Butter cookies with churro maker

These butter cookies are made with our cookie press, how do you like that? A cookie press is very similar to a cookie gun in how it works: a tube with a plunger that pushes the dough through a die. A little force and not much mystery.

These little cookies are what have always been called tea biscuits, with a sandy texture that melts in the mouth because of the huge amounts of butter they contain. Delicious and they leave a scent in the house that makes the whole neighborhood happy.

We give you some tips so they come out perfect, following the recipe from one of my favorite websites, Serious Eats:

1. You must incorporate a lot of air into the butter with the sugar and continue whipping after adding the egg.
2. However, it is best to mix the flour by hand, with a silicone spatula.
3. If we want to go the extra mile (because we deserve it), we will chill the baking sheets that we are going to use beforehand and, in any case, we will not use mats or baking paper, but the greased sheet, nothing more.

And I add:

1. It is important that the butter and the egg are at a similar temperature. The egg should not be cold from the fridge.
2. We will test the dough's consistency after adding the flour; if it is too sticky we should add flour tablespoon by tablespoon.

ILSA metal cookie press, bowl of the KitchenAid Artisan mixer, T&G acacia wood tray and Laura Ashley espresso cups with saucer

Ingredients (for about 30 little biscuits, depending on size)

• 225 g of softened butter, but not spreadable
• 200 g of caster sugar
• 1 egg at room temperature
• 1 tsp. of vanilla extract
• 5 g of salt
• 350 g of pastry flour

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 175° and put two or three baking sheets in the fridge.
2. Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle. Beat on high speed until volume increases and it lightens in color, at least 7 minutes. The mixture must remain matte at all times, with the butter not reaching melting point. Watch out in summer, because if the mixture begins to shine put the bowl in the fridge for a few minutes.
3. Add the egg and continue beating on high speed, scraping the sides now and then so it homogenizes perfectly, again for 5 to 7 minutes, until you obtain a silky, airy dough.
4. Sift the flour and add it to the bowl. Mix very briefly with the mixer, add the salt and the vanilla, and finish mixing by hand, with a spatula.
5. Careful, because the dough's consistency is important so that the cookies are firm enough, do not spread in the oven and release well from the press. The dough should be tacky and very soft, but not stick excessively to the fingers when touched.
6. Once the desired consistency is achieved, load the cookie press with the spatula. Fit the desired die and place the cap.
7. We form the cookies on the chilled sheets brushed only with butter. This is the most delicate part: to form each biscuit you should not give a full plunger stroke, but only half, that is, with each complete stroke of the plunger you can form two cookies.
8. You'll get the hang of it so the sizes are even, but it's a matter of practice. And this dough has an advantage: if any cookie turns out horrible, you just remove the dough from the sheet with a spatula and put it back into the press.
9. This cookie press allows us to change the die without having finished all the dough inside, at any time to make a different shape.
10. You will have to load the press several times, since the amount of dough in the recipe is greater than the capacity of the little tool.
11. Put the first sheet in the oven and bake the cookies 10-12 minutes depending on each oven's strength, until they are golden at the edges. Remove them and use a metal spatula to transfer them to a rack.
12. Fill as many sheets as necessary and bake the biscuits in the same way.

These tea biscuits or butter cookies are addictive; the vanilla gives them a magnificent touch, although we can also flavor them with finely grated citrus zest so it doesn't interfere when extruding the dough, or with cinnamon. Although I made them very plain, we can also decorate the little cookies with sprinkles, chocolate shavings, cherries in the center or dip them in chocolate once they are cold. Don't say we don't give you ideas.