Peach Shortcake Cookie Recipe from Cate's World KitchenHave I ever mentioned how much I love sweets? Because, I really do! However, I am also terrified I might end up a diabetic...I wouldn't be the first in my immediate family, so I try to be really careful about my sugar intake. And for this reason, it isn't often I bake...
Acceptations can be made, and were regarding a cookie recipe that uses fresh peaches (which I adore)...and the smallish amount of sugar! Yes!!!! Of course there is heavy cream & butter in this recipe....but most of the amazing flavor relies on the deliciousness of the sweet fruit.
Alterations to the recipe: I didn't use whole wheat pastry flour because my favorite grocery store didn't have it...so instead used 1 cup white pastry flour and 1 cup of wheat all-purpose flour. This was probably unnecessary since the "adapted from" recipe calls for all-purpose flour...but I prefer to use all-purpose wheat flour, often I find it too dense and it alters the character of what I am trying to bake too much. Hence why I used the much lighter pastry flour to offset it. Also, I was baking in a hurry and messed up the order of ingredients...like I put in cream before butter and mushed it all together with the butter.
These changes didn't effect the quality of the output...the moment these cookies hit the table...all conversation ceased, accept "ohhhh, so good".
Another thing to note about this recipe, is it was really easy to make...the most effort comes in the cutting of the peaches....the rest was really a quick mix and plop. I am sooo going to be making these again, and soon! Thank you Cate! Great job (the the nutmeg+peach touch was especially inspired).
Again, find the recipe at: Cate's World Kitchen
How to Buy Peaches
Peaches are amazing and delicious...but of course you can have bad experiences with any produce you don't understand how to buy. Here are some helpful tips:
• Use your nose! My most important trick for buying any form of produce...if it smells good, it will almost certainly taste good
• Buy local: the less your food travels, the more likely it is to be fresh, not chemically ripened, & flavorful
• A slight give to the flesh—neither rock-hard nor squishy (Peaches bruise easily, so don’t use your fingertips to check for firmness. Instead, hold the peach in your whole hand.)
• Avoid fruit with green around the stem (they aren’t fully ripe) or shriveled skin (they’re old).
To make the whole wheat flour less intrusive, try adding 1 Tablespoon orange juice per cup of ww flour to your recipe. Let the dough rest once it is completely formed - 15 minutes up to an hour depending on your preference and the bulk of the recipe. You won't taste the oj at all, but it will help the wheat soften and the resting will help the flour hydrate (and relax) in your recipe. Cookies sound great! Fingers crossed for peaches at the farmer's market this week.
ReplyDeleteAwesome! Great tip! Have you tried it on a bunch of things....does it work better for some products?
ReplyDeleteTried to comment a few days ago and somehow it didn't post. Sorry about that. I've tried this on tons of pancake, waffle, crepe and quick bread recipes. It always works like a charm. I have not tried it in combination with yeast breads or cookies, but it seems reasonable that it would work with cookies. Yeast breads are a whole other world of baking to be sure.
ReplyDeleteBTW - I've tinkered with your family dutch baby recipe for a long time and found for my taste it works best with ww pastry flour in entirely or for 3/4 the amount of flour. I also add 1 t vanilla when using ww pastry, as I suspect it gives a similar softening effect. Using ww flour (even with oj added) did not give a pleasing texture in that recipe. So certainly there are places it won't work.