Seed Cookies

May 25, 2015

These adventurous cookies do justice to the art of cookie making. They have all the elements of a cookie with the texture and character of a cracker. When they are fresh out of the oven, the seeds are fragrant and the cookie is soft. As they cool, the texture changes into a light, crunchy sweet biscuit. At this stage, they seem to beg for a soft, creamy well-aged goat cheese to round out the texture.

This recipe comes from Alice Medrich’s wonderful book : Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-Your-Mouth Cookies. The book is great. Her cookies are great. Having a copy of this book will inspire you. Buy it today.

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Ingredients

Volume Grams Ounces

Makes 64 cookies

1 tablespoon 1 tablespoon 1 tablespoon black sesame seeds or poppy seeds
1 tablespoon 1 tablespoon 1 tablespoon white sesame seeds
1 tablespoon 1 tablespoon 1 tablespoon flax seeds
1 tablespoon 1 tablespoon 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
¼ cup 49.6 grams 1.75 ounces coarse, raw sugar
2¼ cups 286 grams 10.1 ounces unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon 1 teaspoon 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon 1 teaspoon 1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon ¼ teaspoon ¼ teaspoon fine salt
1 stick (8 tablespoons) 113 grams 4 ounces unsalted butter, very soft
1 cup 198 grams 7 ounces white granulated sugar
1 1 1 large egg, room temperature
2 teaspoons 2 teaspoons 2 teaspoons bourbon

Instructions

MISE EN PLACE FOR THE COOKIES

Center the rack and preheat the oven to 375F.
Line the baking sheets with parchment paper.
Mix the seeds and coarse sugar in a shallow bowl and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda,and salt and whisk thoroughly.
In the bowl of a mixer, add the butter and the granulated sugar.
Set out the egg and bourbon.

METHOD FOR THE COOKIES

Using a flat beater of a stand mixer, mix the butter and sugar until smooth and well blended but not fluffy. Click here to read The Finer Cookie’s post on how to cream butter and sugar.
Add the egg and bourbon and combine until smooth.
Add the flour mixture and incorporate until the flour disappears completely.

FORMING THE COOKIES

At this point, you can choose to make round or square cookies.
Round Cookie: Using a small scoop (or just two tablespoons), measure out the dough and create 1-inch balls.
Roll each ball into the seed mixture, flattening the ball to about 1/2-inch thick.
Place the cookies onto the prepared baking sheet spacing them just over 1 inches apart.

Square Cookies: Turn your dough onto a lightly floured surface, and shape the dough into an 8 inch square, leaving a generous 1/2 inch of thickness.
Sprinkle half the seed mixture over the top and press the seeds into the dough.

Sprinkle the seed mixture over the cookie dough.

Using a rolling pin, gently roll over the seeds.
Flip the dough over and repeat with the other half of the seed mixture.

CUTTING THE SQUARES

With a ruler, measure and score 8 horizontal and 8 vertical lines so that you get 1 inch squares.

Seed mixture pressed into the cookie dough.

Cut and place them on the prepared pan about 1 inch or so apart.

BAKE THE COOKIES

Bake each tray for about 14 minutes, until the edges are lightly browned, rotating the baking sheet from front to back halfway through the baking time to ensure even baking.
Set the baking sheet or just the parchment on rack to cool.
Cool completely before stacking or storing.
May be kept in an air-tight container for at least 2 weeks.

NOTE FOR A SUCCESSFUL COOKIE

You will find that the dough will be soft and the seeds will want to fall off when you flip the square. If you feel the dough is too soft, refrigerate it for 10-15 minutes, but not until it’s super firm. The seeds surely won’t adhere to the dough if the dough is too cold. Press the seeds with your fingers, then reshape the dough into the 8 inch square. In your final cookie, you probably won’t want a very thick layer of seeds.