Homemade cookies: The secret ingredient for perfect crispiness

Before store shelves were filled with various ready-made treats, cookies were regularly baked in most homes. Iconic treats like nutty biscuits, ballet shapes, and ammonia cookies were the best additions to tea. To this list, I add my aunt's cookie recipe. Thanks to one extra ingredient in the dough, they are crispy and always sprinkled with coarse sugar.

Homemade cookies are far tastier than ready-made packaged products. Often, from one batch of shortcrust pastry, you can prepare both cookie-cutter shapes and machine-made ones, decorated or plain. They are made in a flash and bake even faster. Drawbacks? You might lose yourself while eating them. Their crispiness is thanks to one extra ingredient from the refrigerator.

Just as my aunt handed down her "secret" recipe, I always added sour cream to the shortcrust dough with sugar. The best is homemade, straight from the farm, but if you don't have access to that, choose a high-quality 18% cream.

The cream doesn't need to be at room temperature because it combines, among other things, with cold butter. It's important to knead the dough rather efficiently. My aunt always did this by hand, but I sometimes made the task easier by using a stand mixer.

Ingredients:

            
• 5 oz cold butter
• 7 oz wheat flour
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 heaped tablespoons of sour cream
• 0.5 oz vanilla sugar
• 2 oz coarse sugar
• 1 egg white

Preparation:

1. Sift the flour onto a pastry board or into a mixer bowl, and add the vanilla sugar. Add the egg yolk, diced butter, and cream.
2. Knead the dough, wrap it in foil, and place it in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
3. Roll out the dough to about a quarter-inch thickness, preferably on a pastry board sprinkled with a small amount of flour.
4. Cut out the cookies and place them on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Brush with egg white and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
5. Bake in an oven preheated to 390°F for about 20 minutes. Cool on a rack.