Favorite cookie?

 

 

 
Cute picture of Maya, doing a fine job cutting up butter for cookies. In the old days, we used mostly shortening and margarine for baking. Butter was too expensive and saved for special occasions. 

 

Do they even make that stick "oleo" anymore? The FDA decided that artificial trans fats were unsafe to eat, and it was banned from the food supply in 2015. Of course, that doesn't mean everything out of a package is healthy. But a pound of real butter costs less now than a tub of "spread" made with vegetable oil.

Anyway, what's your favorite cookie? I love fresh shortbread-- crispy and not too sweet. Perfect with tea. Martha Stewart, the Queen of Complexity, comes up with simple recipes sometimes, like brown sugar shortbread cookies with chocolate chunks. After the dough log is chilled and hard as a rock (just about pure fat) you brush it with egg white and roll the outside in coarse sugar, which gives a nice crunch.

The secret to shortbread is slow and low baking. It crisps up after it cools. Shortbread is white, but the brown sugar gives these some nice color. 

I messed with her recipe on the second batch and used chopped almonds and almond extract instead of the chocolate chips and vanilla. Don't tell Martha, but we liked it even better.