The math concept I use probably the most in my Real Life is Lowest Common Denominator. It’s a useful one for baking. If you want to make a smaller batch of something, divide all the ingredients by the LCD. Which is typically the smallest amount of something that you can’t break down any further. Usually, that’s eggs. It’s a little difficult to use… half an egg. You could, in theory, beat an egg and weigh it and use half, but… who has got the time. So, the LCD is usually the eggs – keep dividing down the ingredient amounts until you get to one egg. But for a lot of icebox cookie recipes, that still leads to large recipes. I’m not sure what it is. I do not need that many ice box cookies! Especially when I’m baking so many other things already. So I search for an eggless icebox cookie recipe.
The recipe for this, since it doesn’t use eggs, resembles a Mexican Wedding Cake recipe a lot. Very moist and almost shortbread-y. And since I was able to make the batch so small, the corn powder and freeze dried blueberry powder where in very high relative quantities. So the flavors really packed a punch!
Which I think is good, because for the corn cookies I submitted last year at the State Fair, the judges said the corn wasn’t strong enough. So this will be!! And same for the blueberry flavor. No mistaking these flavors.
I will need to take better time and care for the shaping and checkerboard-ing when I actually make these for the Fair. But these were a test run that I wasn’t sure would be successful, so I just sort of slapped a few together and made the rest in a marble pattern. Doing the checkerboard pattern seems potentially tedious, and I so rarely get satisfaction out of making a baked good look good. But I will do it for the Fair. Appearance matters!
And, a special shout-out to my Mom: you helped come up with this idea, and it’s brilliant! They’re icebox cookies, so I’ll be sure to keep the leftover dough in the freezer to bake when you are in town. 🙂
Print
Print
PinIngredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter room temperature
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp freeze-dried corn powder
- freeze-dried blueberries, ground into a powder
Instructions
- Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter with the sugar. Add the vanilla extract and beat to incorporate. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until combined.
- Divide the dough, leaving half in the mixing bowl. Add the corn powder and beat until combined.
- Remove that dough and add the other half. Beat in the freeze-dried blueberry powder.
- Use your hands to form each half of dough into a rectangle log, measuring about 6 inches long and 2 inches wide. Make sure both logs are the same size. Wrap each one tightly in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for one hour.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Slice each log into 3 even-sized strips. Flip each strip once onto its side and slice into 3 more thin strips, so that you have 9 strips from each log.
- Place 3 alternating strips of dough side-by-side, using your hands to gently press them together. Proceed to stack the remaining strips on top, creating a checkerboard pattern with alternating strips, until all of the cookie dough has been used up. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for another 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- Remove the cookie dough from the refrigerator. Slice into individual cookies, about ¼ inch thick, and arrange on prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets completely before removing. The cookies will be soft.
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, by weight (3 cups, if measuring)
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the blueberry dough
- 2 oz. freeze dried blueberries, food-processed into a powder
For the corn dough
- 3 tbsp freeze dried corn powder
Instructions
- Whisk to combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a stand mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter to spread around the bowl. With the mixer running, stream in the sugar. Add the egg and vanilla, and mix until combined.
- Slowly add the flour mixture to the stand mixer bowl until combined.
- Remove half of the dough, wrap in plastic and put into the fridge.
- Add the freeze dried blueberry dust to the remaining dough, and mix to combine.
- Remove the blueberry dough from the mixer and shape into a squared off block, about 2 inches tall and wide, and 6 inches long. Put in the fridge, and take out the other half of the dough.
- Mix in the corn powder, then chape into a squared block in the same way. Refrigerate both doughs for 1 hour.
- Cut each block into desired size for checkering.
- Start alternating the pieces with corn and blueberry, then square it off and press together. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes, or freeze until ready to use.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Cut the dough into 1/4 inch thick slices and place on a parchment paper lined sheet pan.
- Bake for 10 minutes, then cool on a wire rack. Enjoy!
Notes
Adapted from Fifteen Spatulas