Monday, September 5, 2016

Corn Cookies


Momofuku Milk Bar's Corn Cookies by freshfromthe.com

I've had the Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook for some time now, but have only made a few of the recipes. Why? Because they often require ingredients I don't readily have on hand. Case in point: these corn cookies. But they've been on my mind for a while. Can what are essentially sugar cookies with a bit of corn powder in them be special?

The answer: Yes. Yes they can.

Momofuku Milk Bar's Corn Cookies by freshfromthe.com.

These cookies are strange at first. They're both savory and sweet, some saltiness mixed in with the corniness mixed in with the sugar. And they just work. One should never doubt Christina Tosi and her baking prowess! 

They are also quite large cookies. Only four of them fit on a baking sheet at a time, but I don't know that they would be as good if they were smaller. Why is that, you ask? Because the outsides are nice and crisp, while the inside is the right amount of soft. If you made them smaller, you might get too much crisp and not enough soft. Of course, it's hard to say if that would for sure happen, so maybe I'll try it sometime. Oh shucks for me, having to make these again!

Momofuku Milk Bar's Corn Cookies by freshfromthe.com.

What about this freeze-dried corn powder, you wonder? Well, places like Whole Foods do have freeze-dried corn. Of course, it's organic, which the cookbook actually recommends against because of the flavor. How crazy! Instead, I ended up buying mine online from Amazon. I honestly don't know if it makes that much of a difference between organic and non-organic. Maybe I'll have to test the organic kind out sometime just to see. Again, what a shame!

One thing I would say, I kind of wish I'd let these bake for 17 minutes instead of 18 because I think they are a little too done in the center at 18. The first batch I actually lost my counter, so I was just guessing, and I think they may have been slightly under the others which I did at exactly 18. Of course, I always prefer a more doughy cookie than a crispier cookie, so it could just be my own preferences shining through.

Nonetheless, these are highly recommended! So strange and so good all at once!

Momofuku Milk Bar's Corn Cookies by freshfromthe.com.

Corn Cookies by freshfromthe.com

Christina Tosi’s Corn Cookies from the Milk Bar Cookbook.

Ingredients:
  • 225 g (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
  • 300 g (1 1/2 cups) granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 225 g (1 1/3 cups) all-purpose flour
  • 45 g (1/4 cup) corn flour*
  • 65 g (2/3 cup) freeze-dried corn powder**
  • 3 g (3/4 teaspoon) baking powder
  • 1.5 g (1/4 teaspoon) baking soda
  • 6 g (1 1/2 tsp) kosher salt
Instructions:

  1. Combine the butter and sugar and beat on medium-high for 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the egg, and beat for another 7-8 minutes. Obviously this is best done in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment that you can just leave there doing its job.
  2. Reduce the speed to low and add in the flour, corn flour, corn powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix until the dough just comes together, no longer than 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
    *Corn Flour - I used (40g) 1/4 cup all-purpose flour and (8g) 4 teaspoons freeze-dried corn powder for this.
    
**Freeze-Dried Corn Powder - I bought freeze-dried corn online and pulsed it into a powder in a blender.
  3. Using a 1/3 cup measure, portion out the dough onto a parchment-lined sheet pan. Pat the tops of the dough flat. Wrap the pan tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.
  4. Heat the oven to 350°F.
  5. Arrange the chilled dough on silpat or parchment-lined baking sheets 4 inches apart. Bake for 18 minutes. They should be browned along the edges but still yellow in the middle.
  6. Cool the cookies completely on the cookie sheets before serving or saving. 
Corn Cookies by freshfromthe.com

4 comments:

  1. Corn flour? Hmmm. Never used or heard of it before. I've only used cornmeal and never in cookies. I'd love to try one of these, though.

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  2. Yeah I didn't see corn flour anywhere either, so that is why I just used her substitution of AP flour and corn powder. Still delicious!!

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  3. (Via Google) Corn flour is just a more finely ground corn meal. I've found corn flour labeled as corn meal. You can tell because it has the texture of flour unlike corn meal used in corn bread, for instance.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the tip, Jade! Now the issue is never seeing the freeze-dried corn in stores anymore

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