Cookies from L’île de beauté
With abundant chestnut trees, chestnut flour has always been used in Corsica during lean times. It’s distinctive flavor provides an earthy sweetness, reminiscent of hiking the wild paths of this beautiful island.
These cookies are flavored with different ingredients to taste. I suggest you try these different flavors and see which you like best.
Ingredients:
300g (2 cups) all purpose flour
200g (1 2/3 cup) chestnut flour (or substitute whole wheat flour)
1 tablespoon baking powder
80g (1/3 cup) white sugar
60g (1/4 cup) brown sugar
pinch of salt
3/4 cup olive oil
2 eggs, lightly beaten
A little extra milk if your dough is too dry
extra sugar for coating the cookie
Flavors for batches:
Anise flavor
3 tablespoons pastis
1 tablespoon anise seed, toasted
Lemon Marquis flavor
3 tablespoons lemon juice or limoncello
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon dried herbs de maquis (can be: marjoram, rosemary, thyme, myrtle, mint)
Almond flavor
3 tablespoons amaretto
1/3 cup almonds, toasted and chopped
Method
- Pre-heat oven to 350F.
- In a bowl, wisk together: all-purpose flour, chestnut flour, baking powder, salt, white sugar, and brown sugar.
- Add olive oil, eggs and mix with your hands. The dough will be fairly dry and crumbly at this stage. That’s OK.
- Split the dough into thirds, and put each third into a separate bowl.
- In one bowl, add the amaretto and the almonds. Mix to form a dought that comes together. If the dough is still crumbly, as a little bit of milk or water until it comes together.
- In the second bowl, add the pastis and anise seeds. Mix to form a dought that comes together. If the dough is still crumbly, as a little bit of milk or water until it comes together.
- In the third bowl, add the limoncello and dried herbs. Mix to form a dought that comes together. If the dough is still crumbly, as a little bit of milk or water until it comes together.
- Roll out one of your doughs into a thick rectangle, using your hands to press together the sides if they start to split or crumble. Dough should be about 1“ thick. Use a bench scraper to cut the dough into small diamond shapes, rectangles, or squares.
- Use a spatula to transfer the cookies onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Keep them about 1“ apart. Sprinkle granulated sugar on each cookie.
- Repeat this process with the two remaining flavors.
- Bake at 350F for 25-35 minutes, until cookies are golden brown. Cool completely, and store in an airtight container.