Virginia sugar cookies recipe

The story is commonly told in Virginia that these cookies were a favorite with Dolly Madison. They were the dainty confection served with syllabub, the favorite dessert in those days. And syllabub, the venerable grandmother in the mountain cabin in North Carolina, will tell you, was a mixture of calf's foot jelly and whipped cream. The jelly was made with wine.

To use up the spare egg whites try the Coconut cookies recipe.

Ingredients

Butter, well softened	1/2 cup	4 oz
Powdered sugar	1/2 cup	3 3/4 ozs
Egg yolk	2
All purpose flour	1 1/2 cups	6 oz
flaked or halved almonds	one for each cookie

Yield 24 to 30 cookies.

Tools

Electric mixer

Scales

Clean spoon

Baking sheets

Palette knife

Cooling rack

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Method

Set the oven to 400 F.

Prepare three baking sheets. These Virginia cookies are quite small. Do not crowd them, give them space to cook evenly.

Cream the butter and sugar for four minutes at top speed until light and fluffy.

Add the egg yolks and mix for a further two minutes.

Stop the mixer, remove the bowl and add the flour. Using a knife or spoon mix in the bulk of the flour to prevent it flying round the kitchen when the mixer gets going again.

Put the bowl back onto the mixer and mix for a further three minutes at slow speed.

By now the mix is still a bit sticky, but can be drawn into a ball leaving some behind clinging to the bowl.

Spread some flour on a surface and pull the mix from the bowl onto the floured surface into a ball.

Roll the ball in the flour covering its outer surface so it is not sticky.

Pull off small pieces and roll in your hands to make small balls about three quarters the size of a golf ball. Place about a dozen on each baking sheet.

After about five or six you will find the mix becomes a bit too sticky to roll in your hands, so pull it back into a ball and roll once more in the flour. Repeat until all the mix is used.

Pop an almond piece in the top of each cookie.

Virginia Cookie Put them in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Do not let them get too brown as it kills their delicate taste.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a couple of minutes.

Lift the cookies off your sheets with the palette knife onto cooling racks.

They have a delicate buttery flavor and a soft texture.

Go to the top of this page to read the Virginia Cookie recipe.