Rosemary and pink peppercorn cornmeal cookies

Rosemary and pink peppercorn cornmeal cookies

These cookies were inspired by Tamar Adler's book, An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace. In the final chapter of the book, titled "How to End," she writes, "If a meal cannot go on forever I ask only that its passage be not too jarring. I ask dessert to leave room for the flavors and smells before it, to let them linger faint, and not erased, in its margins." I love that!

One of the recipes she has put in the book is for a rosemary olive oil cake, which sounds lovely - not too sweet, a hint of herbaceousness. Rather than a whole cake, I wanted to make a cookie, maybe something like a shortbread, with rosemary. So after looking online a bit, I found a recipe on the Madison Herb Society's website for a cornmeal rosemary cookie. The addition of cornmeal gives the cookies a nice crunch, and I had been curious about trying a cornmeal cookie after reading about one in Dorie Greenspan's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours, in which she talks about letting the cookies bake a little longer to make them even crunchier. If you go a little browner, they'll be crispier. If you go paler, they are a little more like sugar cookie, not quite crunchy crisp, with a little give to them.

I cut back the sugar a bit, increased the rosemary, and thought a pinch of pepper might be nice too. I had recently purchased some pink peppercorns so decided to use those to add a fun bit of pink to the tops of the cookies that was really lovely. Their recipe also called for dried cranberries, which I have omitted.

I made them both by dropping rounded tablespoons of dough on the cookie sheet, which yielded a thicker cookie that browned a bit more, and then flattening them a bit before baking and baking them a little less, making a blonder cookie more like a sugar cookie. They are both good - just a little different in appearance and texture. They both do spread a little bit from their original formation, though the ones where I just dropped the dough and did not flatten them out did not spread that much.

Adapted from the Madison Herb Society's cornmeal rosemary cookies

Depending on how big you make them, can yield about 30 to 36 cookies

• 1 3/4 cup flour 
• 1 tsp. baking soda 
• 1 c. fine cornmeal 
• 1/2 tsp. salt 
• 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper, pink peppercorns if you like
• Pink peppercorns to freshly grind over your cookies
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened 
• 1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 large eggs 
• 2 large Tbsp. minced fresh rosemary 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat or silicone baking sheet.

In a bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cornmeal, salt and ground pepper together.

With a stand mixer or hand mixer, mix the butter and sugar together until fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Mix in the eggs, one at a time. Then, mix in the flour mixture and rosemary, and stir it's all just combined.

Using a cookie dough scoop or a tablespoon, drop rounded balls of dough on lined sheets about 2 in. apart. With the bottom of a glass or with your hands, flatten them a little bit if you like. Grind your pink peppercorns over the cookies and pat them in a bit.

Bake until they are just golden, about 8 to 10 minutes. My oven is a bit uneven, so I set the timer for 8 and then go from there. If you prefer them paler, 7 to 8 minutes is probably good. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack and let them cool.