Corn Cookies

Yes....corn cookies.  They sound a little different, right?  Well they are a little different but in a good way--like a really good way.  They are sweet and salty and most definitely have a corn flavor to them. And for someone like myself who isn't in love with corn--whether it be corn on the cob or creamed corn--I thought that these were some dope ass cookies.  My partner, who on the other hand is a giant corn lover (something that always perplexes me), was entranced by these cookies.  He loves corn and sweets so this was the perfect dessert for him.  They hail from Christina Tosi's Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook which is essentially a product of the Milk Bar bakeries in NYC.  I've been to one of them and sampled some of their pies which were pretty amazing too.  One of the ones that I tried was their "crack pie" which is also a salty sweet corn flavored pie. In fact, that was the first thing I made from the cookbook.  In my opinion, these cookies are really the crack pie in a cookie form.  I'd give Christina Tosi an A++ on this gem of a cookie.

However, on a different note, I do have one qualm to pick with Christina Tosi.  I mean, there's no doubt that she is an amazing baker and I am greatly excited to bake just about everything in the Momofuku Milk Bar book--they are all drool worthy.  Yet, somewhere in the beginning of her book she states how she wanted to create recipes using traditional ingredients.  Well, now that I've whipped up just two of her recipes--and perused many more--I've discovered that her ingredients aren't so traditional.  The corn flavor in both the crack pie and corn cookies come a la freeze dried corn that's crushed into a powder.  I had never bought freeze dried anything so it took me a bit to find out where I could get some.  Eventually I found this brand at Whole Foods and another local grocery chain. And then there are ingredients she lists out for other recipes like milk powder and citric acid--not necessarily every day baking items.  Or she calls for certain equipment that's not all that common for the home baker. For example, she uses cake rings and acetate to assemble all of her cakes.  As a fairly regular baker who does not normally have those things on hand, I'd be pretty surprised if I found out that most home bakers do have a stockpile of acetate and an array of different sized cake rings in their kitchen cabinets. And yet to be fair, at the beginning of the book she does list out pretty much all of the ingredients that she uses and suggests locations to find them. But, my point is that more often than not--to make one of Christina Tosi's recipes--you can't necessarily just decide on a whim to whip one up on any given day.  There's a good chance that you're going to need to hit up the market or order something from Amazon to be able to make it--which in my mind isn't so traditional. Grant it, if you're a resourceful individual or a seasoned baker you can compensate or substitute for any number of the ingredients or equipment she specifies.  But again, I would argue that her recipes aren't exactly traditional--amazing yes--but not so commonplace.

Recipe courtesy of Momofuku Milk Bar

225g (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temp.
300g (1 1/2c) granulated sugar
1 large egg at room temp.
225g (1 1/2c) all-purpose flour
45 (1/4c) corn flour OR if you don't have corn flour you can use 40g (1/4) flour + 8g (4tsp) freeze-dried corn powder
65g (2/3c) freeze-dried corn powder
3/4tsp baking powder
1/4tsp baking soda
1 1/2tsp kosher salt

-In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the dry ingredients EXCEPT the sugar
-In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar for 2-3 minutes on medium-high speed
-Add the egg to the butter-sugar mixture and beat for 7-8 minutes on medium speed
-Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed just until well combined
-On a parchment or silicone lined baking sheet--for each cookie--measure out 1/3c of the cookie dough and then pat the tops of each cookie so it flattens a bit
-Wrap the tops of the baking sheets in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 1 week
-Before you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 F
-Bake the cookies for 18 minutes or until they are lightly golden brown
-Remove cookies from oven and let them cool completely