Grandma Dorothy’s Sunbuckle Cookies
Award-winning chef and cookbook author Gavin Kaysen says these cookies, as their name suggests, were an integral part of his grandmother’s culinary repertoire. Everyone looked forward to them—the kids would scoop ice cream into the center and use them as miniature bowls—and his family still makes them on holidays. And now they are part of the chef's Easter menu this year. Sunbuckles are similar in texture to sugar cookies but a touch more doughy; Dorothy liked hers crispy around the edges and slightly soft in the middle.
Sunbuckles are also the first thing the chef remembers cooking with his grandma. He recalls rolling the dough out on her ironing board (it was the largest flat surface in her house) and pushing it into her vintage tins. Anytime he would make a mistake (and he made many), Grandma Dorothy would reassure him that “next time it’ll be better.” Great advice from a legendary grandmother.
Ingredients:
- 16 Tbs. (2 sticks) (8 oz./250 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups (6 1/2 oz./180 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (7 oz./198 g) granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- Confectioners’ sugar for dusting (optional)
Directions:
Preheat an oven to 350°F (180°C).
In a medium bowl, using a handheld mixer, beat together the butter, flour, granulated sugar, egg and vanilla until combined. Refrigerate the dough for about 30 minutes so it firms up and is easier to handle.
Roll the dough into medium balls, appropriately sized to fit a cookie tin or a tartlet mold. Use a scale and weigh the dough for the most accurate way of achieving consistent cookies. (The chef’s tins fit 1 1/2-oz./45-g dough balls.)
Place each ball into a cookie tin and press the dough into the bottom of the tin with your fingertips. It should be about 1/4 inch (6 mm) thick and come about 1/2 inch (12 mm) up the sides of the tin, forming a cup shape.
Bake until the cookies are golden brown on top but still slightly doughy in the center, about 15 minutes.
Let the cookies cool in the tins until cool enough to handle. Gently squeeze the tins or tap with a knife to help them release. Dust the cookies with confectioners’ sugar and serve. The cookies can be stored at room temperature for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months. Makes 16 to 20 cookies.
Adapted from At Home by Gavin Kaysen (Spoon Thief Publishing, 2023)
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