Something Sweet

What's better than sitting outside at the farmer's market on a sunny, crisp fall morning and drinking a pumpkin spice coffee from Java's? Well, the only thing that could make it better is if you had one of Nonna's "S" cookies to dip in your coffee and munch on. These take an hour or two to prep, but the results are worth it!



Nonna's "s" cookies

Ingredients:
-4 eggs
-1 cup of white sugar
-1/4 cup of shortening
-1/4 cup of vegetable oil
-1 or 2 tsp. vanilla extract
-4-4.5 cups of flour
-1/2 cup milk
-2 tablespoons baking powder
-sprinkles, sliced almonds, marmalade


THE DOUGH
Mix 3 whole eggs and 1 egg yolk in a medium bowl and *save the egg white* in another bowl (I forgot to do this the first time I made these). Add 1 cup of white sugar and using a whisk, fluff the ingredients together for 5-7 minutes. The trick here is to tilt the bowl to the side, and using a circular motion try to fold the bottom layer onto the top layer.

Melt the shortening in the microwave and add this, with the vegetable oil and vanilla extract, to the bowl. Continue to whisk. Add the milk, and whisk some more. Then switch over to using a wooden spoon.

Add the flour (through a sifter) and baking powder to the wet mixture slowly, mixing with the wooden spoon. We used between 4 and 4 1/2 cups of flour but you have to judge based on the consistency of the dough. It should be pretty soft but not too gooey.

Next, sprinkle some flour over your counter top/work surface and knead the dough for about 10 minutes, adding more flour here if you think it's necessary.



MAKING THE COOKIES

To prepare for this step, preheat the oven to 350 and set out 2 baking sheets covered with wax paper/parchment paper. You should also create an assembly line by having one dish with the egg white, one dish with white sugar, one dish with sprinkles and one dish with sliced almonds all set out on your counter top.

First, cut a piece of dough and roll it into a log shape (approximately the diameter of a sharpie marker).

Cut off pieces and make some shapes.



First, dip each cookie in the egg white, then in the sugar, then add to the baking sheet. For other variations, dip in sprinkles/sliced almonds. These cookies definitely grow large in the oven so leave room in between! Cook at 350 for 15-20 minutes. You want the bottoms of the cookies to be golden brown and have a slight golden color on top! Let them cool and they will get crunchy like biscotti. Dip in coffee and enjoy!

To make the marmalade-filled version:

Roll out a portion of the dough until 1/4 inch thick (don't roll too thin or the cookies will fall apart!). Spread jam over top, but not too much or it will leak out when the cookies are in the oven! Roll up the dough into a log shape, making sure that the final flap of the roll is on top of the log, not underneath. Brush with egg whites and bake according to the directions above. After the logs cool, cut into strips and you should have a pinwheeled jam cookie! Yum!



Here's Anna going to town one of these sweets!