Oh, Honey.
You just don’t even know what I’m about to do to you.
And you won’t know whether to thank me or, um, not.
They’re called Melt Aways.
And you’re just going to have to trust me but they are amazing.
Amazing.
I don’t take credit.
Once upon a time, many years ago, one of Mike’s administrative assistants made these for us.
And I requested the recipe.
Okay, I begged.
And then I demanded.
You’ll see.
You start with these winners…
That would be butter, flour, powdered sugar and the mystery ingredient…corn starch.
First you’ll dump a bunch o’ butter in a mixer…this many shredded butter wrappers always makes me happy.
And makes me do a little dance.
After you’ll whipped that butter up a bit, you’ll dump in the flour…
…the powdered sugar…
…and the corn starch.
At this point it has just dawned on me that this may be the most monochromatic recipe post ever. White, white, white…with a little bit of beige.
I apologize.
Let’s just call this tone-on-tone baking, shall we?
This is what corn starch does on skin.
When we lived on the island, we used corn starch to get the sand off of us. Seriously. It was genius, I tell ya.
Moving on.
Beat all this loveliness into submission, until the cookie dough is well blended. The dough is rather dry, not at all ‘cakey’ like most cookie doughs.
It’s all part of the magic.
Drop by spoonfuls onto a baking sheet and pop in the oven at 350 degrees.
…like so…
…and thus…
Is it normal to wonder if you should airbrush your hands?
I’m just checking.
Meanwhile, gather these goodies…
…powdered sugar, softened cream cheese and a dash of vanilla.
Throw it in another mixer. Because washing the bowl from the first mixer might take a while. And you’re busy making cookies and taking pictures of the baking process while you should be putting children to bed.
More tone-on-tone baking. Sorry.
Be sure and check on your cookies at this point. You want them to be a soft cream color…something about as perfect as this…
…as opposed to this…
Golden brown in a no-no when it comes to tone-on-tone cooking. It’s too much contrast.
Now back to that ambrosia you were mixing up in the other mixer you’ve had since your wedding shower in ’89…
I take that cream cheese frosting and put it in a big baggie…
…and snip off the end with scissors…which usually ends up being a pair of child’s safety scissors…because the children in this house have made off with all the real scissors…
Once the cookies have completely cooled, I give a little of this to ’em…
The frosting stiffens up a bit after half an hour or so and gives the nicest hint of crunch to these pillows of buttery goodness.
So here’s the recipe, just for you to try…
1/2 pound (yes, half a pound) of room-temp butter (don’t even talk to me about margarine. Get in or get out, but butter only…)
3/4 cup of cornstarch
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 cup flour
Beat the butter until softened then add dry ingredients, thoroughly blending. Drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes, checking frequently for done-ness. Allow to cool.
Fictional Frosting: (this is pretty much a fabrication. I make at least double this amount and I never measure and I do it all by taste and sheen…but for the chemists in the group, I think it goes a little something like this…)
3 oz. cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup powdered sugar
Blend in mixer. Consistency should be more ‘runny’ that cake frosting but with some body to it. Put the frosting in a baggie and snip one of the corners. Once cookies have completely cooled, squeeze a bit of the frosting onto the cookie. Allow frosting to set until somewhat firm.
These are Mike’s very favoristist cookies ever. He says that their muted sweetness and light consistency are what draw him back every time.
Kind of like me, I suppose…
Tue, 18 May 2010 09:59:00 +0000julielylescarr
