Bake your spirits bright with a quintessential Australian icon of a cookie!
MAKES 18
Ingredients
Method
- Combine the flour, milk powder, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Give these dry ingredients a good whisk and set aside.
- Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, icing sugar, and egg yolk until light and fluffy. Add the flour mixture followed by the coconut and mix until just combined into a dough.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 1–2 hours. Line two baking trays with baking paper or silicone baking mats. Roll out the chilled dough on a lightly floured bench until 3–4 mm thick.
- Using an 8 cm x 3 cm rectangular crinkle cutter, cut out the cookies and place them on the trays. Chill for 15–20 minutes to help prevent spreading during baking.
- Preheat the oven to 160°C fan forced. Bake the cookies for 12–15 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Allow them to cool on the trays for 10 minutes (but leave the oven on) before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Knead the food colouring into the fondant until you achieve your desired colour – a pale pink is perfect here. Dust the bench with icing sugar and roll out the fondant until it is 2–3 mm thick. Cut the fondant into 7 cm x 1 cm strips. Place two fondant strips on each biscuit and return to the oven for 1–2 minutes or until the fondant begins to melt onto the biscuit. (It will just soften; be sure not to overbake as the fondant will seal and the coconut won’t stick.)
- Remove the biscuits from the oven and immediately sprinkle the extra coconut over the fondant. Place the jam in a piping bag fitted with a small round nozzle and pipe a thin strip of jam down the centre of each cookie. Allow the cookies to cool completely before eating.
Pretty as a picture! (P.S. make sure to tag us in your baking fun @teenbreatheau)
Looking for more delicious inspiration? Images and text from Some of My Best Friends Are Cookies by Emelia Jackson, photography by Armelle Habib, illustrations by Andrea Smith. Murdoch Books RRP $39.99.
This recipe was originally published under the title Baking Spirits Bright in Issue 42 – In the Feels. You can get this issue here to enjoy more delicious inspiration.
