For My Sugar

I just polished off an entire sleeve of frozen Thin Mints™.  Just now.  Just this very second.

It's Girl Scout Cookie season in our neighborhood.  And it seems that every where you turn, you'll see a green-vested kid hawking a box of cookies your way.

And yes, I happened to indulge recently.  I thought one box of Thin Mints wouldn't hurt and would probably round off our once-a-year night of football-tv-watching rather nicely.  This is a rare meal in our house and usually consists of junk, more junk, some cheese, salt, and maybe something processed.  So, a box of Thin Mints made total sense, right?

Only, I forgot this year that one of my two kids does.not.like chocolate.  And to keep everything equitable, because that's really my job-more than anything in the world, equitability between two siblings-I thought I'd rustle around in the kitchen and whip up some mouth-watering non-chocolate sugar cookies.

Behold.  This is not my own finished product, but a very close example:

Photo: Sarah Shatz from food52

Your Best Chewy Sugar Cookie 

(from food52)

Serves about 2 dozen

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 cup all-purpose unbleached flour (I use King Arthur)
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup turbinado, or course sugar

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line 2 large sheet pans with parchment paper.
2. Cream butter and sugars for 1 minute. Scrape sides of bowl. Continue beating for another minute. Scrape bowl again.
3. Add vanilla. Beat for 1 minute. Scrape sides of bowl.
4. Add egg. Beat for 1 minute. Scrape sides of bowl.
5. Add flour, salt and baking soda. Beat 1 minute. Scrape sides of bowl and beat for another minute.
6. Place course sugar in small, shallow bowl. Using a small cookie/ice cream scoop (mine is 1 ½“ in diameter), scoop balls of dough and drop a few at a time in the course sugar and gently roll around. Place balls of dough on parchment, leaving about 1 ½“ space around each. My pans fit 12 cookies very comfortably.
7. Do not press the balls down. This will ensure a chewy middle.
8. Bake for 8 - 10 minutes, turning and reversing pans midway through baking. Resist the urge to bake your cookies longer, or they won’t be chewy. The tops don’t get much color, but the bottoms will be nicely golden.
9. Place pans on cooling racks. When cool, store cookies in air-tight containers.

 

 

They are damn good and beat a sleeve of Thin Mints any day.