Coffee Cookies

This is another good, plain cookie.  

No family stories associated with this one: I came across the recipe, by Treat and Trick, on Pinterest one day.  It looked good to me - simple and not too sweet - so I decided to give it a try.  

I made almost no changes to the original recipe and was very well pleased with the way they turned out.  These cookies have a distinct coffee flavour without being bitter.  They make a great accompaniment to a cup of hot chocolate; a sort of deconstructed mocha. A very nice after dinner treat.

If you wanted to fancy your coffee cookies up some, you could make cookie sandwiches with a little vanilla, or chocolate, or coffee-flavoured butter cream.

To make coffee cookies, you'll need:

• 2 Tablespoons instant coffee
• 2 Tablespoons boiling water
• 180 grams butter (when I scaled this out it came to 7 ounces - 1-3/4 sticks - of butter)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 Tablespoons instant coffee
• 2 Tablespoons boiling water (not pictured)
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 egg white (not pictured)
• 1 teaspoon cool water (not pictured)
• a small amount of granulated sugar for sprinkling on the cookie tops

Begin by dissolving the instant coffee into the boiling water.  Set it aside and let it cool to room temperature.

When the coffee has cooled, cream together the butter and sugar.  

Mix the coffee into the butter and sugar until it's been completely incorporated.

In a separate bowl, mix together the flour and baking powder.

Add the flour mixture to the coffee/butter/sugar mixture and stir to make a stiff dough. (I ended up kneading it a three or four times in order to get all of the flour to absorb.)

Form the dough into 1-inch diameter balls (I used a small ice cream scoop for this) and place them about 1-1/2 inches apart on a parchment lined cookie sheet.  

Press the cookies flat and about a quarter inch thick.  (I used the bottom of a drinking glass, lightly floured, to do this.)

Crack an egg white into a small bowl, add the teaspoon of water, and beat the white with a fork until the water is mixed in.

Brush a little of the diluted egg white onto the top of each unbaked cookie and then sprinkle the cookies with some granulated sugar.

Bake the cookies at 350F for 15 to 18 minutes.  

Allow your coffee cookies to cool on their baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then transfer them to a rack to cool completely.

Store your cookies in an airtight container.

Coffee cookies can be frozen but, because of the sugar topping, you should put a layer of waxed paper between each layer of cookies when you pack them into their container.