Christmas Recipes — Russian Mushroom “Gribochky” Cookies Ingredients — Dough: • 2 cups all-purpose flour • ½ cup corn starch • pinch of salt • ½ tsp. baking powder • 1 stick (8 tbsp.) unsalted butter • 1 cup sugar • 1 large egg • ½ cup sour cream • 1 tsp. vanilla extract Glaze: • 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted • 1-2 tbsp. orange/lemon juice or milk (more, if needed) • red food colouring (optional) • confectioners’ sugar, for dusting (optional) • 4 oz. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped Directions — • Preheat an oven to 350°F. Line large baking sheets with parchment paper. • To make the cookies, over a sheet of waxed paper, sift together the flour, baking powder, corn starch and salt, and set aside. • In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and sugar until creamy. Add the vanilla, egg and sour cream and continue beating until blended, 1 to 2 minutes more, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add flour mixture and mix until blended. • With floured hands, shape the ½ dough into 24 mushroom caps/balls (about 0.7oz each) and place them on the prepared sheets, spacing them about 1 inch apart. Shape the rest of the dough into 24 mushroom stems, (about 0.5oz each). You can put the ‘caps’ on one sheet and ‘stems’ on another. I used 4 baking sheets. • Bake two sheets at the time, until the cookies are just beginning to brown, about 10-12 minutes, switching the pans and rotating a half turn halfway through baking. Transfer the baking sheets to wire racks and let the cookies cool on the sheets for 5 minutes. Repeat with two more baking sheets. • Place the chocolate in the top pan of a double boiler or in a heatproof bowl. Place over but not touching simmering water in the bottom pan. Heat, stirring frequently, until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat. • While the cookies are warm, poke a small hole in the bottom of a mushroom cap. Spread chocolate over the bottom of the cap. Dip the tip of a stem in chocolate, and press lightly into the hole. When the chocolate sets, they will hold together. Repeat with remaining pieces. • To make the glaze, in a small bowl, mix together the confectioners’ sugar and orange/lemon juice until smooth. Stir in one drop of food colouring at a time until the desired shade is reached. Glaze the mushroom caps with sugar glaze and let it dry. • Dust the cookies with confectioners’ sugar shaken through a sieve.
This is a must try recipe for me....
