Bed-time cookies, inspired by a lazy pooch
I know I really shouldn’t be jealous of a dog, but I just can’t help myself. The younger of our two golden retrievers, Alix, is both aggravating and inspiring. And at times, I just can’t help but envy her. Let me try and explain. Alix, who is one of the most affectionate and gentlest creatures I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing, is also one of the laziest. I’ve never seen anything or anyone display such an incredible amount of visible delight from loafing about or sleeping. Whether she’s laying on my bed–which technically she’s not supposed to do but does all the time anyway–or her own custom-made down-filled dog bed, she has the ability to make herself look so incredibly comfortable and satisfied. And when I’m working late into the night, trying to finish an overdue essay or some other piece of work, and I turn around and see her chilling out so ecstatically, I can’t help but wish I had her life. Or when she wakes S and me up at 7am to feed her on a Saturday or Sunday, and then after having had her breakfast and having gotten me up, jumps into my bed and promptly falls asleep in my spot, I can’t help but harbor immediate thoughts of kicking her in the butt (which, of course, I never do)–but of course, secretly, I just want to go back to bed like her. (The above picture is her in S’s spot, having jumped on the bed and onto S’s pillows while S was having a shower one morning.) When I leave for work, she’s snoozing. When I come home, the other dog, Sascha, is all wags, happy to see me. Alix is never at the door first. Usually, after a minute or two, she’ll groggily walk out of the bedroom, obviously having just woken up. She lives to sleep and loves doing so. S and I constantly talk about just how inspiring she is. She makes us want to spend a day doing nothing but lying in bed.
In honor of our lazy little puppy (and because I was working on finishing a project all night), S decided to make me a batch of bed-time cookies, the kind of edible treats that she knew I would really enjoy munching on while lazing around in bed. The cookies she chose to make also happen to be one of my all-time favorites, Mexican Wedding Cookies. I love these for several reasons. I love the powdered sugar that surrounds each cookie and gives it an immediate sweetness. I love their texture. When done well, they literally melt/crumble in one’s mouth. Third, I love the hint of pecan in the cookie. And lastly, as a big believer that milk is a necessary companion to any cookie, I really like that these go beautifully with milk. In fact, I’d even go so far as to say that without a glass of milk (or a cup of coffee), one really shouldn’t even bother eating these.
Mexican Wedding Cookies
from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook
Makes 6 dozen
106g pecan halves
230g confectioners’ sugar
284g all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
227g unsalted butter at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
Preheat the oven to 350ºF/180ºC, with racks in the upper and lower thirds. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside. In a food processor, combine pecans with 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar; pulse until nuts are finely ground. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar-nut mixture, flour and salt; set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla and almond extracts. Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until the dough just comes together.
Roll dough into 3/4 inch balls; place about 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake, rotating the sheets halfway through, until cookies are pale on top and lightly browned on the bottom, 10-12 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and cool. Place remaining confectioners’ sugar in a shallow bowl and roll cookies in it to coat completely.
p.s. I want to thank both Lynn for buying us the gorgeous wooden tray in the picture and my mother-in-law for picking up those cool Donna Hay napkins for us during her last trip to Australia.
About Aun Koh
Aun has always loved food and travel, passions passed down to him from his parents. This foundation, plus a background in media, pushed him to start Chubby Hubby in 2005. He loves that this site allows him to write about the things he adores--food, style, travel, his wife and his three kids!
You are a very lucky man!
Aww.. Alix is cute.
Hmmm are you sure Alix is not in fact a cat inhabiting a golden retriever’s body? In fact, your decription of your two dogs sound exactly like our cats, one of whom will run out to greet us while the other ambles and stretches her way down the hall, still trying to shake the sleep off her body!
I definitely agree on the cookies with milk part, cookies are indulging with milk, for some reasons.
Awe…. wat a life Alix have. Envious!
Did U say Mexican Wedding Cookies! SCCCRREEEAAAMMMM all de way. They are one of my favourites!(provided it’s well baked) I can’t agree more on the having a glass of milk to go wif it. Sigh… so sweet of S to baked them for U. Alrte… now U’ve set me craving for some. (Know of any place that sells really great ones?)
hey chubby hubby, when are you and S planning to start a family? or you are both doing just fine with the two lovely canines?
Hopluv: Alix says thanks. She thinks she’s pretty too.
Bea: That’s so typical, eh? And thanks so much for compliment!
Anonymous: Yes I am and boy do I know it.
Onigiri: Yah, she’s a total cutie.
Cin: Hah hah… yah, sometimes I wonder if she’s really a dog too.
Lin: Good to know I’m not the only one. 🙂
Cind: Cedele used to make them but over the last few months, they haven’t been. Despite my asking them every single time I visit.
Wombat: Well, we’re pretty happy now, but we definitely want to start a family. We’re in the middle of deciding if we want to look for a new, bigger place for that very reason.
She is sooooo adorable.
