by MK Martin
The only STEM subject I enjoyed in school was Chemistry. It’s pretty easy to make the jump from chemistry to ‘alchemy’ in the mind, and making fantasy a part of my reality was a form of anxiety quelling mechanism that, whether for better or worse has been my constant companion. The Food Network happened to be in its relative infancy while I was finishing high school, and a hibernating interest awakened.
A lot of noted worriers love baking. It’s a mid brain exercise, calling up some of your more complicated cognitive equations to partner with the ritual zen movements of creating something to eat. Cooking is the first ritual, one we all need and one we all infuse with love whether we realize it or not. Is there anything more loving than giving someone a big tin full of cookies? Sure, we know sugar is evil now, but in between the Omegas and the kale massages, our primitive honey seeking hunter gatherer brain is asking ‘but where is the honey?’
Kids tantalized by the glory of the season can get overwhelmed, and be full of Ferrero Rochers before anyone’s the wiser. Not that I’d know. Having a little tin of cookies you can have with tea after school in festive shapes means not being asked for Ice Cream in the dead of mid winter. As Martha would say, it’s a good thing.
These cookies are not vegan, but the substitutes for vegan fat options like coconut oil are one to one, and you may use all manner of things as an alternative binder. 3 TBSP of chia seeds, soaked, or 1/2 cup of that ‘new’ aquafaba, for example. Which is literally the bean juice from a can. I recommend chick pea, for minimal odor.
I am, however, using all Canadian non GMO milled wheat, and butter made over in Alliston about 40 minutes from here. Using what’s made nearby usually means your ingredients can last a little longer, and they’ve supported someone in your community.
I don’t ice cookies anymore, preferring instead to make a million little cookie sandwiches, filled with successful or failed ganache, lemon curd, freezer jam, ice cream, etc. Maybe you have a new idea for me?
For the Cookies
3 cups leveled flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch sea salt
1 cup unsalted butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon, or more
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
In a separate bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.
Beat egg and vanilla together. Using a mechanical mixture, or your own bare arms and forceful intentions, cream together the butter and sugar.
If you have a stand mixture, you can fit your machine with the dough hook and slowly add the flour one cup a time, while set to low. Otherwise, add and mix by hand, do not overmix. It will begin to clump together.
This dough can be tacky, so I turn it out into a floured glass pie plate to form into two discs. Wrap individually with plastic wrap and chill at least 30 minutes. At this time, you can also freeze your dough for later.
If you have a marble rolling counter, you’re winning. Otherwise, you can use a piece of wax paper to roll your cookies out to desired thickness. Thinner cookies will take less time to bake. We usually aim for 1/2 inch thick.
Transfer to parchment lined baking sheet, or silpat, or bare if you’re feeling lucky. Bake for 7-11 minutes at 350 degrees, again, depending on thickness. To err on the side of caution, just set your time for seven minutes and check the edges have set. Allow to cool on a wire rack before icing. If you are using sprinkles, you can press a few in that have shapes ahead of baking, but jimmies tend to melt.
farmtheworld.org 