Crisp Walnut Thins
This cookie is the celebration of the Walnut. A nut that is sometimes considered "ho-hum", steps up to center stage. You will be very surprised at how many cookies come from this recipe. I always keep this dough in my freezer, and bake up a pan for tea time, or just to munch on. Once you eat one, one will never be enough! For a simply and "plain" cookie, it's one you will come back for over and over.
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
1 1/3 cups raw sugar
(regular white granulated can be used in place of raw)
3 large sized eggs
1 tsp baking soda
2 Tbsp Meyer's dark Rum, or 1 Tbsp good quality vanilla
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2cups roughly chopped walnuts
In the bowl of a mixer, soften the butter and then add the sugar and cream together until very light and fluffy. This will take several minutes.
Add the eggs, one at a time, and scrape the bowl in between each addition. Beat until smooth, then add the soda and Rum.
Stir in the flour and before it is all absorbed, add the nuts and stir until evenly distributed.
Line a 6-inch by 6-inch square pan with foil and spray lightly with cooking spray. Press the dough evenly and firmly into the pan. It will fill the pan to the top. Be sure to press evenly to ensure no pockets in the dough.
Cover the dough with another piece of sprayed foil, or wrap the pan in plastic wrap. Freeze overnight, remove from the pan and un-wrap the dough.
Preheat the oven to 350°. Have parchment covered sheet pans ready, or use Silpat mats.
With a very sharp knife cut the square in half. You will have two rectangles, both 6-inches by 3-inches. Keep one part of the dough in the freezer while working with the other. I use a large meat slicing knife, it cuts straight through the frozen dough and nuts like a dream, allowing for paper thin slices. Cut slices from the 3-inch side of the rectangle. Cut them about 1/8th of an inch thick, about the same as the thickness of the knife blade. Immediately place onto the sheet pans and bake. Turn the cookies after about 7 minutes, their time differs greatly with the thickness of the slice. Time the cookies and use that time in the future. They are done when they are an even medium dark golden. Watch them closely because the beautiful caramelized cookie easily becomes a burned one. You do want a good golden color, this gives the cookie the caramelized sugar taste and it toasts the nuts as well, bringing all the flavor out of these thin wafers.
The dough stores very well in the freezer for long periods of time.
Yield is unknown, I have never finished a batch up in a timely manner to count.
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A Note from Chefmom...
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I love to bake up a tray to enjoy with a cup of tea or cocoa. If I do not wish to turn my oven on it is just as simple to slice a few and bake them in my toaster oven. I do not know the yield because I keep the dough in the freezer and slice as I need. This is a very simple cookie, but it brings people back for "just one more".
For good cutting you will need your best knife. Keep the dough in the freezer and since it is a square shape, it holds its shape very well. Run your knife over a steel for a perfect slice, and a hollow-ground blade is the BEST blade for this job. I use my "ham slicer", but this blade is now coming in a carving type blade as well. It is a worth while investment for your kitchen!
**Check out http://www.bridgekitchenware.com
for a great selection of knives and other kitchen necessities. Catalog $3.
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