Candy-Stripe Cookie Sticks (by Kat)

I was hunting for a "show cookie" and came across these babies from Martha. I like to have a variety of shapes and textures on a goody plate, and will on occasion sacrifice ease of baking for a fancy-looking gem. These are ADORABLE. And tasty. And do take a fair amount of time/effort, by which I mean that these are not cookies you can whip up, throw in the oven and then worry about later when the buzzer goes off. Block out a solid 2 hours to bust them out. But check out the cuteness and decide if they’re worth it – I think so.

Not worth it for some cookie exchange where you’re going to get stuck with refrigerator cornflake cookies in exchange, but they will really make a plate look great as part of a mix.

If you’ve had Pepperidge Farms pirouette rolled wafer cookies, you’ll have the idea. One of the commenters on Martha suggested filling with chocolate ganache. I just might have to try that.

Notes:

There is a video on Martha that shows step by step instructions. It could be helpful in understanding the process.

I made my template 3x5 instead of 3x6. The suggested size just looked too long to me, but whatever works for you. Take a minute and think about how you want to package them – you might want them longer if you were going to put them in a mug. If you have some contact paper, take a minute and cover your template – I cut mine out of a box of ‘Nemo fun fruits.’ Paper board works well. The contact paper made it easy to wipe off the dough that will definitely be getting up on the sides.

I had the best success when I spread the dough the height of the paper board. I know that sounds crazy thin, but this is a case where thicker is not better. The thick guys were too hard to roll.

This also sounds nuts, but bake 3 cookies MAX at a time. The first couple pans I tried 4, and I just couldn’t roll them fast enough – the window of rolling is pretty small. After they start to cool they crack when you roll.

You WILL burn your fingers. You will burn your fingers less if you flip the cooked cookies over on the sheet they baked on, and then place the one you’re rolling on a spare Silpat. I used a previous pan for the rolling, so that it was still warm but not smoking hot. After rolling each cookie, I pressed down gently on the pencil to ‘seal’ the seam. This kept them from unrolling.

Candy-Stripe Cookie Sticks

8 large egg whites

2 cups sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

Pinch of coarse salt

10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (I also added 2 tsp of mint, because I love mint!)

Red gel-paste food coloring

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Beat egg whites and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until foamy. Reduce speed to low. Add flour and salt; mix until just combined. Add butter, cream, and vanilla, and beat until combined.

Transfer 1 cup batter to a small bowl (set remaining batter aside). Stir in red coloring until desired color is reached. Transfer tinted batter to a pastry bag fitted with a small plain round tip (such as At

eco #2). Secure end of pastry bag with rubber band. Set aside.

Put a 3-by-6-inch rectangle (cut out a stencil to use as a guide) on a baking sheet lined with a Silpat baking mat. Spoon a heaping tablespoon of plain batter into the rectangle, and spread with a small offset spatula. Repeat. Pipe diagonal tinted stripes onto each rectangle. Bake cookies until pale golden, 6 to 8 minutes.

Immediately loosen edges with a spatula, and flip cookie over. Starting from one long side, roll cookie into a stick (I used a pencil). Place, seam side down, on a clean work surface; let cool until set. Quickly repeat with second cookie.

Repeat process, tinting and baking 2 or 3 cookies at a time. Cookies can be stored between layers of parchment in airtight containers at room temperature up to 1 week.

Recipe from Martha Stewart