Recipe: Ausstecherle and Meringue Cookies

Ausstecherle and Meringue Cookies
rec.food.baking/Susan J. Talbutt (1999)

The cake flour and lack of egg whites makes these especially tender. When I bake these, I'll also bake meringue cookies (to use the egg whites).

2 cups (1 lb, 4 sticks) butter
2 cups (1 lb.) sugar
7 large egg yolks (reserve 1 white for glazing cookies)*
1/2 c. sour cream (can substitute 2 whole eggs)
8 cups (2 lb., 1 box) cake flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder Do not double this recipe.

Cream the butter until very light. Add sugar; cream butter and sugar until combined. Add egg yolks and sour cream and beat until combined. Slowly add flour and baking powder (even with the pouring shield on my mixer, I still get flour all over the table if I add too quickly). Mix on low speed until dough is uniform**. Refrigerate until cold (about one or two hours).

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Roll out some dough to about 3/8 of an inch thick. Refrigerate remaining dough. Cut cookies and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Brush with egg white or beaten whole egg.

Bake 15 minutes until golden; watch carefully!

*If you use jumbo eggs or are baking in a hot, humid (i.e. Florida) kitchen, reduce yolks to 6.

**A stand mixer works best. Most hand mixers don't have the power to work with this much cookie dough. If using a hand mixer, add the last bit of flour by hand.

Forgotten Cookies (to use some of the egg whites)

This is a very easy cookie. The only way to ruin these cookies is to add the sugar too quickly and make meringue puddles. They taste the same, but are chewier.

If you substitute the pecans for the chocolate chips, these are called Kisses.

2 egg whites
2/3 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 small (6 ounce) package chocolate chips (or /2 cups chopped pecans)

This recipe can easily be doubled.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Beat egg whites slowly at first with salt, until whites begin to foam. Increase mixer speed to high, and beat until stiff.

Gradually add sugar by tablespoonfuls until a stiff meringue forms. Add vanilla and beat. Add chocolate chips and pecans and mix.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. Place in oven, turn off oven, go to bed.

The next morning: Remove from cookie sheets and store in air-tight containers.