peach-shaped cookies

RECIPE

Ingredients:

for the dough:

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 2 tsp baking powder

• 3/4 cup white granulated sugar

• 1 Tbs bourbon vanilla sugar

• 2 whole eggs

• pinch of salt

• the zest of one orange

• the zest of one lemon

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil

for the cream:

• 6 oz cream cheese, room temperature

• 2 oz unsalted butter, room temperature

• 1 Tbs orange extract

• 1 tsp almond extract

• 1 Tbs bourbon vanilla sugar

• the zest and juice of one orange

• 1/4 cup dark cocoa (optional, if the cream is to resemble a peach pit; I made these peach cookies twice:once with a white cream and once with a brown cream)

for the painting:

• almond extract

• edible paint

to decorate:

• white granulated sugar

• mint leaves

• sage leaves

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Whisk the flour with baking powder and set aside.

2. In a large bowl cream the sugars with the eggs, salt, zests and oil for about 3 minutes then add the flour mixture. Form a crumbly dough, only knead until everything sticks together.

3. Coat a sheet pan with parchment paper. With your palms, form approximately one inch wide balls and set on the parchment paper, one inch apart (I managed to obtain 40 balls from this dough quantity). Refrigerate for one hour.

4. Meanwhile make the cream by mixing all the ingredients together for about 2 minutes.

5. Preheat the oven to 360 degrees F convection setting and bake the cookies for 15 minutes. Allow for the cookies to cool down for 10 minutes.

6. Using a sharp knife, make a small hole on the flat side, in the middle of each cookie. Be careful not to crack the cookies.

7. In a small bowl, mix almond extract with edible paint until the desired shade is obtained.

8. Brush the cookies with the paint mixture then dip each cookie in the granulated sugar and coat with sugar all over.

9. Using a piping bag, pipe the cream in the previously made hole of each cookie, then connect two cookies together so as to form peach-shaped cookies (I obtained 20 peach-shaped cookies).

10. Decorate the peach cookies with a mint or sage leaf. The cookies can be served immediately or stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container up to a week.