Fresh Orange Cookies

I made these the other day for a housewarming party I'm no longer having.  They are soooooo good.  I didn't have any walnuts, but I had a ton of coconut, so I substituted that.  Pure win!  The recipe came from The Cookie Bible.

Fresh Orange Cookies

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 unpeeled orange (seedless, of course), finely chopped, either in a blender or food processor
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or shredded coconut

Orange Glaze

1 cup icing sugar
1 - 2 tbsp fresh orange juice
1 tbsp butter, softened
zest of one orange
- mix all this together in a bowl until smooth

1. Beat butter & sugars until light & fluffy.  Add egg and orange and beat well.  Gradually blend in dry ingredients, then stir in nuts or coconut.  Cover and chill the dough in the fridge for at least an hour.  Drop dough by tablespoonfuls onto cookie sheets and bake at 375F for 10 - 12 minutes, or until lightly golden.  Spread with glaze.

Awesome!  And a great way to use up oranges you have kicking around that might be past it slightly.

Cooking with Betty Crackpot: Ranger Cookies

This is another childhood recipe we made when we needed a change from chocolate chip cookies - or wanted cookies in addition to chocolate chip cookies.  Ranger Cookies (I have no idea where the name came from) have a great texture since they have a bunch of textured ingredients in them, like the corn flakes (which we used instead of Wheaties) and coconut.  As the recipe says in its intro, these cookies are chewy on the inside and crisp on the outside.  Until the other day, I hadn't had these in years, and again, tasting them gave me a feeling of nostalgia.

Ranger Cookies, from page 135 of Betty Crocker's Cookbook, 1969 version

1/2 cup shortening (I used butter)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup quick cooking oats
1 cup Wheaties or Total (like I said, I used corn flakes)
1/2 cup shredded coconut

375F oven.  Cream, combine, scoop.  Bake about 10 minutes or until golden.  Yield is about 3 dozen.  I got about 2 dozen since I wanted a bit larger a cookie.

Awesome!  Good old corn flakes!

Cooking with Betty Crackpot: Chocolate Chip Cookies

It was only a matter of time before I made this recipe as part of this series.  I've been making this very cookie recipe since I was a kid and to this day I still think it's the best.  This was the first recipe I ever experimented with, replacing one of the fats with peanut butter to get a wonderful peanut butter chocolate chip cookie, and the summer I turned 16 I made a huge batch of these to take to a camp I was working at for the summer to share with the staff for break time.  That was when my mom declared "you have these down to a science!"  I had the exact timing down pat - 17 minutes (we were at high altitude) to the perfect cookie.

A couple of notes, though.  First, I never bake anything with chocolate over 350F, and this recipe says to bake at 375F.  Also, the original recipe says this makes about 7 dozen cookies and I have never, ever gotten that many out of it!  When I made these the other night, I got about 3 dozen.  To get 7 dozen out of this you'd have to make very tiny cookies.  And this time I did use shortening, even though I don't believe in baking with it, but I had some on hand and it was already softened so I thought, what the hell.

Chocolate Chip Cookies, from Cooking with Betty Crocker, page 136

2/3 cup shortening
2/3 cup butter or margarine
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
3 cups flour
1 tsp soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup chopped nuts
2 packages (6 oz each) chocolate chips (I used about 1 1/2 cups)

Heat oven.  Mix thoroughly fats, sugars, eggs and vanilla.  Stir in remaining ingredients.  (The original recipe says here "for a softer, rounder cookie, add 1/2 cup flour" - I have never needed to do this.)

Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls 2" apart onto baking sheet.  Bake 8 - 10 minutes or until light brown.  Cool slightly before removing from baking sheet.

YUM!  So, so good, and again, very nostalgic for me.  These did not last long in this house, I can tell you that!

Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches

I have a lot of very specific PMS cravings, and the craving of this month was ice cream sandwiches. These things are so random and it's quite baffling at times. So anyway, I tried to resist this craving with all the willpower I could muster because when I have PMS cravings I tend to eat a large amount of that particular food, and who needs to eat a case of ice cream sandwiches? But my willpower only lasted so long, and after fuming about this for more time than I should have spent fuming about it, I popped down to the end of the block to the locally overpriced convenience store (henceforth known as LOCS) to purchase an ice cream sandwich. Or two.

Well, I'm not used to convenience store prices and one particular ice cream sandwich, made by Klondike, was $3.99. No way was I going to pay that, so instead I went with the more affordable Oreo option for $2.49. I bought two.

I heartily enjoyed both sandwiches - on different nights, I assure you. But while I eating the first one, I thought, man, I can make an ice cream sandwich myself and not have to put up with LOCS pricing at all! It does not take a brain surgeon to make an ice cream sandwich. You need cookies, you need ice cream. I can make both. So I did.

In the March 2012 issue of Food Network Magazine, there were a bunch of chocolate chip cookie recipes, and one looked like it would make good ice cream sandwich components: the cakey chocolate chip cookie.

I made this recipe. I wanted good, hearty chocolate chip cookies, but also soft ones that would be easy to bite into. I made the cookies very large - we would call these "bake shop size" in culinary school. I portioned them out using my #16 cookie scoop, which is approximately 1/2 cup in volume. I got about 12 cookies. I didn't refrigerate the dough as the recipe specifies, but I did stick it in the deep freeze until it was firm.

They were monstrous! But I didn't care because I wanted monstrous ice cream sandwiches.

While the cookies were baking I made vanilla ice cream with my trusty Cuisinart ice cream maker and my usual egg-less recipe that I've had a lot of success with:

2 cups whipping cream (35%)
1 cup whole milk (3%)
3/4 cup sugar
vanilla, to taste

Once the cookies were cooled and the ice cream set in the freezer for a couple of hours, this is what I got:


Pretty big, eh? Well, I wanted big and hearty, and that's certainly what I got.

And man, did it ever hit the spot! Excellent!

In fact, I'm going to go and have one now...

Seattle!

Today I'm off to Seattle for a few days to visit my good friend Jodi. I was there over Christmas and New Years and had a fantastic time, and I know I'll have a fantastic time this trip, too. I also know the food will be amazing because Jodi is a ridiculously good cook and gourmand, and she has a Bradley smoker on her balcony she is not afraid to use!

This is the bourbon and orange marinated hickory smoked chicken she made on New Years Day:

This was so good you'd pay top dollar for it in a fancy restaurant, I swear.

Jodi is also famous for cookie breakfasts...(yes, we ate this for breakfast - several days in a row)...


...And epic turkey dinners with enough food to feed an army (there were two of us). The turkey she brined overnight - look at the colour it has!


I'll save the fondu photos for another time because I don't want anyone damaging any keyboards out there with all the drool I'm sure these photos are creating.

And of course, there is Starbucks in Seattle! This is the original, across from Pike Place Market. I snapped some photos but didn't go because there was always a huge line-up out the door! Luckily, on the walking route to Jodi's from Pike Place, there are plenty of Starbucks to choose from and they didn't have line-ups!

The West Coast adventure continues. And...I'm also going to Seattle again in April!

Shindig Rundown

Yesterday I had a small gathering at my place as a kind of going-away party, with the ulterior motive of using up as many of my leftover baking ingredients as possible before I move - all part of OPC (Operation Pantry Clear-out). It was lovely to just bake and bake for a couple of days. I realize I've been missing that in my life. However, the weather here was so hot, and continues to be, so it was a tad uncomfy to be in my kitchen for the amount of time I was. But it's OK.

Here is a shot of my spread:


So, on the white platter, top left, we have these rum & chocolate chip blondies, only without pecans because I'd already used them all up. Also on that plate are sour cherry & chocolate chip brownies. That recipe is basically my usual blondie recipe, only I replaced 1/2 cup of the flour with 1/2 cup of sifted cocoa powder. They are amazing!

