Walnut Cookies

Melt-in-your-mouth four ingredients cookies that everyone who likes to cook should have in their repertoire. They are quick to make and so sweetly delicious. I believe these cookies hail from the mediterranean and you see versions of them in many middle east cuisines. The dough has to be chilled first and then baked at low temperature (I use convection mode at 320℉. ) You can roll the dough into a log, refrigerate until cold and then cut into rounds or you can scoop it out with a small ice cream scoop and form into balls that you then refrigerate before baking. If I roll it into logs I allow it to cool and then roll the logs in a mixture of ground nuts and sugar before slicing into individual cookies. Whichever way  you make them, I am sure you’d love them. I do.

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Ingredients:

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1 cup flour

1 cup ground walnuts (or other nuts)

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter

 

Powdered sugar for dusting

or

1/2 cup ground nuts mixed with 1 tablespoon sugar

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Directions:

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Combine flour, sugar and grounds nuts in a bowl.

Bring butter to room temperature and add to the flour. You can defrost the butter in the microwave to soften but do not allow it to melt.

With a spatula mix the soft butter into the flour. Keep mixing until you get a dough that’s beginning to stick together. Now you can use your clean hands to press it together into a ball of dough.

You can shape it in two different ways:

Either roll the dough into one or two cylinders, wrap them with plastic and refrigerate until cold. When cold, remove from the fridge and roll in the nuts and sugar mixture. Return to the fridge for a few more minutes and then slice into individual round cookies.

Or, scoop the dough into little balls with a small ice cream scoop. You can smooth the balls with the palm of your hand. Place cookies on a tray and refrigerate until cold, about 30 minutes.

To bake: place cookies (either shape) on silpat lined baking sheet. Place in a 325℉ oven and bake about 20 minutes until they are slightly puffed and cooked. They will still be soft but will settle as they cool.

Remove from oven and dust with powdered sugar while they are still warm. The sugar will melt a little into the cookies so in a few minutes or before serving, dust them again.

Enjoy with a cup of tea. It’s on me.

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