margarita cookies

Have you ever gotten a craving for a really good cookie? Not one of those super colossal sugar loaded cookies bursting with chocolate chips and M&Ms, but one that is packed with flavor from butter and flavorings of zest and maybe a drop or two of liquor — yes, I am implying alcoholic cookies. Such a craving hit me this week. I wanted something buttery but not heavy. Something that had enough flavor in one cookie I wouldn’t have to go back for a second one. On second thought, I wanted one with so much flavor I had to go back and get another one, and maybe just one more or two on top of that because I have never had a cookie with so much flavor! Browsing through the cookie section in the supermarket the only thing that really stood out was a pecan shortbread. I love the taste of shortbread, they definitely have the butter flavor goin’ on plus pecan bits throughout, yet are crumbly instead of heavy. I thought I could check off my cookie craving after throwin’ those bad boys in my cart.

Even with my firm belief against prepackaged goods, I still thought Keebler could satisfy my silly cookie craving. However, the husband and his partner in crime brother ate them all before I could — this meant the cookies I bought to satisfy my cookie craving were being eaten by two men that did not have a cookie craving! The horror! But after licking the crumbs out of the box I realized I had cookie needs Keebler could not satisfy. The kind of cookie I was looking for had to come out of my own oven.

Going through my cookie recipes I found one that I knew would do the trick ( I also could have been really thirsty at the time). Margarita cookies. Are there two better words than these? Based on a french butter cookie I knew the recipe was headed in a good direction. Now, I’m the kind of baker who tastes as I go. You can stop shaking your head, I am fully aware of all the issues with eating raw eggs, but I am not eating raw ingredients I am simply tasting them. And when I did, I found that the dough didn’t have enough margarita uumph to them. I doubled the lime and orange zest to increase their flavor and spread pretty little specs of orange and green throughout the cookies. I rolled them in coarse sugar and salt and baked, barely letting them cool down before popping them one right after the other. Now these are the kind of cookies that satisfy cravings.

Margarita Cookies
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen who in turn adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Sablés au Citron

Makes about 50 cookies

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 large egg yolks, at room temperature
Pinch of salt
2 teaspoons tequila
Grated zest of 4 limes*
Grate zest of one orange
2 cups all-purpose flour

Coating:
Approximately 1/2 cup clear sanding or other coarse sugar
2 – 3 teaspoons Kosher salt**
1 large egg yolks, at room temperature

* What am I suppose to do with four leftover zested limes? My vote is in for margaritas! You can never have too many of those!

** I’m a salty sweet person. If you prefer more sweet things to salty things don’t use 2 teaspoons (or less).

Put the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat at medium speed until it is smooth. Add the sifted confectioners’ sugar and beat again until the mixture is smooth and silky. Beat in 1 egg yolk, followed by the salt, tequila, grated lime and orange zest. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour, beating just until it disappears. It is better to underbeat than overbeat at this point; if the flour isn’t fully incorporated, that’s ok–just blend in whatever remaining flour needs blending with a rubber spatula. Turn the dough out onto a counter, gather it into a ball, and divide it in half. The dough will be sticky and will probably stick some to the counter. Work quickly and don’t press it to the counter. Wrap each piece of dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Working on a smooth surface (my dough was still sticky and I slightly floured my surface. If you choose to flour your counter, be sure not to knead the dough into the flour. Just use a little bit to prevent the dough from sticking.), form each piece of dough into a log that is about 1 to 1 1/4 inches (2.5 to 3.2 cm) thick. Wrap the logs in plastic and chill for 2 hours. (The dough can be wrapped airtight and kept refrigerated for up to 3 days or stored in the freezer for up to 1 month.)

Position the oven racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

While the oven is preheating, prepare the sugar coating: Whisk the remaining egg yolk plus a teaspoon of water in a small bowl until it is smooth and liquid enough to use as a glaze. Mix the coarse sugar and salt well and spread the mixture out on a piece of parchment paper. Remove the logs of dough from the refrigerator, unwrap them, and brush any excess flour off. Brush them lightly with a little egg yolk. Roll the logs in the sugar, pressing the sugar/salt mixture gently to get it to stick if necessary, then, using a sharp slender knife, slice each log into cookies about 1/4 inch thick. [Meg note: To get the sugar/salt mixture to stick better, I took the parchment and rolled it over the cookie dough pressing the sugar/salt into the dough. I found sprinkling it and packing it with your hands didn't give a sufficient “rim”. ] (You can make the cookies thicker if you’d like; just bake them longer.) Place the cookies on the lined baking sheets, leaving about 1/2 inch space between them.

Bake the cookies for 10 to 14 minutes, or until they are set but not browned. (It’s fine if the yolk-brushed edges brown a smidgen.) Transfer the cookies to cooling racks to cool to room temperature.

Keeping: Packed airtight, the cookies will keep for about 5 days at room temperature, if they last that long. Because the sugar coating will melt, these cookies are not suitable for freezing.