Russian Mushroom Cookies
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes
Servings: 30 -35 cookies
Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup corn starch
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature
1 egg at room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream. Let this sit out for about an hour before hand.
1 tbsp vanilla paste or vanilla extract. If you are using paste, then make sure it is 1 for 1 with vanilla extract.
Additional flour for your hands and rolling the dough.
Ingredients for the red mushroom topping:
8 oz meltable white chocolate Wafers or chips will work, but I find wafers work better. This can also be pre colored red white chocolate. If so, skip the food coloring.
Red gel food coloring. Amount to be determined based on your desired color.
Ingredients for the brown mushroom topping:
1/3 cup confectioners sugar
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Sift or combine the flour, corn starch, sea salt, and baking powder in a bowl and whisk.
Cream together the butter and sugar. Then add in the egg, sour cream,m and vanilla and mix well.
Add the flour mix to the butter mix little by little. About 1/2 cup at a time.
Once the dough is well combined, dip your fingers in flour and begin to shape it. Make one cap for every stem and add them to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Use a melon baller for the caps if you want to be consistent. See photos for more on the shaping of the dough.
Bake for about 12 minutes. These will not brown on their caps, so it is okay if you don’t see browning.
When done, add to a cooling rack and make a small hole in the bottom of each mushroom cap. Then let it cool for an hour.
Meanwhile, prep the icing or chocolate.
For the icing, combine everything in a small bowl and whisk well. Dip each mushroom cap in and before they dry, sprinkle with cocoa powder.
For the chocolate topping, melt over a double broiler or a chocolate melter. You can also use the microwave, but beware of overcooking, which will seize the chocolate. Dip each mushroom in the chocolate and let it dry. Then tap each mushroom cap in confectioners’ sugar to make the white spots.
Once the chocolate or icing is dry, enjoy!
Notes:
Tips for making the Russian Mushroom Cookies recipe:
You can use a hand mixer to mix these or even your hands after all the flour is incorporated.
Don’t be afraid to really shape the dough with your hands.
Know that the Russian Mushroom Cookies will spread just a bit on you, including any of the cone shapes for the bottom that are standing upright. Make sure that they are pointing straight up. Some of them will flop.
This recipe will make 30 – 35 cookies, depending on the size of the mushrooms. If you want to be consistent with size, use a melon baller for the caps.
I believe in traditional recipes; these cookies are dipped in chocolate or icing again on the bottom and sometimes poppy seeds too. I opted not to do that. I made these to go on a Yule Log Cake and felt like the frosting on that cake was going to be more than enough chocolate. I’m also not a huge chocolate person, so what we used was enough for me.
There’s no real difference in the recipe for these two cookies, you see. The only thing that was different was the way we shaped the dough and topped the cookies.
These mushroom cookies keep for up to 5 – 7 days on the counter! I lightly covered them, and we nibbled a bit each day. They will harden slightly to more of a biscuit cookie, but I really enjoy that in these cookies. You can also store them in an airtight container if you want.
Recipe courtesy of Sugar Maple Farmhouse.com
