Boy Cookies

We found a really good "Boy" cookie recipe; Bug Fossil Cookies!

Paleontology is the study of the history of life on Earth as based on fossils. Fossils are the remains of plants, animals, fungi, bacteria, and single-celled living things that have been replaced by rock material or impressions of organisms preserved in rock added to Entomology which includes the study of bugs and you have the guys who like Bug Fossil Cookies!

Ingredients:

An assorted number of food safe plastic bugs, found here.

1 cup walnuts, toasted (you can use peanuts, almonds or what ever nut you like)

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

Pure Himalayan Salt

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Pulse walnuts in a food processor until finely ground, I used my Ninja Pulse.
. Transfer to a bowl, and whisk in flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Beat butter, sugar, and vanilla with a mixer on high speed until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low. Gradually beat in walnut mixture.

Divide dough into eighteen 1 1/2-inch balls, and press into irregular stone shapes using the palm of your hand; transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Dust food-safe plastic insects with flour to coat; press into dough to make fossil impressions. Freeze until dough is very firm, 20 to 30 minutes.

Bake until golden brown and firm in center, 25 to 28 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack, and let cool.

Cook's Notes:

Cookies can be stored at room temperature for up to 3 days.

One cup walnuts (we used peanuts), toasted. We dry roasted the peanuts

in a Teflon pan on the top of the stove, medium heat, we stirred it

often until the peanuts became darker and smelled roasted.

I also added 1/2 t. Pure Himalayan Salt at this point.

These are the peanuts, roasted and cooled, pulsed chopped in my Ninja Pulse.

I was careful not to process it too much to make peanut butter.

Here are the roasted, toasted and processed peanuts with the

added salt are added to 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour.

In a separate bowl I put in two sticks of softened margarine.

Add 3/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons confectioners sugar and stir, stir, stir....

     
                                           in one teaspoon of pure vanilla...

Stir until soft and creamy.... and add to the flour mix and stir,

we hand stirred towards the end to mix properly. 

The dough is course and heavy... here are a few bugs checking it out.

Our bugs were larger that the bugs that were suggested so instead of the 18

pieces of dough that was suggested we made 9 dough rolls for the cookies.

Dust food-safe plastic insects with flour to coat; press into dough to
make fossil impressions. Placed on parchment covered baking sheet.

They are starting to look cool.

Freeze until dough is very firm, 20 to 30 minutes.

Bake until golden brown and firm in center, 25 to 28 minutes.

Transfer sheet to a wire rack, and let cool.

(Tip: The longer the dough is in the freezer the better the impressions. This is the first pan that was cooked, the bug impressions were deeper and more defined with the second batch because the dough was colder when it went in to the oven.)

Look smug about your accomplishment.

Fred and Fred's Dad.

This is the second pan that we cooked, this pan stayed in the

freezer and the dough was colder when it went into the oven

resulting in a deeper "fossil" impression of the bug. 

Fred says "They are really good with milk."

Thank You for cooking with us today.

Fred & Fred's Mom

You can find Fred's bugs here!

The original recipe came from Martha Stewart.


Please leave us a note or comment with your thoughts or ideas on this page or any other fun "Boyish" crafts! We are constantly on the look out for fun learning things to do. - Thanks