Once upon a time there was.. French Butter Cookies

So.

We could make up some reasons we haven't been sharing our cute faces lately... like bluepigface disease or the whooping oink syndrome.... or we could pretend like our absence didn't happen and we have been blogging all of 2011.

We're going to go with the second choice.

Today, we present the fourth installment of our cookie extravaganza! French butter cookies.

For some reason, it never occurs to me that certain foods can be homemade.  Like circus peanuts.  

I only eat these wonderful cookies once a year, at Christmas time.  They come in a round tin and that is just how it is.  

So when I saw their recipe on Annie's Eats, my first reaction was confusion - it had really never occurred to me they could be made in a kitchen.  My second reaction, was, of course, I NEED TO MAKE THESE AND EAT THEM NOW.

If you are having the same train of thought, I recommend going with the second option. 

This recipe is from Cooks Illustrated via Annie's Eats.

ingredients

1 egg

10 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened

1/3 c + 1 Tbsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 Tbsp vanilla

1 1/2 c flour

1 egg white, lightly beaten w/ 1 tsp water

turbinado sugar (sugar in the raw)

instructions

1. Put the egg in a saucepan and cover with an inch of water.  Bring it to a boil, then cover the pot, remove from heat and let it sit 10 minutes.  

2. Fill a bowl with ice water.  Put the egg in the water and let it chill for 5 minutes.

3. Crack and peel the egg.  Eat the white. Push the yolk through a mesh sieve and collect the hard boiled bits.

4. Beat butter, sugar, salt, and egg-bits with an electric mixer, on medium speed until light and fluffy.  

5. Turn mixer to low, add the vanilla and just combine.

6. "Use a spatula to press the dough into a cohesive mass". 

Cornelius' note: this is the best description of dough ever - "cohesive mass"! I picture cookie dough taking over a city king kong-style.  That would be amazing.

7. Divide the dough in half and roll into a log about 6 inches long and 2" in diameter.  

Cornelius' note: CI specifically stated 1 3/4 inch diameter.  We decided this was a little ridiculous and we would not measure out dough.  

8. Wrap the logs in plastic and chill in the freezer until almost firm, about 30 minutes.  

Cornelius' tip: You can stop here and freeze the dough up to 2 weeks if you would like.  But if you need to eat it now or need a dough mass to invade a city, continue..

9. Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheets with parchment.

10. Slice the dough logs into 1/4" rounds. 

11. Roll the rounds into balls.

12.  Roll the balls into a 6" rope.

13. Twist the ropes into pretzel shapes.

14. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar.

15.  Bake about 15 minutes, until cookies are golden. Rotate pans halfway through baking.  

16.  Cool on baking sheets about 5 minutes, then transfer to racks to finish cooling.

These really came out even better than the store bough tins.  I think the only way we would have enjoyed it more is if the cohesive mass of cookie dough took over a city.  We urge you to try this and please send us the results.

Of course, if you just make them into cookies, we would urge you to send us those as well.  

We like cookies.

Pig, out!