Sand Dollar Cookies
INGREDIENTS
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¾ cup 1½ sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup sugar, plus 2-3 tablespoons to sprinkle on top
3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla
¾ cup tahini
¼ cup raw sliced almonds, for garnish
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Using
an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter, sugar, honey,
zest and vanilla in a large bowl until light and fluffy, about
3 minutes. Beat in tahini, then add dry ingredients in 2 batches,
beating after each addition until fully combined. Dough will
be slightly sticky. Divide the dough in half, wrap the batches in
Even novice bakers
can create elegant
coastal cookies with
a few simple tricks.
plastic wrap, and then flatten them into a disc. Refrigerate for
at least one hour or overnight.
Sprinkle flour on the rolling pin and the surface. Roll the
dough, adding flour as necessary, until it’s ¼-inch thick. Use
a 3-inch cookie or biscuit cutter to cut out as many rounds as
possible. Reroll the scraps and repeat with remaining dough.
Use a spatula to transfer the cookies to a parchment-lined
cookie sheet, 5 to 6 cookies per sheet. Place 3 to 5 sliced
almonds in the center in an overlapping flower pattern. Use a
skewer or paring knife to make 3 small slits on the outer edge
of each cookie.
Lightly sprinkle sugar over each cookie.
Bake 8-10 minutes, turning halfway and watching closely
during the last couple of minutes. You want them lightly golden,
but not too dark because they won’t look as much like
sand dollars.
Cool on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes before sliding the
parchment onto the counter or wire racks.
Once completely cool, store in air-tight containers and
share with friends.
Yield: about 2 dozen cookies
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