I have to admit that I was not enthused about the idea of making "Lime Tarragon Cookies with White Chocolate Lime Topping" from the get-go. The flavor combination sounded odd (it wasn't really the tarragon that threw me off so much as the lime and white chocolate), and the photo didn't particularly draw me in either. Last month, Matt Lewis posted about these cookies on the Baked blog, and I became even less interested -- it's just a very odd-looking cookie.
But because I am committed to baking my way through Baked Elements -- and because I trust Matt and Renato -- I was happy to give the recipe a try. It's pretty easy: beat softened butter with white sugar and brown sugar; add salt, chopped tarragon, lime zest, and lime juice; add flour; and chill for at least an hour. Then you scoop out the dough and bake. I really disliked the mounded appearance of Matt's cookies as shown on the Baked blog, so I made it a point to flatten my scoops of dough before baking. I used a #30 scoop and got 16 cookies.
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I liked the nice flat shape of the baked cookies, and they were beautifully browned around the edges. After they were cool, I spread on some melted white chocolate and a bit of lime zest garnish (I took to heart the recipe's admonition that "less [lime zest] is more here -- you are trying to achieve a nice, minimal decoration, not lime zest overload"). The cookies had a very nice moist, chewy texture. However, I didn't enjoy the taste at all.
When I tasted a cookie without the white chocolate topping, it seemed simultaneously too salty and too sweet. The recipe includes a full teaspoon of salt and when I added it into the batter I remember thinking to myself that it seemed like too much given the yield of the recipe. At the same time, the cookie seemed overly sweet, or at least too sweet to allow the lime flavor to shine. I could just barely taste the tarragon and I didn't feel strongly about it one way or the other.
The cookie with the white chocolate was even worse, because the topping gave it a cloyingly sweet discordant finish. (It is true that I don't particularly like straight white chocolate, but I do think it's wonderful in many baking applications, including in the frosting of the Baked Whiteout Cake.) Just not my cup of tea.
Recipe: "Lime Tarragon Cookies with White Chocolate Lime Topping" from Baked Elements: Our 10 Favorite Ingredients, by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, recipe available here at Baked Sunday Mornings.
But because I am committed to baking my way through Baked Elements -- and because I trust Matt and Renato -- I was happy to give the recipe a try. It's pretty easy: beat softened butter with white sugar and brown sugar; add salt, chopped tarragon, lime zest, and lime juice; add flour; and chill for at least an hour. Then you scoop out the dough and bake. I really disliked the mounded appearance of Matt's cookies as shown on the Baked blog, so I made it a point to flatten my scoops of dough before baking. I used a #30 scoop and got 16 cookies.
.JPG)
When I tasted a cookie without the white chocolate topping, it seemed simultaneously too salty and too sweet. The recipe includes a full teaspoon of salt and when I added it into the batter I remember thinking to myself that it seemed like too much given the yield of the recipe. At the same time, the cookie seemed overly sweet, or at least too sweet to allow the lime flavor to shine. I could just barely taste the tarragon and I didn't feel strongly about it one way or the other.
The cookie with the white chocolate was even worse, because the topping gave it a cloyingly sweet discordant finish. (It is true that I don't particularly like straight white chocolate, but I do think it's wonderful in many baking applications, including in the frosting of the Baked Whiteout Cake.) Just not my cup of tea.
Recipe: "Lime Tarragon Cookies with White Chocolate Lime Topping" from Baked Elements: Our 10 Favorite Ingredients, by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, recipe available here at Baked Sunday Mornings.
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