stamped nutmeg cookies
with brown butter, nutmeg, and almond
day three of my twelve days of christmas: stamped cookies!
these are lightly spiced with nutmeg and almond, and make for a nice start to christmas baking without diving straight into mince pie territory
last weekend I went on a mission around melbourne to hunt down a cookie stamp and ended up finding this adorable one by folkroll in costante imports in preston (which is a baking, preserving, wine-making, salami-curing, and olive oil pressing wonderland)
makes about 20 cookies
ingredients
100g butter
optional: 1 tsp milk powder
1 tsp milk
1 tsp vanilla paste
0.25 tsp almond essence
75g powdered sugar
0.25 whole nutmeg, freshly grated
1 egg
210g plain flour
method
add the butter (100g) and milk powder (1 tsp, if using) to a small saucepan
cook over medium heat, without stirring until the milk solids are golden brown and it smells fantastic
meanwhile, prepare an ice bath that is big enough to fit the saucepan inside
once the butter has browned, place the saucepan in the ice bath
add the milk (1 tsp), vanilla (1 tsp), and almond essence (0.25 tsp), and stir to combine and rapidly cool the butter mixture
continue mixing in the ice bath, making sure the scrape the bottom and sides, until the butter has cooled to room temperature and is spreadable
transfer the butter to a medium bowl and add the powdered sugar (75g) and nutmeg (0.25 whole, grated)
cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy
add in the egg (1) and mix to fully incorporate
add the flour (210g) in batches, mixing in between until just combined
turn out onto a sheet of baking paper and pat together into a rough disk
the dough will be dry and sandy and will feel like it’s not coming together, that’s expected
cover the dough and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes
working with half the dough at a time, roll out to 4mm thickness
cut out cookies using your cookie stamp as a guide, and transfer to a lined baking tray
stamp the design into the cookies and return the baking tray to the fridge to chill for 15 minutes
preheat the oven to 180°C
repeat the rolling, cutting and stamping process with the rest of the dough, making sure to chill the stamped cookies for 15 minutes before baking to retain the details
bake for 10-12 minutes until the edges are just golden
