You can never really believe what you watch on TV...especially on 1950's sitcoms. Contrary to what you may have seen on reruns of The Donna Reed Show or Leave It To Beaver, housewives didn't prance around in heels and pearls, merrily twirling in their full swing skirts while baking or doing chores. Yes, women were homebound but it was hard work and a lot less glamorous. Damn. It's such an appealing fantasy, though. Personally, I think it's criminal NOT to bake in 6" stilettos but that's just me. But, unlike 50's TV housewives, I don't believe in being timid, weak or subservient to men. Yet, I do believe in being glamorous, beautiful and sexy. Femininity is a lost art form. It's possible to be a strong, powerful and sexual woman and yet still retain your femininity. Don't be afraid of it.
With that in mind I've created a very girlie and very pink Xmas cookie. The recipe was inspired by a cookie that my next door neighbor Miss Yvonne taught me to make. I was 16. She was 26. I would show up on her doorstep and she'd invite me in, pop open a bottle of wine and we'd get drunk, bake and talk trash! Move over Suzy Homemaker....
Hot pink peppermint cookie with a creamy vanilla blonde swirl and frosted white chocolate peppermint icing
* 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
* 1 cup sugar
* 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
* few drops hot pink food coloring, as desired
* 2 tablespoons cold water, as needed
Icing* 2 cups white chocolate chips (1 bag)
* 1 tablespoon Crisco vegetable shortening
* 1/2 cup crushed peppermint candy (5-6 broken candy canes)
Directions
Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Place butter and sugar in large bowl of electric stand mixer and beat until light in color. Add egg yolk and vanilla and beat to combine. Put mixer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture. Add up to 2 tablespoons cold water beat until mixture turns from dry and crumbly into moist smooth ball.
Divide the dough in half. Add the peppermint extract and hot pink food coloring to the half and mix until even in color. Wrap both in waxed paper, and refrigerate for 10 min.
Roll out doughs separately between two sheets of wax paper to approximately 1/4-inch thickness and refrigerate for 10 min. Place vanilla dough on top of peppermint and press together around the edges. Using the waxed paper, roll dough into log. Wrap in waxed paper and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Remove dough from the refrigerator and cut into 1/2-inch slices. Place cookies 1-inch apart on greased baking sheet, parchment, or silicone baking mat and bake for 8 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through cooking time. These cookies are best a bit underdone. Remove from oven and let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes, then move to a wire rack to cool completely.
For the icing you will need to melt the chocolate in a double boiler. A double boiler is a saucepan that holds hot water, and a bowl that fits securely over the saucepan. Begin by filling a saucepan with water from the tap but not so much that the bottom of the chocolate bowl touches the water. Heat the saucepan over low heat until it just begins to simmer, then turn off the stove and place a mixing bowl with the chocolate over the water. Let the chocolate begin to melt, and then stir it gently with a plastic spatula. When almost all of the chocolate is melted add the vegetable shortening, lift the top bowl from the saucepan and set it on the counter. Stir continuously until it is shiny, smooth, and completely melted.
Dip your cookies half way into the melted chocolate and place on a cookie sheet covered with waxed paper. While the chocolate is still melted, sprinkle with crushed peppermint candy. Chill in refrigerator until hardened.
Makes 24 cookies. I like to dip half the cookies in icing and leave the other dozen plain.
Darian Darling as Suzy Home-Wrecker
photos by Veronica iBarra
