 1st 2 sheets, and then just had 6 on the last baking sheet. (As an example of how screwy one of the recipes I saw was ~ for this amount of flour, they said you got 6 cookies total! Say WHAT?? Were they making them each in a small pizza pan?? ) I cut mine about 1/4" thick and fixed the shapes when I put them on the baking sheet. Then use that egg white that you whisked with the lime juice to brush on top of each one, and sprinkle with Sanding or Sparkling Sugar.
Mine were done perfectly at 13 minutes (although most other cookies are good at 9-10 minutes) ~ they'll still give a little when you touch the top, but will firm up as they cool. (and 2 of the other recipes said to bake them 20-25 minutes! I don't think these people really bake). So, I got about 28-30 of them and they were fairly thick, but soft still.
CUBAN Shortbread SUGAR COOKIES
2-1/4 cups flour ........................................2 TB cornstarch
1/2 cup white sugar.................................. 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 tsp. baking powder ...............................1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening (i.e. Crisco) .............. 1 egg
1 lime (get as much zest off of it as you can ~ and then juice it)
1 tsp. vanilla extract ..................................1/2 tsp. lime extract (if you can find it)
If you can't find lime extract, then use about 2 tsp. lime jello powder (you don't want to turn the cookies green, but just to give a faint lime flavor)
the lime juice from the lime
***
1 egg white (or liquid egg white) whisked with about 1 tsp. lime jello powder or lime juice ~ clear Sparkling Sugar or sanding sugar
***
Cream the butter & shortening (in electric mixer bowl) with both sugars until smooth and creamy. Add the egg, salt, vanilla, lime extract (if you have it) and lime jello powder ~ beat until smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides.
Add the baking powder and cornstarch to mix them in & scrape down the sides. Gradually add the flour (I did a cup at a time & held a towel around the mixer b/c my smaller one doesn't have a splash guard). It should start to come off the sides and around the paddle ~ but if it still feels sticky to the touch, you can add another couple TB of flour (and beat them in well).
I used a piece of parchment paper to wrap the dough up in for chilling. The width of the paper was just the right size for my log and maybe about 12" long. I put big spoonfuls on the parchment paper and smoothed them together into a log. As you roll the log up in the parchment paper, press down slightly so that it's mostly even all the way down. Refrigerate at least 2 hours. (If you're going to refrigerate for days, put the log into a plastic bag when it's hardened)
Ready? Preheat the oven to 350. Line baking sheets with parchment paper (I used 3 big baking sheets ~ staggering 12 on the 1st 2 sheets, and then just had 6 on the last baking sheet. (As an example of how screwy one of the recipes I saw was ~ for this amount of flour, they said you got 6 cookies total! Say WHAT?? Were they making them each in a small pizza pan?? ) I cut mine about 1/4" thick and fixed the shapes when I put them on the baking sheet. Then use that egg white that you whisked with the lime juice to brush on top of each one, and sprinkle with Sanding or Sparkling Sugar.
Mine were done perfectly at 13 minutes (although most other cookies are good at 9-10 minutes) ~ they'll still give a little when you touch the top, but will firm up as they cool. (and 2 of the other recipes said to bake them 20-25 minutes! I don't think these people really bake). So, I got about 28-30 of them and they were fairly thick, but soft still.
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