In the pottery bowl next to that platter (the pottery was made by my super-talented potter friend, S) are these cookies. They were great.

Bottom row, left, we have a rhubarb tart. I made the pâte brisée recipe from Earth to Table, which you can see here. Incidentally, that's the same pumpkin pie recipe I used for the pumpkin pie you see in the bottom row, right, in the photo. It's sooooooooo gooooooood! I love that pumpkin pie recipe! It was a big hit at the shindig yesterday. For the rhubarb tart, I used frozen rhubarb, that, as it thawed, shrunk into probably just less than 4 cups of rhubarb; very annoying. But it was perfect for a tart, and I decided to do a lattice top. The rhubarb tart was a hit, too. The filling also contained 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1 tsp cinnamon, and about 1 tbsp of cornstarch.

Finally, between the two fruit pies/tarts, we have a basic banana bread. Very basic. I got this recipe from my friend Anita, who made this regularly when we were in university together. It's been my go-to recipe ever since because it's super simple and super moist.

Anita's Banana Bread

2 ripe bananas, mashed
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
dash of salt
1/2 cup walnut pieces, optional

Beat the eggs with a whisk and add butter, brown sugar, and bananas until well-combined. Sift in the flour, soda, and salt until the batter comes together. Add nuts, if using. Pour into a greased or lined loaf pan and bake at 350F for about an hour.

Everyone went home with a baking doggy bag. I'm leaving soon after all - I didn't want to keep any of it.

Up next, my trip to the Maritimes, Wolfville, Nova Scotia and Charlottetown, PEI, to visit family, I just know there is going to be absolutely TONS to food blog about! I can't wait!

Chocolate Chip & Sour Cherry Cookies

I'm moving to the coast at the end of September, which has prompted me to start Operation Pantry Clear-out (OPC). I'm trying to use up as much as I can so I have less to move. Makes sense, right? Next Saturday, I'm throwing myself a little going away shindig and I thought it would be a great opportunity to bake like a madwoman in order to use up all kinds of stuff. Today I started, and this cookie recipe was the first thing on my list. Originally, this came from Tish Boyle's The Good Cookie, but I adapted it slightly since I don't have any white chocolate on hand (and why would I go and buy it, since OPC is in full swing) and I didn't use slivered almonds (again, not on hand so tough luck). My version is hugely delicious, however!

Chocolate Chip & Sour Cherry Cookies (adapted from Tish Boyle's The Good Cookie, page 59)

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
3/4 cup dried sour cherries
1 cup chocolate chips

You know the drill (don't you?). 350F for 15 or so minutes. I got about 3 dozen.

Incidentally, as part of OPC, I also made the blondie recipe right below this post - and used up the rest of my rum! They are very rummy indeed!

EDIT: the cherries are Chukar cherries, and my friend Jodi - giver of great foodie gifts - got them from here.

Magazine Monday #81: Peanut butter, chocolate chip, and bacon cookies

I have to admit, until today, I hadn't ventured into the whole chocolate-bacon flavour combination craze. But as is common with me, strange cravings come upon me suddenly, and I get to thinking about recipes I've come across that didn't appeal to me at first glance but all of a sudden seem like something I just have to have right now. This recipe was one of those times.

Thank God - and my mom! - for Food Network Magazine! In the most recent issue, they had a recipe for peanut butter, chocolate chip, and bacon cookies, and so I made them this afternoon when a craving inserted itself into my brain.

The recipe is here.

Usually not a fan of savoury items paired with chocolate, these cookies were awesome! In fact, I think they could have used more bacon than what the recipe called for. I didn't put the chilli powder in the dough because I thought that was going a bit too far and seemed a bit too weird, but the bacon paired with the peanut butter and chocolate was just great. The cinnamon was a perfect little hint of spice. My dad came over and I fed him some, and he thought they were the oddest combination of ingredients out there - and he couldn't taste the bacon. So next time, more bacon! Also, I had to add a few tbsp of milk to the dough as mine was too dry to form into balls.

