Cranberry almond cookie

Friday is baking day. It is also the day I meet up with people I like. And I show it by plying them with freshly baked cookies of the day.

Of course, in cases of  a baking disaster , I dreamed  of feeding my enemies instead.

Luckily, these are far and few in between. The baking disaster and enemies, I mean.

What do I say about this great looking cookie ? No need for tacky cookie cutters and  no odd shaped dough leftovers. Best of all, I get to use my sushi mat, because this is easier than making real sushi.

Plus, plus,  I was so pleased with myself I wanted to start a cookie business just making this.

If you want to enjoy Fridays as much as I do, here's what to do :

Makes about 50 cookies

Ingredients :

180g unsalted butter, softened

2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted

2  egg yolks, at room temperature

Pinch of fine salt

1 teaspoons vanilla  extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup wholemeal flour

1 cup of flour for ground almonds

1/2 cup dried cranberries, finely  chopped up

Method :

Combine flours and almond meal in a bowl. Mix well.

Finely mince the cranberries . This is very important, in order that the cookies can be cut cleanly and neatly.

Cream butter  until smooth.

Add the sifted confectioners’ sugar and beat again until the mixture is fluffy and silky.

Add items in this order, beating them one at a time :  egg yolks,  salt and cranberries.

Add the flours, beating  until it just disappears. Do not overmix. You should end up with a loose playgdough texture sort of dough. Use a spatula, first to combine and a manual whisk to finish off the mixing.

Divide dough to 2 equal portions. Wrap each piece of dough in parchment.

Roll up the parchment holding the dough to make a log.  I used a sushi making bamboo mat to roll the parchment wrapped dough like a sushi. The mat provides even pressure and ensures even thickness along the cookie log.

Repeat the above for the other portion of dough.

Chill dough, parchment wrapper and all,  for about 2 hours. I froze it for 10 minutes and chill for another 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to180°C, rack in center. Line two baking trays with parchment paper.

For the following, use a very sharp and slender knife. Slice each log into cookies , 1 cm thick.  Leave 1 cm  space between cookies, on the lined tray.

Bake the cookies  at 180C for  12-14 minutes. I baked mine for 13 minutes. Cookies should be set, brown around the rim  but not completely browned.

Let cookies rest for 5 minutes and then transfer them to a cookie rack to cool thoroughly.

Keeps 5 days.

Note :

This is a very low sugar recipe, the main sweetness provided by the berries. Do not tweak the sugar anymore downwards unless 'plain' is your preferred taste.

Loosely adapted from smittenkitchen.com/2007/12/a-slice-and-bake-cookie-palette, original adapted from Dorie Greenspan.