Photo updated in December 2007
Last night I made mayonnaise cookies again. They’ve been popular for ages back home and it wasn’t my first time to make them. I believe the original recipe came with some cookie press manual couple of decades ago, and has since been circling the kitchens of numerous cookie-bakers. The recipe below is different and even easier though, and can be found on many English-language recipe sites.
They’re dead easy to make and to be honest, they’re really yummy. Crispy-crumbly, with a slightly savoury, almost mustardy, tinge. Definitely worth a try. Last time I made them was in December – as part of a Xmas gift for a lactose-intolerant friend in Edinburgh. I sprinkled some cinnamon on top to make them more Christmassy, but they’re tasty as they are.
Needless to say that you need a good-quality proper plain mayonnaise (I used Hellman's Real Mayonnaise here) – nothing too chemical or flavoured. Though lemon mayonnaise could do? I'll reduce the amount of mayonnaise next time - maybe only taking 2 dl - as the biscuits were a bit too greasy for my liking.
Mayonnaise cookies
(Majoneesiküpsised)
200 g mayonnaise
170 g sugar
300 g plain flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking soda
a pinch of salt
(or, if you don’t like the metric measurements, then take a scant cup of mayo and a cup of sugar, mix with two cups of flour, add a teaspoon of vanilla and another of baking soda).
Mix mayonnaise, sugar, salt and vanilla. Mix flour and baking soda, then add to the mayonnaise mixture. Mix thoroughly (you may want to add slightly more flour, or bran or oatmeal at this point).
Form into small walnut-size balls (roll in extra sugar, if you wish) and flatten slightly with a fork dipped into flour. (Or, if you're feeling adventurous, nick the idea from Nic of bakingsheet and press down with a ballon whisk. I did, though my whisk didn't make clear star shapes as Nic's.)
Photo updated in December 2007
Bake for 10-12 minutes in a pre-heated 180˚C/350 F oven.
Enjoy. And ask your fellow cookie nibblers to guess the main ingredient :)
5 comments:
Hi Pille, cool recipe! Mayonnaise seems to be not an uncommon ingredient in sweet foods. I don't know if you remember, but I related a story about once making a carrot cake in my bathroom - in fact, the recipe came from the back of a Hellman's mayonnaise jar and used mayo in place of oil. It was good, but I couldn't really detect any special mayonnaise flavor. It probably makes more sense in cookies, where the flavor can come through. Anyway, I'm sure it's a great conversation starter when you tell people what's in them!
Hi Melissa - thanks. I had forgotten about your mayonnaise cake incident, so thanks for reminding! I do have some other recipes for cakes containing mayonnaise - might give them a go, too. I guess cookies are good carriers for the flavour indeed, containing so few ingredients.
Hi Moira - I'm so glad you liked it! It was my pleasure, though I'm now worried that the cookies were far too greasy! Next time I will so reduce the amount of mayo and also keep them on kitchen towel for a while before wrapping. (But I've just had 5 cookies in a row for a mid-morning snack, so they weren't too bad after all:)
Will drop you a line soon!
his pille, those sound so cool and fascinating! thanks for the recipe - can't wait to try them out...
Hi Pille,
Mayonnaise cookies? Wow! Never heard of that. The recipe looks easy and is enticing me to try it. ;-)
Paz
J - good luck with baking these! But try with less mayonnaise maybe?
Paz - I'm glad I managed to entice someone into making these:)
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