The Gourmet Cookie Book
November 2, 2010 Gourmet fans and cookie monsters, take note. The Gourmet Cookie Book just went on sale today so you can now access the venerable magazine's tastiest cookies from 1941-2009. You get a total of 68 show-stopping recipes (one from each year) along with a glimpse at the publication's culinary history. If you love to bake, you'll be having a blast as you experiment with nearly seven decades of sugary bliss.
From the simple Honey Refrigerator Cookies to the impossibly elegant Moravian White Christmas Cookies you'll be able to keep your friends and family satisfied throughout the holiday season. I've included a recipe for the unusual Sugar Shuttles (Navettes Sucrées). These lovely cigar-shaped treats have a wonderful cake-like crumb with crispy outer edges.
Navettes Sucrées (Sugar Shuttles)
Makes about 20 cookies
Sift 1 cup sifted all-purpose flour, 1⁄4 cup sugar, and 1⁄4 teaspoon salt into a bowl. Add 1⁄4 cup soft butter, 2 egg yolks, and 1 teaspoon vanilla and knead until the dough is well blended. Chill it in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
Divide the dough into portions the size of a small walnut. Roll each piece of dough with the palm of the hand on a lightly floured board to give it the shape of a small sewing-machine shuttle. Dip each in egg white and roll in granulated sugar. Bake on a lightly buttered baking sheet in a moderate oven (350°F) for about 8 minutes, or until the little cookies are lightly browned.
Recipe Notes:
1. Use unsalted butter.
2. The cylinder “shuttle” should be about 21⁄2 inches long and 1⁄2 inch thick.
3. Lightly beat the egg white with a fork.
Recipe reprinted with permission from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Copyright 2010 by Condé Nast Publications, Photographs by Romulo Yanes.
For editorial consideration, a review book copy was provided for this post.
Reader Comments (5)
One can never have too many cookie books. Well, one's hips can. But not the rest of me. ;)
Haha! I agree, we can always make room for cookie books on our shelves. ;)
I just make the sugar shuttles. Although the recipe said to knead the ingredients, I used my mixer. The "dough" was not dough at all, more like a mound of powder. I then turned it out onto my breadboard and kneaded... and kneaded..... Finally the mixture started to come together. Although still a bit crumbly, I divided it into four portions and wrapped in Saran and refrigerated for 2 hours. Voila! The dough had become dough!! I pinched off portions and "squeezed" between my palm and fingers to shape. Dipped in egg white, then sugar. They took about 10 minutes to become golden. A very delicious butter/sugar cookie. Reading comments from other sites, bakers have added 2 extra Tablespoons of butter or 2 Tablespoons of milk to get the dough to come together.
Thanks so much Debra for the tips! I imagine it's tricky to work with such a old recipe.