A friend of mine recently called this blog "boring as heck." As much as that bugged me (he's always been a little too brutally honest), he's right. I'm sorry if you as readers have had the same feelings toward this blog, but hey! I don't really care. It's more like a repository of recipes anyway, and if you've ever looked through a recipe box, the most exciting thing you'll find in there are the butter stains on the recipe used most often. But hopefully you'll find something that makes you go "OOH I want to make that!"-- hopefully. If not, that's okay. There are thousands of other food blogs out there, so if you don't find something here that looks tasty, move on and look somewhere else, I won't be offended, really.
Now, that aside, I'm sorry I've been rather neglectful as of late! It's been an incredibly busy year, and it's not going to get any slower before the year is over. I do have exciting news though! Starting in September, I will be participating in a three-month study abroad to Italy, and I will be taking a cooking class conducted in Italian! I hope to post on here pictures of things that we make in class, tricks that I learn, and plenty of recipes. Fingers crossed. I'm also planning on including introductions to delicious foods I come across while in Italy, including the thing I've waited my whole life to try-- gelatto. That's right, I've never had gelatto, because in my mind, the first time I taste it, it will be in Italy. Blame it on this:
Okay, so there's no gelatto in the second picture, but if you've seen that movie, you know she starts eating it (and spilling it on Cary Grant's suit) a few more feet down the quay (okay, it's not in Italy either, but France is cool too).
In any case, here's a recipe for you now. The recipe for these is from Smitten Kitchen (surprise, surprise), and I knew I had to make it because to me, limes = summer. And powdered sugar tastes cool for some reason, and cool is great when it's summer.
These cookies were delicious on days one and two, a little stale on day three (but not anything seven seconds in the microwave didn't fix), and crunchy on day four-- but I ate them anyway. They probably keep a day or two longer if you keep them in an airtight container, but I felt the need to keep them in a paper bag. It looked cooler. Anyway, these are delicious, and the only bad thing about this super easy recipe is that key limes are rather recalcitrant when it comes to zesting (compared to lemons).
Without further ado, Smitten's recipe (copied nearly directly, which I usually try not to do, but today I am lazy, so I hope she doesn't mind). Pictures are, of course, my own (why would I try to blame such crappy quality photographs on her, anyway? I really need to stop taking pictures in the middle of the night with the scrapings of the barrel/batch).
From Smitten Kitchen, adapted from Martha Stewart
You can make these with regular limes as well, but if you run into some key limes, they’re worth it.
You could also keep the logs frozen for up to two months, and use them as the meltaway craving hits.
Yield: 5 dozen
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
Grated zest of 4 tiny or 2 large key limes
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour (a.k.a. 2 cups minus 2 tablespoons)
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, cream butter and 1/3 cup sugar until fluffy. Add lime zest, juice, and vanilla; beat until fluffy.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, and salt. Add to butter mixture, and beat on low speed until combined.
3. Between two 8-by-12-inch pieces of parchment paper, roll dough into two 1 1/4-inch-diameter logs. Chill at least 1 hour. (I only had plastic wrap, and it worked fine)
4. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Place remaining 2/3 cup sugar in a resealable plastic bag. Remove parchment from logs; slice dough into 1/4-inch-thick rounds. Place rounds on baking sheets, spaced 1 inch apart. (Again my lack of parchment paper didn't turn out to be the end of the world. These cookies won't grow and won't stick, so you're probably fine sticking them directly onto the pan, as long as you have a good pan.)
5. Bake cookies until barely golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool slightly, just three or four minutes. While still warm, place cookies in the sugar-filled bag; toss to coat. Bake or freeze remaining dough. Store baked cookies in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. (I'm certain she means a plastic ziploc bag, but I only had paper bags, so that was what I used. Powdery dust flew out the bottom though, so make sure you hold it over the sink if that's what you end up using too)
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
Grated zest of 4 tiny or 2 large key limes
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour (a.k.a. 2 cups minus 2 tablespoons)
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, cream butter and 1/3 cup sugar until fluffy. Add lime zest, juice, and vanilla; beat until fluffy.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, and salt. Add to butter mixture, and beat on low speed until combined.
3. Between two 8-by-12-inch pieces of parchment paper, roll dough into two 1 1/4-inch-diameter logs. Chill at least 1 hour. (I only had plastic wrap, and it worked fine)
4. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Place remaining 2/3 cup sugar in a resealable plastic bag. Remove parchment from logs; slice dough into 1/4-inch-thick rounds. Place rounds on baking sheets, spaced 1 inch apart. (Again my lack of parchment paper didn't turn out to be the end of the world. These cookies won't grow and won't stick, so you're probably fine sticking them directly onto the pan, as long as you have a good pan.)
5. Bake cookies until barely golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool slightly, just three or four minutes. While still warm, place cookies in the sugar-filled bag; toss to coat. Bake or freeze remaining dough. Store baked cookies in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. (I'm certain she means a plastic ziploc bag, but I only had paper bags, so that was what I used. Powdery dust flew out the bottom though, so make sure you hold it over the sink if that's what you end up using too)
3 comments:
I'm very excited for your Itly blog entries!! I do hope you are able to do them... She's only been gone 48 hours!
Also, I want those cookies. Now.
Gelato! You must post something after you try it for the first time.
Ditto Megan about those cookies. (I like how you describe any alterations you make - by intent or by necessity - from the recipe.)
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