Recipe Dev: Tom Collins Twists

 

I'm not usually a big shortbread person most of the time. When I want a cookie, I usually just want a cookie- not a cookie alongside other things. Be it coffee, tea, cocoa, fruit, or something else entirely, most of the shortbreads I know are designed to be eaten accompanied.

So my research went wider, trying to make one that was just fine on its own.

I don't thiiiink this counts as a shortbread any more, but it's really nice!

It's an eggless shortbread-adjacent cookie that's soft enough to verge on being a batter. It's extremely easy to work with, too. I actually pipe these, and if you're nervous about working with a piping bag, this cookie is a fantastic place to start. Using a wide star tip creates plenty of plausible deniability for how it looks, and the glaze will hide anything more egregious. They're not fancy, but they look fancy, especially with the icing.

Tom Collins Twists (makes 30-36)

Equipment:

Mixer (I use a hand mixer for these but with enough vigor it's easily doable by hand)
1x Large Bowl
2x Medium Bowl
Silicone Spatula, Large
Piping Bag / Piping Tips
Whisk
Scale
Measuring Spoons
Fine Strainer (In case of dry ingredient clumping)
Sheet Tray (Ideally two)
Parchment Paper
Oven (Preheat to 350F / 180C / Gas Mark 4)

Ingredients: (All at room temperature- extremely important to ensure a smooth, workable dough)

8oz / 225g Unsalted Butter
8oz / 225g Cream Cheese**
1 1/2 cups / 180g Powdered Sugar
1Tbsp Vanilla
Zest of 1 lime and 1 lemon (about 1 Tbsp in total)
3 Tbsp Lime Juice

2 3/4 cups / 400g APF
1/2 cup / 75g Cornstarch
1 tsp salt

Powdered Sugar
Gin

Process:

Preheat the oven, line the sheet tray(s) with parchment, and prepare the piping bag/tip.

Going down the list, combine all the ingredients up to but not including the lime juice in the Large Bowl.
Using the mixer, beat till smooth and well combined, 1-2 minutes.
Add the lime juice and mix for 5 seconds or so, then set aside.

Using the Scale, weigh out the APF, Cornstarch, and Salt in the Medium Bowl.
Add the contents to the Large Bowl, and mix on low till just combined, then finish mixing by hand with the Silicone Spatula to ensure minimal gluten development.

Load the Piping Bag with 15-20% of the dough, and pipe in squiggles, making vaguely rectangular shapes about 1.5" x 3". With a standard large star tip this will be five back-and-forth sweeps.

Approximately 15-18 will fit on a standard baking sheet in a 3x5 or 3x6 configuration

Bake for approximately 15 minutes, then remove from the oven and allow to cool for another 15 on the tray.

While cooling, prepare the glaze by whisking together ~1 cup powdered sugar with 2-3 Tbsp of gin, adjusting till you have a thick but pourable result. Add a squeeze or two of lime juice too if you like.

Gently drizzle the glaze over the cooled cookies. Allow to set for at least an hour afterward just in case.

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So, the tricks in the recipe are as follows

-It uses APF as its primary structure, but it's somewhat heavily cut with cornstarch to make it resemble cake flour, so a bit more delicate. 

-There's no granulated sugar, only confectioner's sugar (which also has some cornstarch in it).

-The dough includes cream cheese**

-The glaze is made with alcohol, ensuring faster evaporation and drying with less danger of rendering the cookie soggy.

Even when you really don't care about making them look good they're still not bad! See?

**I picked this notion up from Daniela Galarza's Apple Tassies recipe several years back. Can't lay my hands on the recipe right now -it was two laptops and two desktop towers ago- but if I remember correctly, the ratio for that one was something like 2 parts butter to 3 parts cream cheese to 4 parts APF. You get the binding, the dairy, the fat, and the tang. For something like this where the primary flavor is citrus, it works wonders to round the flavor out.