I love this cookie for its buttery, fragile tenderness, but I also like to make crumbs from it because they’re such a great texture in a layered dessert (like the Rose Oeufs à la Neige on page 134). The cookies are best served the day they’re baked. I’ve written the recipe so you freeze half the dough and have it waiting for another day.

　　

Ingredients

makes about thirty 1 1/2-inch cookies or 4 cups of crumbs

　　

For the Dough

1/2 pound (227g) plus 3 to 5 tablespoons (4o to 70g) unsalted butter, softened

　　2 1/4 cups (287g) all-purpose flour

　　3/4 cup (90g) confectioners’ sugar

　　1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (109g) almond flour

　　1 teaspoon (2g) vanilla extract

　　

For Cookies

1 large egg

　　1 large egg yolk

　　1 teaspoon (4g) fleur de sel or coarse pink salt

　　1 teaspoon (4g) demerara sugar

　　

For the Dough

Step 1

Cut the 1/2 pound butter into pieces and put it in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle. Beat until light. Add the flour, confectioners’ sugar, almond flour, and vanilla extract. Mix until the dough comes together. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and divide it in half. Form each half into a brick and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate one packet for at least 1 hour and freeze the other for up to 3 months.

　　

Step 2

Heat the oven to 350°F or 325°F on convection.

　　

Step 3

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll it between two sheets of parchment to 1/8 inch thick. Lift it up onto a baking sheet, peel off the top parchment, and clean up the edges. Bake until golden, 19 to 21 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking. Let cool completely.

　　

Step 4

Crumble the cookie and put it back in the clean bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle. Mix for a minute or so to make smaller crumbs. Add the 3 tablespoons butter and mix. If the dough doesn’t come together, add 1 or 2 tablespoons butter, a tablespoon at a time, mixing until you have a dough you can roll.

　　

Step 5

Roll the dough between two pieces of parchment to 1/4 inch thick. Freeze for 1 hour.

　　

Step 6

If you’re making crumbs, carefully peel off the top piece of parchment. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking. Let cool, then crumble and store in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

　　

For Cookies

Step 7

If you’re making cookies, carefully peel off the top piece of parchment. Cut the frozen dough with a 1 1/2-inch cutter. The cookies will be too delicate to move, so instead remove the excess dough from the parchment. Slide the parchment onto a baking sheet.

　　

Step 8

Beat the egg and yolk together until smooth. Brush onto the cookies. Mix the salt and sugar together and sprinkle over the cookies.

　　

Step 9

Bake until a rich golden brown, about 15 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking. Let cool. The cookies will be very delicate, so don’t move them around. Leave them on the pan until you serve them.

　　Cooks' Note

　　To bake the frozen dough, you must first defrost it in the refrigerator, before proceeding with the recipe.

　　Reprinted with permission from Dessert Fourplay: Sweet Quartets from a Four-Star Pastry Chef by Johnny Iuzzini and Roy Finamore. Copyright © 2008 by Johnny Iuzzini and Roy Finamore. Published by Crown Publishing. All Rights Reserved.Johnny Iuzzini,, executive pastry chef of the world-renowned Jean Georges restaurant in New York City, won the award for Outstanding Pastry Chef from the James Beard Foundation in 2006. This is his first book.Roy Finamore, a publishing veteran of more than thirty years, has worked with many bestselling cookbook authors. He is the author of three books: One Potato, Two Potato; Tasty, which won a James Beard Foundation award; and Fish Without a Doubt.__