I love corn, even in my dessert. Generally, I don't think that cornmeal does a great job of delivering corn flavor in baked goods -- to get a dessert that tastes like corn, my preference is to use either freeze-dried corn (like in Christina Tosi's corn cookies) or fresh corn on the cob (like in Jeni Britton Bauer's sweet corn and black raspberry ice cream).
I was intrigued when I came across a François Payard recipe for "Cornmeal Cookies" that includes both cornmeal and all-purpose flour, and lists whole freeze-dried corn kernels as an optional ingredient. These cookies are buttery sablés and the freeze-dried corn is offered for extra crunch. I happened to have an open bag of freeze-dried corn on hand, so I had to give the recipe a try.
The cookie dough is a mixture of softened butter, sugar, cornmeal, egg yolks, flour, salt, and freeze-dried corn. You roll the dough into a log and freeze it for a few hours until firm. I froze my dough for about four hours and it was difficult to slice because it was rock hard. Letting the log of cookie dough sit at room temperature for even just a few minutes made slicing much easier. I brushed the sliced cookies with egg wash (I used a whole egg even though the recipe calls for egg yolk wash, only because I had already whole egg wash handy from another baking project earlier in the day), sprinkled on a little fleur de sel, and put the cookies in the oven to bake.
The cookies came out of the oven with shiny, golden, lightly cracked tops. I was surprised that the freeze-dried corn darkened to a deep apricot color during baking but I liked the resulting dotted patterns. I loved this cookie. It was firm and wonderfully buttery. I used fine grind cornmeal (Indian Head stone ground), which added a little texture without the unpleasant grittiness you can get from coarser grinds. I don't actually think the freeze-dried corn kernels added crunch, but they did contribute lovely pure corn flavor. These lovely cookies really tasted like buttered, salted corn in a cookie. I couldn't have asked for more.
These cookies reminded me a lot of Christina Tosi's corn cookies, at least flavor-wise. But while Tosi's cookies are homey cookie jar-type cookies, Payard's are elegant and dainty side-of-the-saucer cookies. Both are delicious.
Recipe: "Cornmeal Cookies" from Payard Cookies by François Payard.
Previous Posts:
I was intrigued when I came across a François Payard recipe for "Cornmeal Cookies" that includes both cornmeal and all-purpose flour, and lists whole freeze-dried corn kernels as an optional ingredient. These cookies are buttery sablés and the freeze-dried corn is offered for extra crunch. I happened to have an open bag of freeze-dried corn on hand, so I had to give the recipe a try.
The cookie dough is a mixture of softened butter, sugar, cornmeal, egg yolks, flour, salt, and freeze-dried corn. You roll the dough into a log and freeze it for a few hours until firm. I froze my dough for about four hours and it was difficult to slice because it was rock hard. Letting the log of cookie dough sit at room temperature for even just a few minutes made slicing much easier. I brushed the sliced cookies with egg wash (I used a whole egg even though the recipe calls for egg yolk wash, only because I had already whole egg wash handy from another baking project earlier in the day), sprinkled on a little fleur de sel, and put the cookies in the oven to bake.
These cookies reminded me a lot of Christina Tosi's corn cookies, at least flavor-wise. But while Tosi's cookies are homey cookie jar-type cookies, Payard's are elegant and dainty side-of-the-saucer cookies. Both are delicious.
Recipe: "Cornmeal Cookies" from Payard Cookies by François Payard.
Previous Posts:
- "What's a Backyard Barbecue Without Corn?: Corn Ice Cream Sandwiches," June 23, 2012.
- "Accept No Substitutes: Corn Cookies," March 20, 2012.
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