My Grandpa Dale died the week before Christmas. We were very close and had been my entire life. Even though the following weeks were hard, I have found that the times I have missed him the most are completely unexpected and sudden, and all within the last month or so. Like when I'm standing at the grocery store and suddenly smell an assortment of things that remind me of my grandparents' house. Or when I find myself singing some old song, then sadly realizing that if I can't remember the words, I have no one to ask. I miss him in the little things.
At Christmas time, I was going to do a whole series of Christmas cookies, but with everything happening the way it did, I didn't get around to it. Then life started in full swing in January and I am still a few months behind. I noticed the other day that I still have a couple pumpkins and a few very Christmas-y things sitting around my apartment. Time keeps ticking, but it stands still at our place.
On the Saturday before Christmas, I made a couple hundred cookies for families at church. I love how long days of baking make you exhausted but so satisfied at the same time. I also spent some time baking before we went home, which is when these lovely little cookies made their debut.
As I have probably mentioned before, I need something crunchy to dip in my coffee. Or my tea. Or hot chocolate. Or whatever hot beverage I happen to be enjoying at the time. It's like Oreos and milk. Or bacon and eggs. You CAN do one without the other, but why would you?
These cookies are especially crunchy and have the perfect balance of vanilla and chocolate. They soak things up nicely and tend to not fall apart so easily. I rolled mine on the handle of a wooded spoon, but I think I am going to get a small wooded dowel for the next time I make them since the wooden spoon made them just a little larger than I wanted. I am also planning on experimenting with a filling of some sort, too, and probably something chocolate or hazelnut to mimic the Pepperidge Farm pirouettes.
Pirouettes
Makes about 16
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup flour
Dark chocolate, for drizzling
1. Preheat the oven to 400°. Place a non-stick baking mat on a cookie sheet, and place it in the oven to preheat also.
2. In a bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, and egg whites until very light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and beat again to combine. With the mixer on low, slowly add the flour and beat just until it is combined.
3. Place a scoop of the dough in a glass measuring cup and heat in the microwave for about 8 seconds to warm the dough and make it pour easily.
4. Remove the preheated cookie sheet from the oven. Use a spoon to pour about a tablespoon of dough on the cookie sheet in 4 or 5 spots on the sheet. Make sure that they are well spaced. Then tilt the cookie sheet to get the dough to spread around in a thin, flat circle. Make sure the dough circles do not touch.
5. Bake the cookies for 4 to 6 minutes, or until they are just starting to brown and turn golden around all edges. Remove the pan from the oven, and immediately roll a cookie around a small wooden dowel or the handle of a wooden spoon. Be careful not to burn yourself! The cookie will be very hot. Place the rolled cookie on a cooling rack. Repeat with the remaining cookies. Work quickly to role all of the cookies before they cool.
6. Heat another scoop of dough in the microwave again and repeat the process. When the cookies are cool, dip or drizzle with chocolate. Enjoy!
*If you are having a little trouble envisioning all the steps, the recipe I used has good step by step pictures you might want to check out.
Recipe adapted from The Chocolate Gourmand.
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