Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Rosemary butter cookies

The second part of the edible Christmas gifts ...

rosemary butter cookies
{rosemary butter cookies}

These are simple but the texture is excellent and the rosemary makes it interesting. Bonus - no cookie cutters needed. Log cookies are my fave. You could easily make these ahead of time and freeze the logs (wrap well in saran wrap and then with aluminum foil). I find they cut more easily if they aren't completely frozen, so I would let them defrost in the fridge before cutting.

rosemary butter cookies
{rosemary butter cookies}

For the packaging, I just used stuff I already had lying around. I tucked 6 cookies into small wax paper bags and then tucked those inside my larger kraft paper bags. Kraft paper on its own isn't ideal for cookies because you'll end up with grease stains. I had stamped the kraft paper bags with a holiday stamp I designed for us this year. On the folded down flap, I used my favorite green pen to hand write and draw a simple illustration (can you tell that it's supposed to be rosemary? drawing is not my strong suit) and secured it with a bit of washi tape.

rosemary, kitchen
{rosemary, kitchen}
Rosemary butter cookies (supposed to make about 5 dozen, but I found it to be closer to 3 dozen, somehow - recipe from here, I didn't make changes, but I'm reposting because the MS website tends to delete recipes and move links, which is really frustrating if you find this post a year from now)

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg white, beaten (the egg white is for right before baking, so don't bother with it if you plan to freeze them for later)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 cup fine sanding sugar (ditto egg white note)

:: Beat butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, at least two minutes. Mix in whole egg and vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour, rosemary, and salt, and mix until combined.

:: Halve dough; shape each half into a log. Place each log on a 12-by-16-inch sheet of parchment. Roll in parchment to 1 1/2 inches in diameter, pressing a ruler along edge of parchment at each turn to narrow log. Transfer to paper-towel tubes to hold shape, and freeze until firm, about 1 hour. (This isn't all completely necessary - you can be less exact)
:: Preheat oven to 375. Brush each log with egg white; roll in sanding sugar. Cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds. Space 1 inch apart on baking sheets lined with parchment. Bake until edges are golden, 18 to 20 minutes.

:: Let cool on sheets on wire racks. Store in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days.
The recipe doubles easily, so I made four logs at once and got about 7 dozen cookies out of the deal. D and I ate the leftovers the following week and we both agreed they were even better than the day they were baked.

EDIT - I used this recipe for the wedding, and I couldn't face rolling the dough into logs, so I just made them as drop cookies. I used a cookie scoop, plopped them onto a tray lined with a Silpat and then pressed them down slightly with a drinking glass. They looked (and tasted) great.

18 comments:

  1. Beautiful - both the recipe and the lovely wrapping job!

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  2. hmm yummy!
    loving the wrapping
    kisses

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  3. So pretty! I thought I had enough Christmas cookies, but I am tempted to try these out this weekend (especially since I have these ingredients on hand).

    P.S. So glad you're back at it with the blog. We've missed you! You are one of the first I check out on my Reader. Thanks!

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  4. Rachel! I was just trying to figure out what to do with some leftover rosemary in my fridge, and these are PERFECT. Thanks so much.

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  5. i love that picture of your kitchen (ps-i am one of your newest followers!)

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  6. mm these look perfect. so convenient not to need cookie cutters. and i love the brown paper bag wrapping.

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  8. I love butter cookies! I also love your little stamp and rosemary drawing.

    http://www.snacktive.blogspot.com

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  9. I made rosemary chocolate cupcakes awhile back and my husband thought I was crazy. Perhaps this is a better (less weird) combination. I'll have to give it a shot!

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  10. they look delicate like shortbread

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  11. I love the wrapping!! Now what's left is to try making the cookies ;)
    I made a praline and chocolate dessert if you wanna take a look:

    http://tastearea.blogspot.com/

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  12. mmmmmm delicious!! I have a baking urge when the only urge I should be having is to get on the treadmill! :)

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  13. Ohh! It looks sooo delicious, I want some!!
    xx

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  14. i don't recall where i saw this recipe before, but yeah, these are pretty friggin' amazing.

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  15. I love these simple, edible and delicious homemade gifts. Very inspiring for next year!

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  16. These sound incredible. Are they like shortbread? I made a sweet & salty rosemary shortbread a ways back and it was pretty mind blowing.

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