Olive Biscuit Cookies

Susan's recipe calls for olive from Nyons, preferably. Kalamatas are what I had

on hand, and they worked out nicely. I thought they would stain the dough, but

they didn't.

9 tablespoons / 4.5 oz / 130g unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup / 3 oz / 85 g powdered sugar, sifted

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 1/4 cups / 6.5 oz / 185 g all-purpose flour

1/2 cup / 2 oz / 55g cured olives, pitted and chopped

two pinches of sea salt

Either by hand, or with an electric mixer, beat the butter in a large bowl

until light and billowy. Add the sugar, and stir until it is incorporated, then

drizzle with the olive oil and stir until combined. Use a wooden spoon to stir

in the flour by hand just until the dough is smooth. Add the olives and salt

and stir just until they are evenly distributed throughout the dough. You'll

end up with a sticky dough.

Place the dough in the middle of a large piece of parchment paper. cover it

with a second piece of parchment paper and roll out the dough until it is 1/

4-inch thick. Because the dough is sticky, you need to use this method, plus it

is quite convenient. Refrigerate the dough for at least 45 minutes, or

overnight.

When you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350F / 180C, with

racks in the top and bottom third. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper

and set aside while you stamp out cookies using whatever size of sharp edged

cookie cutter you like. Sharp edges help cut through the olives. Bake until the

edges of the cookies are golden, rotating the pans from top to bottom, front to

back once after about 8 minutes. Bake for about 12 minutes total for tiny

cookies, and a bit longer for larger cookies. Just keep a close eye on them,

and the edges will tell you when they are done baking.

Makes a few dozen tiny cookies, or a dozen or so larger ones.

Adapted from this, a Scourtins aux Olives de Nyons recipe shared by Susan

Herrmann Loomis. This was a family recipe originally shared with her by

Jean-Pierre Autrand of Les Vieux in Nyons, Provence.

Prep time: 60 min - Cook time: 10 min