Camachile cookie

A firm biscuit rolled and curled into a ridged crescent, cut from a rope rather than stamped.

Egg. Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains egg, dairy (butter).

Ingredients

• 300 g plain flour
• 140 g caster sugar
• 140 g butter, soft
• 2 eggs
• 0.5 teaspoon baking powder
• 0.25 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg, beaten, for brushing
• 2 tablespoons caster sugar, for the tops

Method

1. CUT FROM A ROPE, NOT STAMPED FROM A SHEET. The dough is rolled into a long rope, cut into short lengths, and each length is rolled under the fingers into a tapered spindle and then curled. Stamped flat with a cutter you get a round biscuit; this way you get something with a thick middle and thin ends, which bakes to two textures in one bite.
2. Cream the butter and sugar 3 minutes, then the eggs one at a time.
3. Flour, baking powder and salt in, worked to a firm dough. Firmer than a cookie dough usually is -- it has to hold a shaped form without slumping.
4. Chill 45 minutes, wrapped.
5. Roll a quarter of it at a time into a rope 2 cm thick and cut it into 5 cm lengths.
6. Roll each length under the flat of your fingers so it tapers at both ends, then bend it into a shallow crescent.
7. Score three or four ridges across the back of each one with the back of a knife. They open slightly in the oven.
8. Brush with egg, dust with sugar, and space them well apart on lined trays.
9. Bake at 170C for 16 to 18 minutes, until gold and firm. They should be hard rather than chewy -- these are a coffee biscuit, not a soft cookie.
10. Cool on a rack completely before storing. They crisp further as they cool.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

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