Melt-in-the-mouth Buttery Butter Cookies

Well, I should say this is the type of butter cookie that is to die for. If you are looking for a cookie that is smooth, crispy and has that melt-in-the mouth magic, then you should continue reading.

I have always loved butter cookies ever since childhood.  So, how do I personally perceive a butter cookie?  To me, butter cookies just go perfectly well with a cuppa of hot coffee, especially when you are catching up with a group of close friends or relatives over tea time in a secret garden.  Doesn't that sound heavenly?

Anyway, I happened to stumble upon the recipe well not at all from a middle-aged housewife who spends most her time in the kitchen making good food for the family, neither from any popular chef who has won countless of awards nor a granny who desperately wants to pass down her secret recipe but simply from a young city chic who just has a passion creating good food!  I was completely astounded that he could (yes, it's a HE!) concoct a recipe by just knowing the ingredients.  Amazed! Amazed! Apparently, this cookie had once been a craze in Hong Kong, popularly known as Jenny Butter Cookies.  So, what is so special about this cookie, which I highly recommend that you try has to offer?

Personally, the texture of the cookie wins it all!  As mentioned earlier, it is soft yet crispy, fine and smooth, buttery and melty in the mouth.  Almost perfect!  The only flaw that I can think of right now .....it has to be handled very gently!  Why?.......it is fragile and crumbly!  Is this THE cookie you are looking for?  It's a definite YES, for me!!

    

Ingredients

(Recipe adapted from ZaTaYaYummy)

• 150 grams (5 oz) of salted butter, softened
• 30 grams (1/4 cup) of icing sugar
• 95 grams (3/4 cup) of plain flour
• 75 grams (8 tbsp.) of corn starch 

Note: 

1.  The recipe yields about 15 cookies.  You may double/triple up if 15 is insufficient.

2.  Make sure you use a high quality butter (Golden Churn, Lurpak, SCS etc etc)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 150C or 130C fan-forced.
2. Cream softened salted butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Stir in plain flour and cornstarch.
4. Transfer into piping bag with a star tip. Pipe evenly onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
5. Bake it in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes.

HAVE A NICE DAY AND HAPPY BAKING !!!

Nan Khatai/Indian Short Bread

If you are a cookie-mania, then this is definitely a must-try recipe.  Seriously, you just have got to try this!  Believe me, it's super devilishly crispy!  The best ever cookies I have tried alongside Famous Amos!

I got this recipe from another foodie papa who cooks, hails from Singapore, Ken Goh with his blog named Guai Shu Shu.  Upon looking at the photos and reading his post, I instantly got hooked up with this recipe and eventually bookmarked it before I got the chance to make a batch the previous Sunday.  Unfortunately, it only lived for two days and I had to make another one on Wednesday.

For my first batch, I followed Ken's recipe strictly where I used ghee, a kind of clarified butter.  However, I tweaked the recipe a little for my subsequent batch where I experimented it using just normal butter.  The verdict?  Well, I have to say that I would choose the former, Ken's original recipe.  Though both are deliciously crispy, somehow or rather, the one with ghee holds the edge by a wee bit.  It is apparently lighter in texture and undoubtedly crispier, giving it the extra kick upon nibbling as compared to the other one using butter (which is more buttery, more compressed and looks sturdier).

   
The Recipe:
(yields about 70 pcs)

150g of self raising flour *
50g of semolina flour
70g of castor sugar
150g of ghee or butter
1 egg beaten
1/2 tps of vanilla esence

3/4 tsp of salt**
Adequate almond flakes or whole almonds for the cookies

Note:
   *I ran out of self-raising flour, so I used all-purpose flour 
     with 1 1/4 tsp of baking powder
** I added some salt to give the cookies a tinge of 
     sweet-salty  taste

Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 185 degree Celsius.

Prepare 2 baking trays, lined with parchment/baking paper

In a mixing bowl, beat the ghee and sugar together until light and fluffy.

Add egg and vanilla, beat until well mixed.

Pour the batter into a piping bag and pipe the batter on the baking tray.  Leave adequate space for 

expansion.

Put some almond flakes or almond chunks or the whole almonds on top of the pastry.

Baked in the oven for about 15 minutes or slightly before the cookies turn golden brown.

Cool the cookies completely before storing in an air-tight container.  

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Hope that you like this type of cookie.  Forgive me if my photos do not look appealing and convincing enough.  Seriously, you've got to try it to love it!  Just as Ken put it:

"If there is any cookie that I want to sell during Chinese New Year or other festivals,
this will definitely be my top priority."