Other than that, a totally keeper recipe!

Magazine Monday #78: Sweet & Salty Cookies

Sometimes I just see stuff in a magazine and I HAVE to make it, no matter what. This recipe from the most recent issue of Canadian Living was one of those recipes.

OMG, this is now my new favourite cookie! It called for candy covered chocolate pieces, and I though that the Easter-coloured M&Ms would be perfect. They were. I used crushed up pretzel twists.

Awesomesauce and a half!

Corset Cookies = Awesome!

I just did a post here about my love of corsets, and one of my readers sent me a link to this photo:


OMG! These are awesome! I want one badly - very badly! Think of all the decorationg possibilities! I am going to have to see if my local kitchen store can find me one of these cutters! These have got to be some of the prettiest cookies ever, too. The piping is amazing and took considerable control and experience. Whoever thought of this deserves a some kind of big giant cookie award.

Macadamia Nut Cookies

In December, my good friend Jodi went to Hawaii for a holiday and sent me a really nice box of Hawaiian goodies. It included all kinds of macadamia nut products, including a couple of bags of Mauna Loa dry roasted macadamias with sea salt. Oh my God - yum! I love these! They are not too salty, which is great, and as such they make a great addition to baking, adding just a touch of saltiness to the sweetness of cookies. I have made two batches of cookies - so far! I have almost a full bag of nuts left, too, so there should be more on the way!

Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup coarsely shopped macadamia nuts

Bake at 350F.

Oatmeal Coconut Macadamia Butterscotch Chip Cookies

2 cup butter, softened
2 cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups quick oats
1 3/4 cups butterscotch chips
1 cup unsweetened flaked coconut
1 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts

Bake at 350F.

Both cookies were awesome!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Biscotti

It shouldn't surprise you to find out that I was highly disorganized this Christmas and didn't actually have most of my home-baked gifts ready until Christmas afternoon. It's a long story, but I do have to thank the weather in part for helping me get it all done: the good old outdoor fridge was my ally and let my baking cool much more quickly than it would have had I kept it indoors. It was sunny but chilly, and the new deck's railing was the perfect size to keep the pans reliably steady.

I am in the habit of giving biscotti to C & R, my SIL's parents because they are big biscotti fans, and they have always told me how much they've enjoyed receiving it in the past. This year I made a double batch so that I could give some to my brother & SIL, too. Previously, I've made chocolate hazelnut biscotti and a lemon & sour cherry biscotti. This year, I chose to do peanut butter & chocolate biscotti.

It's always the same recipe, which I got from culinary school. It's fairly generic and therefore versatile.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Biscotti

85g butter
185g sugar
2 eggs
2tsp vanilla
300g flour
50g cocoa powder, sifted
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 pinch salt
1 or so cups of peanut butter chips
chopped toasted peanuts for sprinkling on top
about 1/4 cup or so dark chocolate chips or other dark chocolate, melted, for drizzling on the top

Cream butter & sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, then vanilla. Add the dry ingredients.

Knead the dough lightly and pat into a "half moon" shape for even cooking, about 3/4" thick. (The "half moon" thing is in the original culinary school recipe; it's a little deceiving. What that means is rounded sides and a slightly rounded top.)

Bake at 350F for about 20 minutes, or until the top is firm to the touch, dry and cracked-looking. Remove from the oven and cool slightly. Slice with a serrated knife, and then bake again until crisp and dried out - another 20 minutes or so.

Cool completely. Drizzle melted chocolate over the top and sprinkle with nuts.

Apparently, these were a huge hit!

Latest Coyote's Kitchen Article

This is from the November/December issue of Bread n' Molasses Magazine.

