Flaky Walnut Cookies

Recipes /

DESCRIPTION

Ever bake and eat your pie pastry scraps? So yummy, right? That’s basically what these are, but the walnuts take them to another level. Sanded with sugar, they make amazing tender-flaky, melt-in-your-mouth cookies. As part of my Pear Cranberry Pot Pie, they are perfection.

SERVINGS

Makes 20 cookies.

INGREDIENTS

1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup plus 1 teaspoon cold water
1 cup walnuts
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
3 tablespoons sugar, plus more for sprinkling
12 tablespoons cold LouAna 100% Pure Coconut Oil
1 large egg white

DIRECTIONS

In a food processor, pulse the walnuts with ½ cup of the flour until the nuts are very finely ground. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in the sugar and remaining 1 cup flour. Toss in the oil until well coated, then press the oil into the dry clumps. Add the salted water and bring together with your hands until a shaggy dough forms.

Divide the dough into 2 disks, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour or up to overnight.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper.

Roll the dough between sheets of parchment paper until 1/8-inch thick. Use a lightly floured cutter of your choice to cut out as many rounds as possible. Gather and reroll the scraps to cut more rounds. You should have 20 cookies total. Transfer to the prepared pans, spacing them 1-inch apart. If the dough has softened, refrigerate again until firm.

In a small bowl, beat the egg white with the remaining 1 teaspoon water. Brush the egg wash over the dough, then sprinkle with sugar. Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Cool completely on the sheets on wire racks.

Carla’s Tip: If you’re feeling lazy, you can pulse the sugar and remaining flour into the walnut mixture in the food processor. You can then pulse in the oil until pea-size clumps form, then pulse in the water until a shaggy dough forms. I’m a fan of finishing the dough by hand, but it still works if you do it all in a machine.

Recipe credit: Adapted with permission from Carla’s Comfort Foods, copyright 2014 by Carla Hall, Atria Books