A cup of steaming hot aromatic coffee is my forbidden food. However much I may love a hot cup of coffee, it does not love me back. The caffeine in that hot cup doesn't gel with my body. Weird, but the only time I actually consume coffee is during the summer coz it doesn't play tricks when I consume it cold; the steaming one just wasn't made for me.
When I was holding a corporate job in Delhi, the only hot beverage that I would have once in a while during winters, was a cup of lemon tea from the office tea/coffee dispenser. I would console myself by merely inhaling the rich and alluring aromas of coffee wafting through the pantry.It may sound strange to many but I can’t stand the smell of the creamy/ milky Indian Chai. Everyone here refuses to believe me when I tell them I don’t take chai. The next question that I invariably have to answer is “how can you live without that vital cup of chai!”? I hate to tell them that I abhor the much loved national beverage.
I try to get a fix of my much loved ingredient by using it in foods that I enjoy and where I know it will be incapable of creating a problem for my physical being. These walnut cookies are one such classic example. (It being winters, feel free to tip in table spoon or two of rum.)
120 grams butter¾ cup sugarA pinch of salt1 tbsp espresso coffee1 tsp vanilla essence100 grams walnuts (I finely chopped half the amount to give texture to the cookies & the rest to powder)1½ cup flour
A pinch of salt
Whisk together the flour, salt, powdered walnuts, espresso coffee and finely chopped walnuts. In a mixing bowl, beat together the sugar and butter till soft and fluffy. Add the dry flour mixture and stir together with a spatula or a large spoon bring everything together. The dough will feel soft and moist.
Wrap the dough in a cling wrap film and refrigerate it for 25-30 minutes in the refrigerator. Remove from the fridge and using half the dough, roll it between two sheets of butter paper or parchment paper to 4 mm thickness or to the thickness of your choice.
Using a cookie cutter cut out the dough and arrange it on the baking sheet keeping a little distance between each cut out cookie.
Bake at 180 degrees C for 13-15 minutes or till the cookies begin to turn brown on the edges. Remove and rest the cookies for a few minutes before transferring them to the wire rack. Let them cool before storing them.
Work with the rest of the dough in the same way. If it becomes difficult to roll and cut, refrigerate it for a few minutes and then start working with it again. Using a little over 2 inch cutter I could procure exactly three dozen cookies.
Yield: 3 Dozen
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