What a lucky dog… But you’re pretty lucky yourself, getting a big plateful of Mexican wedding cookies! They’re one of my favorites too – I made two batches of them at Christmas, one incorporating a suggestion from Sherry Yard to use browned butter. Didn’t think it was possible for me to like them more than I did already, but seems it was…
your dog is beautiful and the cookies look oh tasty. I bet those sure make up for staying up late. ^_^
Oh what beautiful pictures! I am very glad to see more pictures/stories about the dogs 🙂
By the way, no I haven’t discovered any good places to get Singaporean food in London. I’ve heard that C&R is good but I haven’t tried it yet. Any suggestions?
CH, what a contented looking pooch. I cannot say I blame Alix in the least. A custom made bed and such loving household full of tasty treats; we should all be so very lucky. Great description of the pleasures of the Mexican Wedding Cookie.
aww.. sweet.. such an adorable dog.. my dog loves eating n sleeping too (who doesnt) but at times he’s very very active
hi s, they were beautifully melt-in-the-mouth…or so i gather from the half-cookie and crumbs i managed to wrestle from w, who, between inhalations, proclaimed them rockin’!
I made the this recipe at Christmas time. They did not last very long. Thankfully I’d tasted one shortly after I baked them otherwise I wouldn’t have had the chance!
This is a recipe for the ages!
Keiko: Thanks!
Melissa: Hmmm… the brown butter version sounds heavenly. I’ll have to look up the Sherry Yard recipe. Thanks.
Nha: Sure did. Thanks for the kind words.
Enuwy: Thanks. S and I are now working on a recipe inspired the other dog, the one S calls, “Fatty.” I’m not too familiar with London. I’ll have to ask some relatives and friends and see what recommendations they come up with.
Swee: Surprisingly, Alix isn’t all that into food. Our other one on the other hand…
Tara: Yah, you can see why I’m jealous of her.
Swee: Alix has her moments. She’ll sleep for hours than have a burst of those 5 minute puppy crazies, then lie down again, panting and smiling away like a loon.
]: Well, there a few more if you and Brando want to pinch some without W knowing 😉
Ivonne: Yah, it’s a great recipe, no? And a Martha Stewart one at that!
hi there, dropped by randomly and saw the bunch of lovely photos. what camera are you using? spill now 🙂
The same thought goes through my mind with my two lazy cats; they wake us up with their tantrum and after they are just couch potatoes all day long!…
Alix is a sweet looking dog!
Loooooove ur blog….amazin pictures….keep up the great work….muuuaaah.
Hi.
Beautiful pictures! Cute dog and very interesting cookies… I will try to make them. Thanks for the recipe.
I lived and worked 7 months in Singapore, from February to August 2005. I discovered a lot of interesting food… chilli crab, sushi was my favourite, chicken curry, sugarcane juice and barley juice were my favourite drinks and soya… we do not eat and use soya in Italy.
I am Italian and love food and cooking, with my worked I travel and the first thing I do when I arrive in a new place is to try new food.
I am glad to discovered your blog… so I can try to make some of my favourite Singaporean dishes that I miss.
Ciao,
Sabrina
Anonymous: Boy, I should get sponsored by Nikon by now 😉 I use a Nikon D70.
Rosa: Alix thanks you.
Prachi: Thanks so much!
Sabrina: Thanks. I’m so glad you enjoyed your stay here in Singapore. It really is an amazing place to live if you’re a glutton like me.
What a beautiful dog! Strange i was also in a cookie craving mode…must be the weather making us wanna stay in and just feast! BTW, congrats on the nominations!!
Dogs are man best friend, but it seems like the other way around for Alix LOLz Lucky dog! Probably you are spoiling her too much.
The recipe looks simple enough, but I’m as lazy as the dog right now 😛 anywhere I can buy them to try? 🙂 thanks!
Hiya…just wanted to say Hi and a great thank you for showing all the passion you have in food and wine. It’s great to see another fellow Singaporean as passionate as you are about food. Unfortunately, I haven’t got round to putting my foodie adventures into a blog yet.
I am still slaving away, earning my dough in some big nasty financial corporation. But this has kept me going and am fortunate enough to be living in one of the greatest cities in the world. So well, you win some and lose some I guess? Wonder when will I take the big leap like Chez Pim – quit the big corporates to pursue my passion in cooking?
Anyway, back to those wonderful cookies…Mexican wedding cookies? Are the quite like the Nonya cookies that are also coated in icing sugar we have during CNY? They look lovely – in fact,I might try them this weekend.
Will keep you posted. And will need lots of recommendations when I next head back home…unfortunately, not got CNY this year. But sometime soon in March hopefully.
heya! I’m just back from mexico, the food there was amazing. I regret coming back without buying lots of food ingredients because most are not available in singapore.. do you happen to know where can I buy pozole corn (nixtamalized corn) in Singapore? Awaiting your review on authentic mexican recipes