Maxines are these wonderful cookies we make only at Christmas time. It’s past Christmas, and I’m not planning on making more unless Suzen caves on our only-once-a-year rule, but this season’s version were particularly good. Good tasting as always but this time good looking too. Here’s a trick you can use to get those refrigerator cookies round, or at least closer to round.
Maxines consist of a chocolate-nut center that is wrapped in a brown sugar dough. The whole package is chilled, then cut and baked. The trick is do do that wrapping and not have any “holes” that expand when baking. And, you want the whole thing to be round.
We’ve tried different techniques, including wrapping the log in waxed paper, putting a ruler edge next to the base, on pulling on the free end of the wax paper. That kinda works, but not always.
This technique is better. When you finish off a roll of paper towel, you are left with that cardboard core. Cut it lengthwise, put the log inside, seal it up, then press and roll. I’ve found it’s best to do the wrapping with the brown sugar dough and then do an first chill. You want that dough to have a little resistance so you can shape it without simply squishing it. The picture tells the tale. The cookies look solid, no holes between filling dough, and they don’t look like a machine stamped them out. Homemade, with some minor departures from perfection, can be quite exceptional.
Oh, you want a Maxine now? Just search on this blog and you’ll find this wonderful recipe.