Recipe courtesy of Maida Heatter
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon (I use Saigon cinnamon)
1 stick (1/4 lb) butter at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 organic egg
½ cup organic sour cream
1 heaping cup red walnut pieces
24 walnut halves
Farmers’ market ingredients: butter, egg
California-grown ingredients: sour cream, red walnuts
Supermarket ingredients: flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, vanilla, sugar
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with tin foil.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter until it’s creamy. Add the vanilla and brown sugar, and mix until well combined. Add the egg and mix again until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as you blend.
- Add half of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until combined. Add all the sour cream and the rest of the flour mixture. Mix until just combined.
- Remove the bowl from the stand mixer. By hand, fold 1 heaping cup of the walnut pieces into the cookie batter.
- Drop cookie dough by one rounded tablespoon onto the foil-lined baking sheet, leaving 2 inches between each cookie. Press a walnut half onto the top of each dough ball. Place the full cookie sheet into the oven and bake for 12-14 minutes. The cookies are done when the edges are golden and the dough bounces back when pressed gently with your finger. Repeat this process until all the cookie dough has been used.
- Remove finished cookies from oven and use a spatula to transfer the cookies to a cooling rack.
Yield: 24 large, soft cookies
