I've been in a rut lately. This is our third batch of these coconut shortbread cookies. I'm finding it difficult to "move on". They're the perfect beige food. (I have this overly obsessive nature--thus the "three batches" thing.) It all started with a cookie craving. I had to have a cookie with a long shelf life, and one that would step in as a late night dessert. These cookies aren't fussy. They have a light crumb--and I find the added coconut with macadamia nuts to be as close to heaven as you can get if chocolate isn't happening for you. (Rare. I know.) 
I stumbled across this recipe while I was re-arranging my cookbook collection. Which took me almost an entire day, a trip to Target for a new bookshelf and another trip to a used bookstore in search for. . . more cookbooks! (I actually hit a really good sale--hardbound books selling for three dollars a piece!) One of which was Nancy Silverton's, Breads from the La Brea Bakery. More on that in a second. This shortbread cookie appears in the Gourmet Cookie Book: The Single Best Recipe from Each Year 1941-2009. I love this cookbook. I picked a copy up when the book was first released as a Christmas present to myself. I haven't spent nearly enough time with the book and recipes, but all I can say is that there is not a single cookie in this book I wouldn't try. Plus, a picture accompanies every single recipe. That in itself grants it "most favorite cookie book" status in my kitchen. It's a gorgeous book. When they stopped printing Gourmet magazine, a little piece of my cooking heart broke. I abandoned all other "cooking" related mags for a while in protest. I'm back up to my four subscriptions.
So during the cookbook foray, I found myself re-reading several bread books. I love reading about baking bread. Something about the science and all that stuff I missed in chemistry fascinates me. And I consider myself a worthy bread baker. Certainly better than a beginner at this point in my baking life. I made a really wonderful loaf (pictured above) of Jim Lahey's Rye Bread from his book, My Bread. One of my most treasured bread baking books. So effortless, yet such sublime breads. I'd gotten a little lazy during this heatwave and drought and shunned the oven for a bit, instead relying on purchased loaves of artisan breads from the grocery store. I'd had enough of being "hostage" to the heat. The oven has returned. Heat be damned.
Sourdough bread baking has been this distant, unreachable "mystery" to me for many years. I LOVE sourdough bread. (I usually return from the store with a loaf or two.) It is the one indulgence I cannot live without. Well, and chocolate. Oh, and coffee. Anytime someone in the foodie world posts their "Sourdough from Start"--I read the posts in awe. Then kick myself for not having the guts to start a culture of my own. (I've had a few failed attempts with Peter Reinhart's sourdough. Probably my own fault--I have no patience.)
When I came home with the Nancy Silverton bread book and read the entire introduction on breads--realizing they nearly all required a sourdough starter, I thought it was time to get back up on the horse and try sourdough AGAIN. No, not according to her recipe for sourdough. (Because there's this "grapes in cheesecloth" part and other things that quite honestly I found a bit too much work for my novice sourdough self. Maybe another day.) Let me say, she DID inspire me to want to try my hand at sourdough one more time. Plus, she writes about the art of bread baking so beautifully, the price of the book alone is worth reading her introduction.
Enter my Daniel Leader book, Local Breads.
I found this book at a used book store, as well. I can't say enough wonderful things about this book. To be sure, it's not you're "five minute" bread baking book. However, if you want to explore The World "in breads", this is the book I'd start with. I've made several recipes from it. I took this to bed with me for several nights just so I could digest all of his bread baking wisdom. And then thought it time for me to put my big girl pants on and give sourdough a go via his direction. I am currently making: a Stiff Levain. If you are interested in the bread-head threads on such matters as "levains"--liquid or stiff, might I suggest The Fresh Loaf for your reading pleasure. (Seriously, I cannot tell you the number of times I have turned here for my bread curiosity.)As you can see from the jar above, I have begun my journey. I read somewhere that the more bread you bake in your home, the better your bread becomes. That makes a lot of sense. Bread baking is a science. There are things in the air that help make bread happen. I'm no scientist. (However, I have a husband who is a scientist. But that still doesn't make me one.) As I contemplated this thought on "the more bread you bake. . . yadda, yadda"--I turned to husband and asked him what he thought of this notion of baking bread making your bread better. He said, "Makes sense." That's it? I asked. "Yep."
That little exchange lit a fire in me and on a quest to prove I CAN make a sourdough starter. That's my jar of sourdough starter on day three in the photo above. It looks promising. I'll keep you posted. Meantime. . .
My first butternut squash. One of the only rays of sunshine in my garden at this moment in time. I'll not speak further of the garden OR our yard for now.
In the evenings my hands have been busy working on this new crochet throw for the living room. It's an easy-peasy pattern and is perfect for TV time. Vegan Coconut Macadamia Nut Shortbread CookieAdapted from, "The Gourmet Cookie Book"
2 tablespoons Florida Crystals sugar 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons macadamia nut pieces6 tablespoons unsalted vegetable margarine at room temperature 1/4 cup powdered sugar1 cup cake flour (spooned into the measuring cup, then leveled with a knife)1/2 teaspoon baking powder1/4 teaspoon salt1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract1/3 cup organic unsweetened coconut (plus 3 tablespoons for sprinkling on top)
Preheat oven to 325. Lightly spray a nonstick baking pan--either a 9 inch square or round pan, or an 11 inch rectangular pan will work. Place the macadamia nuts, sugar and vanilla extract in a food processor and pulse about twelve times--till the mixture becomes crumbly. In a medium bowl add all dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt, nut mixture and coconut and sift well. In another bowl, mix together the margarine and powdered sugar with a hand blender, until light and fluffy. Add the dry ingredient mixture to the butter mixture and with the blender mix just until the mixture comes together. The dough will stick together in a clump if you picked it up. Dump the dough into the cookie baking pan and press it into the pan until it covers the bottom evenly. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of coconut over the top of cookies, lightly press into the dough to keep the flakes from falling off after baking. Bake the shortbread for about 25-30 minutes, until the edges of the cookie begin to turn light brown. Remove cookies from the oven and allow to cool for about five minutes in pan. Take a spatula and cut cookies into rectangular shapes--(you'll want to do this before the cookies cool completely). After cookies have been cut, cool completely in pan, then remove one at a time to a cookie jar--preferably to a tin jar which will keep the cookies crunchy.
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