Before I put away the leaf lard, here's one more cookie recipe where lard seems to make a difference in the texture. Not that you have to use leaf lard. I still got crisp sugar cookies with 100% European style butter as well as the original version with half butter and half shortening.
All the cookies were good, but the leaf lard cookies were the lightest, crackliest crisp sugar cookies I’ve ever made. The challenge was getting them into the oven without throwing out the dough because it smelled meaty and I wasn’t convinced the lard flavor would disappear after baking. Thankfully, it did. I think the combination of combination of fats, amount of beating, the missing egg whites and the consistently good quality and protein count of King Arthur flour is what made these so good.
The cookies made with 100% European style butter were also light and crisp, but they didn’t spread into perfect circles as the butter/lard cookies and they were a little less crisp in the centers. The best and most practical combo is probably butter and shortening.
Morrel Snowcap Lard
Thanks to Marilyn's comment, I made a quick batch of these using a combination of Morrell Snow Cap lard and regular Wegman's brand (not European style) salted butter. The cookies were crispy and delicious.
I also took Marilyn's advice and pressed the dough down a bit to make dough disks rather than balls. The nice thing about the Snow Cap lard is that unlike the lard I bought from the pie shop, it didn't have a meaty smell.
Recipe
Light Crisp Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup cold salted European style butter cool room temperature (75 grams)
- ⅓ cup vegetable shortening 65 grams or good quality leaf lard (75 grams)
- 1 ⅓ cups granulated sugar 260 grams
- 2 large egg yolks
- ¼ teaspoon salt it doesn't seem like a lot, but the cream of tartar adds some saltiness
- 1 teaspoon good vanilla
- 1 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour 170 grams, weigh or spoon and scoop
- ¾ scant teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ scant teaspoon cream of tartar
- Coarse or sparkly sugar optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Have ready two foil lined or ungreased baking sheet.
- Cut the cold butter into thin slices and put it in a large mixing bowl with the shortening or lard. Beat cold butter with an electric mixer until light and creamy. Add the sugar and beat for about 3 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl often. Add the egg yolks and continue beating for another 2 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl. Beat in the salt and vanilla and beat for another minute.
- Mix the flour, baking soda and cream of tartar together in a separate bowl, then gradually stir into the whipped egg mixture until a soft dough forms. Shape the dough into 30 or 32 one inch balls. Chill the dough balls or bake immediately.
- Dip tops of dough balls in sugar and place on a foil lined baking sheet spacing about 2 ½ inches apart. Bake at 300 for about 20 minutes or until the cookies appear set and just slightly brown around the edges. Sprinkle a little more sugar on top as soon as they come out of the oven.
- Let cool on baking sheet for a minute or two, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool and crisp.
Anna
Hi Miriam,
Thanks so much for trying them! I actually forgot about this recipe, but since I just so happen to have a block of Snow Cap I'll have to make another batch. Thanks for sharing your results from leaving them in balls vs. pushing them down.
Miriam Stocking
Tried these with one adjustment - Leaf Lard was $25 USD on Amazon and I couldn't find any locally. Instead of Leaf Lard I used regular Snow Cap lard instead. I did the 1/2 Lard 1/2 European Butter Version (who knew there was a difference, but there is!)
I tried them two ways. The first was just the balls, dipped in sugar and allowed to spread on their own. I don't know if the different lard made a difference, but this way they didn't spread as thin as I'd hoped (though they were very light, with melt in your mouth texture and absolutely delicious!)
The next batch I put the sugared balls of dough on the sheet and then dipped a smooth bottomed glass in sugar and pressed them down. This resulted in a delightfully thin, crispy, absolutely perfect sugar cookie.
These are definitely my new go-to sugar cookie recipe for the holidays. I couldn't be more thrilled!
sonya
I love to test recipes side by side like this, too! Awesome to know your results!