Vanilla Malted Cookies

The new year started out very well for me, at least as far as baking is concerned.... I baked Turkish Pide for breakfast (again!), &  in the afternoon, I baked some cookies, something I've not done for sometime.... I would have carried on baking something else but we had planned to go out for lunch. Anyway, I was busy baking & the helper was on leave, so lunch would certainly not be home cooked. Good thing we had the pide for breakfast as it sustained us well through the late afternoon...

I found the recipe for these Vanilla Malted Cookies on The Little Epicurean. What made me want to test this recipe out was the use of 2 ingredients which I love a lot,  Horlicks & cream cheese. They certainly made these cookies so addictive that none would have been left behind had I not hidden some for my photo shoot. Maryanne is right, the marvelous taste just leaves you craving for more. 

My little helpers....

Vanilla Malted Cookies

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups (340g) all-purpose flour - I used pastry flour, aka top flour.
1 cup (140g) malted milk powder - I used Horlicks.
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp fine sea salt
1 cup (250g) unsalted butter, room temperature
4 oz (125g) cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar - I used 170g.
1 tbsp vanilla bean paste
1 large egg

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 deg F (177 deg C). 
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, malted milk powder, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together butter and cream cheese until smooth. Slowly add in sugar. Mix until combined. Add vanilla paste and egg. Mix on medium speed until combined. Add flour mixture 1/2 cup at a time on low speed.
4. Transfer batter to a large piping bag fitted with a large star tip. Pipe rosettes (or strips, circles) onto parchment lined baking sheets. Space cookies at least 1-inch apart. Bake for 14 minutes, rotating sheet midway through baking. (I baked mine at 170 deg C for about 25 minutes.) Bake until edges are lightly golden brown. 
5. Let cool in tray for a couple of minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely. 

Source: The Little Epicurean.

Original recipe: Martha Stewart's Cookies

Notes:

1. I reduced the sugar by 30g & I'm glad I did that because the cookies were not overly sweet.
2. To add some interest to the otherwise plain-looking cookies, I sprinkled some colourful jimmies.

I’m submitting this post to Best Recipes for Everyone Jan & Feb 2015 Event Theme: My Homemade Cookies organized by Fion of XuanHom’s Mom and co-hosted by Victoria Bakes.