Dickens wrote about the best of times and the worst. Today, Dorie Greenspan made it simpler: just go out and bake a good cookie.
These are dark days. Standard and Poor’s has rated us AA+, instead of AAA, and the stock market has nosedived. Think about it? Why should we trust someone called Standard and Poor’s? If it was Standard and Rich, well, maybe I would listen. And, in their analysis last week, S&P made a 2 TRILLION dollar mistake. When was the last time you botched something that bad in Excel? My Excel is set to beep and flash red when I do something that grotesque.
Dorie is right. What we need now is something good, something simple, something so comfort-foodish that all our anguish can be cast aside.
This cookie is not good. Not better than most. It is simply the best, the greatest, the real AAA. True, it does not contain one atom of chocolate, but we don’t need caffeine stimulation today. We need quiet comfort and this cookie is the perfect palliative. By itself, it is scrumptious. Served with some jam or [yes] some sugared peaches, it’s a delight. There is no vanilla here, only the soft, lush sweetness of butter.
If you want AAA back in your life, take out the butter and start baking.
AAA Shortbread Cookie
Yield: 2 dozen
Ingredients:
- 8 ounces (2 sticks) cold sweet butter
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 cups flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 300°F.
Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Using the paddle attachment, mix on low speed for 15 seconds. Add the flour and salt and continue mixing on low speed for 3 to 5 minutes, until the dough comes together. It will look dry just before it comes together.
Put the dough on a lightly floured board and roll it out ¼-inch thick. With a 3-inch star cutter or other desired shape, cut out the cookies. Chill them for 1 hour in the refrigerator or 5 to 10 minutes in the freezer.
Source: Adapted from Emily Luchetti