Recipe: Sand Cookies

6/15/2010

With only four ingredients, this quick recipe, adapted from 'Good to the Grain' by Kim Boyce, highlights the flavor of its few components. Try this with different whole-grain flours; we liked it with regular whole-wheat flour. Because butter is so central to the flavor of these cookies, you might want to try using a European-style butter such as Plugra.

1 3/4 cups whole-wheat flour

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

3/4 teaspoon coarse salt

1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature

Place two racks in upper and lower thirds of oven; heat to 350 degrees. Rub two baking sheets with butter. Sift dry ingredients onto board or countertop; mix. Add butter; rub in butter with the heel of your hand to make a crumbly dough. Knead dough together a few times.

Pinch off 1-tablespoon pieces of dough; roll into balls. Set each on countertop; gently fl atten the ball into a circle, about 1/4-inch thick. Repeat with remaining dough.

Transfer cookies to buttered baking sheets, leaving 1 inch between them. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until edges are dark golden, 20 minutes. Cool briefly on pan; transfer to racks to cool completely.

Nutrition information: Per serving: 130 calories, 53 percent of calories from fat, 8 g fat, 5 g saturated fat, 20 mg cholesterol, 14 g carbohydrates, 2 g protein, 82 mg

sodium, 1 g fiber. Yield: 18 cookies