Magazine Monday #65: Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

When my brother & SIL were moving out of the place next door, I found a copy of Kootenay Woman Magazine, a freebie that comes in our mailboxes every so often. This recipe was on the back cover, and it caught my eye as I was putting it in the recycling bin. I made it the other day, making one significant substitution: I put espresso powder in place of the cinnamon. WIN! It was awesome. I kept about a dozen cookies for myself and took the rest into work, where they were much appreciated.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp espresso powder (original recipe says 1 tsp cinnamon)
1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups quick oats
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used pecans)

350F oven. Cream, combine, scoop, bake. Makes about 3 dozen cookies formed with a #70 cookie scoop.

Delish!

Chocolate Fudge Cookies with Toffee & Dried Cherries

The contractors are still here building our new deck/porch thingy, and the other day I had the time to do some baking for them, which is something they always appreciate. After my review of In the Sweet Kitchen, I was really inspired to make these cookies from page 503 of that book, and I still had some dried cherries leftover from Jodi's amazing parcel. I am now down to a precious few dried cherries, so I am totally hoarding them until I can find another source! I would use cranberries if you can't get hold of the cherries.

Chocolate Fudge Cookies with Toffee & Dried Cherries, from In the Sweet Kitchen by Regan Daley

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup butter, at room temperature
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup dried cherries
8 oz bittersweet chocolate chips or chocolate chunks
1 cup Skor bits

1. Preheat oven to 350F Line to cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. Do the whole cookie dough thing: cream, sift, combine, scoop.

3. Bake for 15 or so minutes, but underbake for sure to get a fudgier cookie.

There were totally excellent! I loved them! I kept a few for myself and gave the rest away, and the contractors were really grateful. I can't believe I put off making this recipe for so long.

I forgot to take a picture of the full batch of the recipe, so I only got a shot of the last two I had on hand when I finally remembered to take a photo.

Latest Food Column

Here is my most recent installment of Coyote's Kitchen appearing in Bread 'n Molasses Magazine.

Lemon & Sour Cherry Biscotti

Last Christmas, I made some Chocolate Hazelnut biscotti for my SIL's parents, C&R, who have always been so good to me. The gift was a big hit last year, so I decided to do the same again this year, only changing up the flavours.

I decided to try out one of the items from Jodi's parcel, the dried sour cherries! I have coveted these little babies for, like, ever because I see so many recipes for them. Yet, I have never been able to find them around here - only the whole ones in syrup. And I was dying to open a package to try them out, so I thought this was a good reason to do just that!

Holy crap - talk about tart! Talk about sour! But good!

Here is the recipe I concocted for the biscotti. Again, this is as culinary school recipe I doctored, and it will require a scale.

Lemon & Sour Cherry Biscotti

85g butter
185g sugar
2 eggs
zest of one lemon
juice of 1/2 lemon
2tsp vanilla
353g flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 pinch salt
1 cup dried sour cherries
white chocolate, for melting, to decorate the top

Cream butter & sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, then vanilla. Add the dry ingredients.

Knead the dough lightly and pat into a "half moon" shape for even cooking, about 3/4" thick. (The "half moon" thing is in the original culinary school recipe; it's a little deceiving. What that means is rounded sides and a slightly rounded top.)

Bake at 350F for about 20 minutes, or until the top is firm to the touch, dry and cracked-looking. Remove from the oven and cool slightly. Slice with a serrated knife, and then bake again until crisp and dried out - another 20 minutes or so.

Cool completely. Drizzle melted chocolate over the top.

Nice flavour combination, actually. It worked out well and these turned out beautifully! When C&R received them on Christmas morning, they were very much looking forward to having some coffee.

Thanks again to Jodi for the parcel!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Shortbread

I was really pleased to see a feature in the December issue of Canadian Living on different kinds of shortbread. While I really enjoy your regular old shortbread and the Two Tone ones I made the other week, I was intrigued by some of the combinations CL came up with. One of them was this recipe for Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Shortbread. Who doesn't love oatmeal chocolate chip cookies? Mixed with shortbread? Yum city!

