Princess Tea Cakes
"Ovarian Cancer Awareness Cookie"
Serves 36 cookies | Prep Time 20 minutes | Cook Time 10-12 minutesWhy I Love This Recipe
I developed this recipe for a cookie contest for Eating Well Magazine. My sister had died from ovarian cancer a few months before and was on my mind a lot, so I took her favorite cookie, Russian Tea Cakes, as my inspiration. I took out the butter (substituting canola oil), cut down the sugar and added white whole wheat flour along with some cornstarch for a delicate, crisp cookie with only 105 calories each and no saturated fat. A few more great things--no refrigerating the cookie dough and no temptation to eat the dough, as it doesn't look very tempting! I named the new cookie after Gina whose middle name was Sarah, which means "princess" in Hebrew.
Ingredients You'll Need
3/4 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cups white whole-wheat flour
2 cups confectioner's sugar, divided
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup very finely chopped pecans
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Pour oil into a medium bowl. Whisk all-purpose flour, white whole-wheat flour, 1/4 cup confectioners sugar, cornstarch and salt in another bowl.
3. Mix half the dry ingredients into the oil by spoonfuls. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add vanilla. Mix in the remaining dry ingredients by spoonfuls until thoroughly combined. (The mixture will resemble creamed butter and brown sugar.) Stir in nuts.
4. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls (a cookie scoop is very convenient); place about 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet.
5. Bake the cookies until just set, being careful not to let the bottoms get too brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on the pan for 2 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly.
6. When the cookies are still warm, but no longer hot, roll them in the remaining 1 3/4 cups confectioners sugar and place them back on the rack to continue cooling. (Reserve the sugar.) When the cookies are completely cool, roll them in the sugar again.
