Biscuits aux Cerises (Cherry Cookies)

It’s no secret that I love to travel. I could write a 3-page list of all the advantages of traveling. But I’ll spare myself the trouble and skip to the most important part (for me at least): the food! Anticipating it, tasting it, savoring it, recreating it. Whenever I travel I get so much inspiration from foreign foods. I went to France in May and I came across this local food shop where they had dozens and dozens of free cookie samples. Heaven! My favorite cookie that I tasted was this crumbly cookie filled with dried cherries, and so that’s what I wanted to make today. I used a recipe from Pierre Hermé, making it even more authentic French. Rating: 4 out of 5.

Cherry Cookies recipe: adapted from 'Breton Sand Cookies' by Pierré Herme - Desserts.

Ingredients:
- 2 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 5 large eggs yolks, lightly beaten
- About 30 dried cherries

Instructions:
- Sift the flour and baking powder together and set aside for the moment. Working in a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter until it is soft and smooth. Add the sugar in a slow, steady stream, followed by the salt, and continue to beat, scraping the bowl as needed, for about 3 minutes, or until the mixture is light, pale and fluffy. Add the yolks and beat to incorporate. At this point, the mixture should be light, creamy and satiny. Remove the bowl from the mixer and, working with a large rubber spatula, fold in the sifted dry ingredients, taking special care not to overwork the dough.
- Divide the dough in half and, working on a smooth surface, such as marble, mold each half into a log with a diameter of about 1 ½ inches and a length about 8 inches. The dough is going to be baked inside muffin tins, so you might have to adjust the thickness of the logs to the size of the tins: the logs should be about ¼ to ½ inch slimmer than the muffin cups. Wrap each log in a double thickness of plastic wrap and chill for at least 4 hours.
- Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F. Set out one or two mini-muffin tins.
- Unwrap one log and, using a sturdy chef’s knife, slice the log into 1-inch-thick cookies. Take the dough in your hand, along with one dried cherry and roll into a ball, making sure the dried cherry is completely covered. Put doughball in each cup of the muffin tins. Bake the cookies for 14 to 15 minutes, or until they are just firm. These cookies are meant to be pale don’t let them brown: it’s okay if the bottoms are lightly browned, but the tops should remain uncolored. Transfer the cookies to a rack to cool. Repeat with the remaining dough.


Madames et monsieurs, may I present to you:

Otherwise known as:

I should probably warn you about this cookie dough: highly addictive.
Do not attempt to eat on your own.

Unless you want to gain 5 pounds before the cookies are even baked.
Trust me, I speak from experience.