I love cookies. I don’t bake them often but I buy them. Fresh baked cookies are best (obviously) and I love when I find a bakery that fulfills my cookie needs. One evening, I’m skipping around Whole Foods with John and I came across some duck fat. Obviously, I did not come to Whole Foods for duck fat but of course, we bought it. It’s what you do. As my mind raced with all the things I could use it for, one crazy idea popped out to me: duck fat sugar cookies.
OK – so it’s not that crazy. Apparently I’m not the first person to author this idea. But it wasn’t anything I’d heard of before and I thought it would be interesting in flavor. I imagined that using duck fat in sugar cookies would give it a buttery, savory flavor profile that you don’t always find in cookies.
I wasn’t sure how this was going to turn out but it’s a sugar cookie – it can’t be that bad. Now, I hate to admit, I haven’t experimented much more with the duck fat but I intend on it. Honestly, I’m not sure what else to do with it. I think I fried an egg in it and that was cool. I want more though. There is a restaurant here in Chattanooga that had THE BEST duck fat tater tots. The tots are still on the menu but something about them is different. Maybe I feel that way because they don’t serve the same sauces as they use to with them or maybe they really did do something different to them. Either way, duck fat tater tots are the jam.
Duck fat sugar cookies
I liked these cookies because they’re pretty no fuss. There aren’t a lot of bells and whistles; it is what it is. The duck fat does add a little extra flavor to the cookies that you won’t taste in “regular” sugar cookies. Honestly, it may be an acquired taste but I think it added a little extra something to the cookies.
See for yourself.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
- 4 tbsp duck fat
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- Maldon salt
Instructions
- Heat oven to 325 degrees.
- In a bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, salt; set aside.
- In a different bowl (slightly larger than the first bowl), cream the sugar, butter and duck fat together using an electric mixer. Beat in the egg and vanilla.
- Slowly add the flour mixture into the butter mixture. Beat until just combined, but don’t over-mix.
- Refrigerate dough for 10/15 minutes to help firm the dough.
- Form the dough into balls and sprinkle with Maldon salt.
- Bake the cookies for 10-13 minutes (or until browned) and let them cool before you dive in.
