Professor Butter Beard’s Lemon Chili Pepper Shortbreads
35-40 cookies
3 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp fine sea salt
1 ½ tsp chili powder
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
12 ounces (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups confectionary’s sugar
Zest of five large lemons
2 tsp vanilla paste
1 cup granulated sugar rolling before the bake
1) Preheat your oven to 325 degrees and line four sheet pans with parchment paper.
2) In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, chili powder, black pepper and salt. Set aside.
3) Place the confectioner’s sugar and lemon zest in the bowl of a standing mixer and mix together until the zest is evenly distributed.
4) Add the room temperature butter, breaking the sticks into 1” pieces. Mix at medium speed until the mixture is creamed smooth and silky, about 5-6 minutes. Mix in the vanilla paste.
5) Add the dry mix all at once. Mix together at a low speed until the mixture forms a dough. Do not overmix.
6) Using a 1½ Tbsp scoop, portion the dough into roughly 35-40 balls. Roll each of them in the granulated sugar to fully coat.
7) Place 12 cookie balls onto each of the parchment-lined pans. Dip your cookie press in granulated sugar, shake it off and press the ball into a ¼” disc, impressing the design.
8) Bake one pan at a time on the center rack for 8 minutes, rotate the pan and bake for another 6 minutes until the edges of the cookies are just beginning to brown. While one pan bakes, prepare the next dozen for baking.
9) Cool the cookies on the sheet pan for five minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
