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Sycamore Cookies


Sycamore Cookies  (Source: Maida Heatter's Cookies (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 1997ed.), pg. 67 and Maida Heatter's Book of Great American Desserts (Alfred A. Knopf, 1982, pg. 311.

These cookies were a mess (as Michael would say - a "I Maida Mess") and I expected them to be something to forget. However, they are quite delicious so perhaps they should be called a "Maida Redo"? They are delicately crispy and taste like a peanut butter cookie with peanuts.

Although a relatively simple recipe, the problems arise when spreading the dough in the pan and removing them. I would like to try it again with perhaps a parchment sling to remove it from the pan and maybe a smaller pan.

But here are the instructions, as written and the outcome.

1 cup salted peanuts
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
4 oz. (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
1 egg, beaten

Preheat the oven to 325.

Butter a 10 1/2" x 15 1/2" jelly roll pan and place it in the freezer. This is to make it easier to spread the batter.

Chop the peanuts finely (I probably should have chopped the nuts more than I did but that did not affect the outcome).



Sift together the flour, baking soda and cinnamon. 



Beat the butter and add the vanilla and sugar. 


Mix in two tablespoons of the eggs...


Mix in the flour mixture...


and half of the nuts (reserving the remaining nuts).


Place large spoonfulls of the batter over the pan.


Use the back of a spoon to spread the batter (I found that using my fingertips worked better).


Spread the batter thin and it doesn't matter if there are skimpy areas.


Drizzle the remaining butter over the batter and spread it with a brush.


Sprinkle the remaining nuts over the batter.


Bake for 25 minutes. The top will be lightly brown and soft to the touch.


Let stand for 5 minutes and cut with a small knife into oblong sections. (I did not want to use a knife on my pan so I used an off-set spatula to slide underneath the batter and remove it. I then broke it apart. They were very crispy and I don't believe cutting would have been possible).

Store the cookies airtight.

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