While this will ultimately be about these incredibly delicate, lacy Speculoos cookie butter thins topped with crushed Heath bar, I wanted to first make a detour and revisit our too-short weekend in Washington, D.C. We were craving French fries by the time we drove into D.C. so we made a pit stop at Good Stuff Eatery to indulge in Spike's ridiculously good rosemary village fries and messy (aka, fantastic) burgers. Note how happy Warren looks upon receiving the hefty bag o' burgers and fried goodness.
While Warren busied himself at his conference, I caught up with dear friends and wandered around the Mall to visit some of my favorite old haunts. When I first moved to D.C. my friend, Thelma, introduced me to the gorgeous and serene Freer Sackler Gallery which houses Whistler's Peacock Room.
Couldn't you just while away a million hours reading in this lovely place?
Patricia was kind enough to keep me well fed and entertained. And the eggs benedict at Del Ray Cafe was amazing. Especially with a little crab thrown in. We spent a lot of time crafting and basking in the glorious spring weather. Seeing that it snowed in Michigan while we were away, I was pretty glad about life in D.C.
One of the best parts about driving around D.C. is that you often get lost and run into things that remind you to take a deep breath and appreciate everything you have. After the tragedy at the Boston Marathon this week, looking at this weekend's photos of the Iwo Jima Memorial is a moving reminder of both the despair violence creates and the grace so many individuals carry. I am grateful that I was able to spend this weekend with family and friends in a place that I once called home.
It's true that cookies seem kind of frivolous in the wake of disaster but they are also one of the simplest and homey comforts for me. For a lot of people, probably. The scent of freshly baked cookies is the smell of childhood, of Grandma's house, of all that is good and lovely in the world. One of the first kinds of cookie I learned to bake was the classic 3 ingredient peanut butter cookie. It was so easy that even I could produce a golden batch in a half hour. These Cookie Butter Lacy Thins revisit that familiar recipe with a few excellent additions; namely, Speculoos Cookie Butter and Heath English toffee bits. They are easy enough for kids to make and tasty enough to make all involved parties happy.
So today, go forth and bake. Be comforted. Be well.
COOKIE BUTTER LACY THINS TOPPED WITH HEATH ENGLISH TOFFEE BITS
- 1 cup cookie butter (Trader Joe's Speculoos is perfect)
- 1 cup sugar, plus extra for dusting
- 1 egg
- Heath English Toffee Bits, for topping
Mix the first three ingredients together and roll into 1 inch balls. Chill the rolled dough for at least an hour. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a cookie pan with parchment paper. Transfer chilled dough to the cookie pan. Use the bottom of a fork to flatten the cookies down a little. Sprinkle each cookie with a little extra sugar and a teaspoon or so of Heath toffee bits.
Bake for about 10-12 minutes, until crisp on the edges and slightly underdone in the middle. Allow to cool completely before eating. As a note, these cookies spread a bit but that just makes their crispy lacy-ness all the more alluring. I used my lacy cookie as a makeshift spoon to eat a big bowl of vanilla ice cream. Highly recommend. Makes about a dozen.
If you're up for more of a baking challenge, the Nutella-Stuffed Brown Butter Double Chocolate Chip Cookies will never steer you astray.
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