A Little Bit About a Lot of Things

Seeing that it is now winter-cold and snowy, I know that it will be a while until I get to NYC, I only like to go when its warm and you can wander around for the day. So I treated myself to the momofuku cookbook, thinking that I would make some cereal milk or compost cookies….and then, I was shopping in the mall and found momofuku cookie mix!! I found them at William Sonoma. AT $16 a pop, they are a tad on the expensive side for dry ingredients, but hey, you only live once (and where am I going to find freeze dried corn powder??).

Just add butter and an egg, I can do that!! Make sure that the butter and the egg are at room temperature before you make these cookies.

Here is the actual recipe if you aren’t using the mix:

 Corn Cookies

Yield 13 to 15 cookies

• 16 tablespoons or 2 sticks (225 g) butter, at room temperature
• 1-1/2 cups (300 g) sugar
• 1 egg
• 1-1⁄3 cups (225 g) flour
• 1/4 cup (45 g) corn flour
• 2/3 cup (65 g) freeze-dried corn powder
• 3/4 teaspoon (3 g) baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon (1.5 g) baking soda
• 1-1/2 teaspoons (6 g) kosher salt

1. Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the egg, and beat for 7 to 8 minutes.
2. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour, corn flour, corn powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix just until the dough comes together, no longer than 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
3. Using a 2 3/4-ounce ice cream scoop (or a 1⁄3-cup measure), portion out the dough onto a parchment-lined sheet pan. Pat the tops of the cookie dough domes flat. Wrap the sheet pan tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to 1 week. Do not bake your cookies from room temperature–they will not bake properly.
4. Heat the oven to 350°F.
5. Arrange the chilled dough a minimum of 4 inches apart on parchment- or Silpat-lined sheet pans. Bake for 18 minutes. The cookies will puff, crackle, and spread. After 18 minutes, they should be faintly browned on the edges yet still bright yellow in the center; give them an extra minute if not.
6. Cool the cookies completely on the sheet pans before transferring to a plate or to an airtight container for storage. At room temp, the cookies will keep fresh for 5 days; in the freezer, they will keep for 1 month.

You want the cookies to be browned on the edges but have them be a little uncooked on the inside-this allows for a soft and chewy inside and a crunch outside.

Totally worth the $16….and I am not ashamed to say that we went back a few more times since, to get more mix!! The flavor is rich and buttery with the taste of a milder version of a corn muffin. I wasn’t sure I was going to like these cookies, where are the sweets?, but these may now be my favorites!! Be careful not to overcook them as it changes the consistency and the flavor a little bit (I over cooked one batch and they were hard as a rock!!)

When I went back for more corn cookies, I also bought the compost cookies-you add in your own pretzels and potato chips! They are a little bit of this, and a little bit of that-just as their name suggests. Here’s a list of ingredients:

Composte cookie: Graham cracker packet: graham cracker (enriched wheat flour [niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid], graham flour, sugar, palm oil, brown sugar, honey, salt, baking soda, natural flavor), sugar, nonfat dry milk, salt. Sugar packet: granulated sugar, light brown sugar, dextrose, natural vanilla flavor. Cookie mix packet: enriched wheat flour (wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, iron, thiamin ononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), salt, baking powder (sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium bicarbonate, cornstarch, monocalcium phosphate), sodium bicarbonate (leavening agent). Compost packet: chocolate chunks (sugar, chocolate liquor, anhydrous dextrose, cocoa butter, soy lecithin [emulsifier]), butterscotch chips (sugar, partially hydrogenated palm kernel oil and coconut oil, whey, soy lecithin [emulsifier], natural and artificial flavor, rtificial color [yellow 6 lake, yellow 5 lake, blue 2 lake], salt), rolled oats, coffee.

 

I have to admit that they were good, but not nearly as good as the corn cookies! I felt like there were just too many flavors going on-between the coffee, the chips, the graham cracker….I’m a simple cookie kind of gal. But I will try one made by the baker herself next time I am in New York-I may change my mind about them!

 

Tags: cookies