This cookie is inspired by my favorite summer special desert at the Columbine Café in Tribeca. Their cookies are the size of CDs. I wanted to make a giftable, snackable version. It took a few trials, and some errors. The latest batch differed from the inspiration significantly. But I had stumbled on something delicious! A crunchy butter-cornmeal base, saturated with sweet tart glaze, the end result was a cookie crisp on the edges and tender, almost chewy, in the center.This makes about 50 small cookies.
The cornmeal cookie:
3/4 c. butter at room temperature (a stick and a half)
1/2 c. granulated turbinado sugar (those large crystals add a nice crunch)
1 egg
1 c. all purpose unbleached flour
1 c. cornmeal
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla
A splash of bourbon (which I find really compliments anything buttery, eggy and sugary)
Preheat the oven to 350.
Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl until combined and fluffy -if you have a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment on medium for a minute. Add the egg, vanilla and bourbon to the bowl and beat them in. Add dry ingredients and mix until combined.
Shape into logs 2” in diameter, wrap in waxed paper and refrigerate until firm enough to slice, at least an hour. Slice into 1/8” thick slabs, and put them on a parchment lined baking sheet 1” apart. Or, if you don’t mind if your cookies are not flat on top, skip the fridge and drop the dough by the tablespoon onto your sheet and flatten each with your palm.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes, until golden in the center and browning at the edges. They should be crispy, because a light golden toasting really brings out the cornmeal flavor. If, when they are cool, you find that some cookies were thicker, and did not toast all the way through, just put those back in the oven for a bit. Leave the cookies to cool on the parchment while you start on the glaze.
The lime glaze:2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1/8 cup zest (4 limes should do it)
¾ cups lime juice (4 limes)
Zest the limes and juice them. Put the sugar in a small bowl. Add juice and rind. Whisk together until smooth and well blended. The zest will rise to the top. Spoon over cookies. I spooned every cookie at least twice until they were thoroughly soggy and saturated and the glaze was dripping off in every direction.
THEN put the cookies back into the oven for 1- 1 ½ hours at 250 degrees, where they will absorb the syrup and some of the moisture will evaporate. The end result will be very intensely sweet-tart and limey all the way through. The cookie will be crisp at the edges and slightly tender – chewy with syrup in the center. The syrup that has pooled on the parchment should be candied but not caramelized. And your kitchen should smell amazing!