This is pretty easy to throw together, and like the Pecan Dulce de Leche Cookies, you roll this dough into a log, refrigerate, slice, and bake. And these were pretty good, actually, though not terribly shortbready in the end, but nice nonetheless.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Shortbread

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
3 tbsp each granulated sugar and packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cups flour
3/4 cup quick oats
1/4 cup cornstarch
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Cream butter, sugars, salt, and vanilla until light. Stir in flour, oats, and cornstarch until just combined. Gently fold in chocolate chips.

Divide dough in half; roll into 9" long log on waxed paper or plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour, or overnight.

Using a serrated knife (trust me, use an actual serrated knife, OK?), cut each roll into 18 pieces and place about 1/2" apart on a cookie sheet. Bake at 275F until firm and bottoms are lightly browned, 40 - 45 minutes (I baked them at 350F for 10 - 15 minutes as I couldn't be bothered waiting 40 minutes...). Cool.

Curling Cookies

If you didn't know this already, I curl! Every Monday evening, I head out to our local curling rink and chuck a 4o-odd pound hunk of granite down a length of ice, and then I sweep like crazy. It's fun, it's social, and it's good exercise. It's a great group of gals this year, and every other week we have "goodie night" in which two teams, in rotation, bring some small snack to share with the league. We usually have really great spreads and everyone looks forward to goodie night!

So, tonight, two recipes that are related to curling goodie night: one is from a lady who brought these amazing pecan cookies in and everyone wanted the recipe! She was kind enough to print off a whole bunch for us, and these were so good that I made a double batch for my Christmas baking spree this year. The second recipe is one that I made when it was my team's turn to bring goodies. I got the recipe from an issue of Taste of Home that my good friend Pierce was kind enough to send me a few weeks ago. It's actually an OceanSpray recipe, but it was a good one.

Pecan Cookies, courtesy D. of my curling club

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
2/3 cup pecan pieces
pecan halves, for the tops

Do you need directions? Seriously? OK: cream, combine, drop, stick a pecan half on top, and bake @ 350F for 8 minutes.

It is KEY that you underbake these for a fudgey, chewy cookie.

They spread quite a bit, so make sure to drop them onto the sheet about 2" apart.

Lovely cookies!

OK, so I made these really nice Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Chunk Cookies, found here.
I do NOT recommend you bake these at 375F as the recipe tells you to! That is way too hot for white chocolate! Do not bake any chocolate above 350F, especially white.

Other than that, nice recipe!

Magazine Monday #58: Pecan Dulce De Leche Sandwich Cookies

Guess where this week's Magazine Monday recipe comes from?

Come on!

Yeah, Canadian Living. Sue me - they rock.

All right, I saw this recipe and knew I just had to make these cookies as part of my Christmas baking spree this year. I cannot resist the siren call of dulce de leche! President's Choice makes a good one, and that's what I used. I still have some left over in the jar, and it's all I can do not to take a spoon and empty that jar in seconds!

Of course, typical CL, this recipe is not in their online database probably because they want you to buy the December issue of the magazine this recipe appears it. So, here it is!

Pecan Dulce de Leche Sandwich Cookies (slightly adapted by me)

3/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup each granulated sugar and packed dark brown sugar
1 egg yolk (you know, I hate it when recipes ask for one freaking egg yolk; forget it - I used a whole egg and things turned out just fine)
1 tsp vanilla
pinch salt
2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup toasted finely chopped pecans
1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut, toasted
1/2 cup dulce de leche

1. All right, make cookie dough as you would any other cookie dough.

2. Once you have a nice, smooth cookie dough, divide it in half; form each half into a 4cm-wide log, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour, or overnight.

3. Cut logs into 1/4" slices and arrange 1" apart on a lined cookie sheet. Bake at 350F until golden, about 10 minutes. Transfer to rack & cool completely.

4. Spread bottoms of half of the cookies with about 1/2 tsp dulce de leche. Top with remaining cookies to make sandwiches.You're supposed to get about 36 cookies from this, but I got closer to 24 - 25 in total, probably because I cut my slices a little thicker.

These are really tasty, let me tell you!