This was going to be a blog about shortbread cookies (click for recipe), which are a close relative to these European Butter Wafers. But I added one too many sticks of butter—something that happens when you think you know what you’re doing and forget the cardinal rule of baking: read through and check all ingredients. It was too late at night to consider adding all of the rest of the ingredients needed to double the batch, plus it would have been technically difficult as the mixture was in my stand mixer bowl, so I thought: How bad could it be to have an extra stick of butter in cookies? The answer is: Not bad at all!
European Butter Wafers
3 sticks butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
3 tablespoons almond milk (or milk)
1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 and 3/4 cups sorghum flour
1 cup arrowroot starch
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
2 teaspoons baking powder
Pinch salt
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar for several minutes. Combine egg yolks, almond milk, and vanilla, beating this into the creamed mixture. In a small bowl, mix sorghum flour, arrowroot starch, xanthan gum, baking powder, and salt. Gradually incorporate the flour mixture.
Cover dough and chill one hour before baking.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease nonstick cookie sheets. Drop cookies the size of a walnut with spoon or fingers. Leave about 2” for spreading.
Bake at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes (convection oven: 325 degrees for about 10 minutes) or until lightly browned. Wait to remove from cookie sheets for several minutes. Yield: 4-5 dozen cookies. Freeze or eat within 24 hours for maximal freshness.
***
These tender cookies look plain. But looks truly can be deceiving. Between the butter and the vanilla, these cookies are rich without being too much to eat. They taste just as good right from the oven as they do when they cool.
The butter wafers are flatter and obviously softer than the shortbread cookies, but both are yummy. The wafers have the advantage of not having to be shaped, but they are a bit more delicate. When I had baked the shortbread cookies for a friend who can eat wheat, she loved them so much that she asked for the recipe, along with tips on where to buy ingredients.
So, if you make a “mistake” while cooking (or in life in general), maybe you’ll make a discovery. I’m glad I did.
European Butter Wafers
3 sticks butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
3 tablespoons almond milk (or milk)
1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 and 3/4 cups sorghum flour
1 cup arrowroot starch
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
2 teaspoons baking powder
Pinch salt
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar for several minutes. Combine egg yolks, almond milk, and vanilla, beating this into the creamed mixture. In a small bowl, mix sorghum flour, arrowroot starch, xanthan gum, baking powder, and salt. Gradually incorporate the flour mixture.
Cover dough and chill one hour before baking.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease nonstick cookie sheets. Drop cookies the size of a walnut with spoon or fingers. Leave about 2” for spreading.
Bake at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes (convection oven: 325 degrees for about 10 minutes) or until lightly browned. Wait to remove from cookie sheets for several minutes. Yield: 4-5 dozen cookies. Freeze or eat within 24 hours for maximal freshness.
***
These tender cookies look plain. But looks truly can be deceiving. Between the butter and the vanilla, these cookies are rich without being too much to eat. They taste just as good right from the oven as they do when they cool.
The butter wafers are flatter and obviously softer than the shortbread cookies, but both are yummy. The wafers have the advantage of not having to be shaped, but they are a bit more delicate. When I had baked the shortbread cookies for a friend who can eat wheat, she loved them so much that she asked for the recipe, along with tips on where to buy ingredients.
So, if you make a “mistake” while cooking (or in life in general), maybe you’ll make a discovery. I’m glad I did.
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