Mojito Cookies

…and just like that, I’m a married lady. Craziness.

It’s hard to believe an event that took nearly a year to plan could come and go in the span of a few hours. Before the wedding, as we were making dinner or reading the New Yorker or watching Tina Fey be awesome on 30Rock, D and I would turn to each other and ask, “can we just be married already?” We were serious. Marriage was what this was all about for us, and we wanted to just be there already. That’s why the night of the wedding, after all the guests had left and we had taken every last bobby pin out of our hair, we were about as happy as two people can get. You see, not only did we have the most wonderful, joyous, hilarious, fun, exhausting day of our lives, but we were finally married. Everything felt so right.

We’ve spent the past couple weeks checking our our friends’ awesome pictures on facebook and absentmindedly playing with our wedding rings, all the while trying to adjust back to reality. I’m just starting to get back in the kitchen, but I’ve got a few recipes up my sleeve from before the big day that I’m excited to share.

Today’s cookies came about when I craved a proper mojito but didn’t have quite enough rum. I went digging on the interwebs, and found a recipe from the lovely Deb of Smitten Kitchen fame to save the day. Deb had gone to Mexico, and when she got back, she invented “margarita cookies” to take the edge off having to leave. It was the perfect solution: Mojito cookies!

Okay people, I know what you’re thinking: “she wants a drink and she makes cookies instead?” Yes, I get that that makes me one of the crazies. But seriously, once you try these cookies, you’ll see why they fit the bill. They’re eensy little guys — just an inch or so wide — but they pack plenty of rum, mint, lime zest, and pecans for crunch. Oh, and of course, they wouldn’t be mojito cookies if they weren’t coated with some sanding sugar. (Woulda used green, but I had pink. Call’em Girly Mojito Cookies.) Think of this recipe as the antidote to the no-drinking-at-work rule. We all need a little kick to our day, right?

I’ll be back after the weekend with more savories to share. I’ve got a mean squash soup in the fridge coming your way. Stay tuned.

Mojito Cookies
adapted from Deb of Smitten Kitchen, who adapted it from Dorie Greenspan’s Sables au Citron
Makes about 50 cookies

2 sticks (8 ounces; 230 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup (70 grams) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
Pinch of flaky salt
2 tablespoons white rum
Grated zest of 2 limes
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
1/4 cup chopped pecans
2 cups (280 grams) all-purpose flour

Coating:
Approximately 1/2 cup sanding or other coarse sugar (clear is just fine)

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter on medium speed until smooth. Add confectioners’ sugar and mix on medium speed again until smooth and silky. Add one of the egg yolks, followed by the rum, lime zest, and mint. Reduce speed to low and add flour, mixing just until flour mostly disappears. Add pecans, and mix on low just until they are relatively evenly distributed throughout the mixture.

Have two pieces of plastic wrap lying flat on a clean surface. Divide the dough in half, and transfer each half to a sheet of plastic wrap. Use the edges of the plastic to coax the dough into a disk shape, then cover completely with plastic and refrigerate about 30 minutes.

Transfer one of the refrigerated disks to working surface, unwrap, and roll into a log about 1-1/2 inches thick. If log breaks, don’t worry about it — you’re slicing these into little coins anyway. Once both disks have been rolled into logs, wrap logs in plastic and return to refrigerator for about 2 hours to firm up.

Preheat the oven to 350º. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. While the oven is preheating, whisk the remaining egg yolk in a small bowl until very smooth. Remove logs from refrigerator, and brush lightly with remaining egg yolk. Pour sanding sugar onto long, wide sheet of parchment paper, and carefully roll logs on sugar-covered parchment to coat with the sugar. If sugar doesn’t stick, gently press the parchment paper into the logs to secure the sugar.

Slice sugar-coated logs into cookies about 1/4-inch thick. Transfer cookies onto baking sheet leaving about 1/2 inch of space between each cookie. Bake for 12-14 minutes, until set but not browned. Transfer cookies to racks to cool.

Cookies will keep in an airtight container for up to 1 week. If you plan to freeze the logs, do so before coating them with egg yolk and sugar.