Monday, November 14, 2011

Scourtins: a recipe

Scourtins
I've gotten hooked on the savory cocktail cookie this year. It's my hors d'oeuver of choice because, frankly, who doesn't like cookies?

And apparently I'm not only not alone in my new love but also late in coming to this particular party. Of course the French have been loving the savory-sweet combination for years. No where is this more evident than in scourtins, the traditional olive shortbread cookies from Northern France.

Yes, olives. In cookies. You have to trust me here.

I was first introduced to scourtins by my friend Cynthia, who thought that my wildly insane love of the salty-sweet flavor of salted oatmeal cookies (Best. Cookies. Ever.) might make me more than a little predisposed to enjoying the olivey-sugary scourtin goodness.

By golly, that Cynthia is a genius.

The recipe she sent me comes from a Brooklyn bakery called Ovenly. If you're in the neighborhood, let them know they've got a food blogger fan up here in Vermont.



I'm envisioning these cookies as perfect pre-Thanksgiving dinner nibbles for your guests to enjoy while sipping a nice chilled glass of white wine. Are you with me?

Vive le scourtin!

(I have really got to get my ass to France one of these days, don't you think?)

Scourtins (adapted from a recipe from Ovenly)

Ingredients:
3/4 cup black olives cured in oil (pitted and chopped)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 1/4 cups flour
1 tablespoon olive oil
zest of one lemon

Directions:
Cream the butter using a mixer until it is light and fluffy. Add the sugar slowly and beat at medium speed until incorporated. Reduce speed to low, and add olive oil and lemon zest until combined. Still on low speed, add th flour and mix just until dough is smooth. Fold in the olives at lowest speed.

On a work surface, roll the dough into a log about two inches wide. Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour (longer is fine).

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Slice the dough log into rounds that are about 1/2 inch thick. You can put them fairly close together as they don't spread. Bake for about 15 minutes or until the golden. Cool completely on wire racks.

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