HIPPO BRIGADE

Cookies in the Morning

I woke up this morning feeling like I needed a crunchy snack, just like last night I needed to eat fried chicken pieces from this Koren Boba Tea place by my school at 10 o’ clock at night, and when I got home I needed to shove a fist full of Oreos in my mouth. And subsequently, I am going to be needing to buy a bigger pant size…

My snack of choice: Chocolate-Orange Espresso Thins.

Oh, and it begs to be said, Espresso is pronounced esss-press-ooh. Not Egg-spess-ooh. Apparently, I am a fool, and have said it wrong the past 1,100 times I’ve said it, and my husband finds that to be an amusing time to mock and jeer me–which I totally understand, and would do the same thing in his position. On with the cookies!

Here’s the recipe (thank you very much Martha Stewart), if you’re so inclined to be baking these for yourself, and I deeply suggest you do, because they’re good:

1 and a half cups of flour
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 and a half teaspoons instant espresso powder
1/2 teaspoon of coarse salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup of confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon of finely grated orange zest
1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
coarse sanding sugar for sprinkling

1. Sift together flour, cocoa powered, espresso powder, and salt into a medium bowl, set aside.
2. Put butter, confectioners’ sugar, orange zest, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

As the mixer was doing its thing, I turned around and realized that my toddler had opened a bag of Trader Jo’s freeze dried bananas and was eating them off the floor:

And since her most favorite thing to do is put things on her feet, naturally, she put a bowl on her foot:

…and then a sippy cup:

…and lastly, the bag of Trader Jo’s freeze dried bananas:

Reduce speed to medium-low, and gradually add flour mixture until just combined.
3. Transfer dough to a big piece of parchment; shape into a log. Roll in parchment to 1 and a half inches in diameter, pressing a ruler along edge of paper at each turn to narrow, transfer parchment to a paper towel tube; chill at least 2 hours or over night.

This is the sucky part of this recipe, because who wants to wait 2 hours for yummy-tasty cookies? Well, it’s totally worth it, so paint your toe nails, walk the dog, deep condition your hair, and go clean up that mess you made in the kitchen.

4. preheat the oven to 350. cut log into 1/4 inch thick slices; transfer to baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Brush tops with water; sprinkle with sanding sugar. Bake until set, 15-17 minutes. Cool on sheets on wire racks. Store in airtight containers at room temperature up to a week.

They should look just like this, I know mine do.