The Natasha Hall Mojito Cookie
The Natasha Hall Mojito cookie!
Part two of the Great CJAD 800 Cookie Face-off! I was Natasha’s producer for about 4 years and she has become a dear friend and colleague in that time. She has also taste-tested a lot of my baked goods!
When I was thinking of a cookie recipe that would best represent her, I thought of a mojito. Bright, refreshing and fun! These cookies have fresh mint, lime zest and a touch of rum to give it that vacation feel. I hope you love them!
This will make about 32-40 cookies, depending on the size of your cookie cutter!
The Natasha Hall Mojito Cookie
Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 large egg white
Zest of one lime
5-10 big mint leaves, roughly chopped
1 tbsp white rum (optional or swap for the same amount of vanilla)
2 cups all-purpose flour
Directions:
In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, add the sugar, lime zest and mint leaves. Using your fingers, squish the zest and the mint leaves into the sugar. This will break up the mint leaves and zest and turn the sugar a pale green. I find this step really helps to extract the flavors into the cookies.
Add the butter to the sugar. Using a stand mixer, a hand-held mixer or a whisk and a little muscle, beat the butter and sugar until the mixture is pale and creamy. This will take about 3 minutes on medium speed. Reduce the speed to low, add the egg white, salt and rum (or vanilla). Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Keeping the mixer on low, add half of the flour. Mix until just incorporated before adding in the second half. Be careful not to overmix the dough!
Divide the dough in half and cover in plastic wrap. Shape them into disks and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, up to 2-3 days. You can also freeze the dough at this point, for up to a month.
When you are ready to bake, preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
Roll out your cookie dough to 1/4 inch (about 1 cm) thickness. Cut out the cookies using your favorite cookie cutters. Dip the cutter in a bit of flour before using to prevent sticking. Line the cookies up on the baking sheet and stick the whole tray in the freezer for 10-15 minutes before baking. This step will ensure the cookies keep their shape and don’t spread too much in the oven. You can roll up the scraps of dough and re-roll to shape more cookies.
Bake the cookies for about 15-20 minutes, rotating the pan from front to bake and top to bottom if baking more than one tray at a time. The cookies are done when they are golden brown around the edges.
Cool on the baking tray for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
Enjoy!
The Natasha Hall Mojito cookie!