vanilla malted cookies.

These cookies, I tell you, were a big pain in the behind to make. I had to use, oh, three piping bags, two nozzles and close to an hour just piping the dough. Yeah. They were just a leetle bit nerve-wracking.

The problem was the dough itself- it was way too stiff. Even after I dribbled in a tablespoon of milk, it was decidedly stubborn. Perhaps I should recount my experience from the beginning.

Try #1: With the first piping bag and a small star tip (because I wanted my cookies to be dainty and elegant). The dough was too stiff (I have not added in any milk yet) and the tip was too small. The bag burst. Okay, no biggie, it happens sometimes. I grabbed a new piping bag and a bigger star tip, which brings us to...

Try #2: I added a bit of milk and the dough was a tad more pipeable, but apparently not enough. The inertia of the dough when I tried to squeeze it out was so great that the tip dislocated itself from the piping bag, i.e., it just flew out.

Try #3: With a great deal more milk and frustration (and a new piping bag), I managed to churn out loops of dough more easily. But as I was piping, I noticed that the dough was starting to get kind of squishy. Not only that, pools of butter were oozing out due to the heat from my hands and all the abuse it has been through ever since I started trying to pipe it. I unceremoniously dumped all the unpiped dough back into a bowl, covered it with clingwrap and pushed it into the deepest darkest depths of my overcrowded fridge, and gave up.

But. At least the cookies that survived the arduous piping process were worth it. These are, without a doubt, one of the most addictive and delicious cookies that has ever passed my lips. They are the kind of cookie that would make you go back for just one more but end up with a handful; the kind of cookie that you wish to never have to share and hoard shamelessly for yourself and yourself only; the kind of cookie my hard-to-please mother would begrudgingly give a nod to when I ask if they were good. There really is something magical about malted milk powder, isn't there?

Now, if you excuse me, I must find that remaining bowl of cookie dough.

Vanilla Malted Cookies
adapted from Martha Stewart
makes about 6 dozen

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, or more if dough is too soft (it was originally 2 3/4 cups but I found the dough to stiff to pipe)
3/4 cup plain malted milk powder
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup butter
3 ounces cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped and reserved
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Whisk flour, malted milk powder, baking powder and salt together.

Cream the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add the sugar and vanilla seeds and beat until combined. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat until combined. Stir in the flour mixture until just incorporated.

Transfer dough to a pastry bag fitted with a large start tip. Pipe dough onto baking sheets, spacing them about 1 inch apart. At this point, you can choose to refrigerate the dough for a few hours so that they retain their shape better when baked.

Bake at 350F for 11 to 15 minutes or until the bottom and edges are golden brown.