This my mom’s favorite cookie recipe.
Ever.
We’ve been making it ever since I can remember as a super little kid (you know, even more little than I am now), and I’m surprised I couldn’t recall this one by heart like the classic chocolate chip cookie one. But I do remember when I was finally big enough to use the chopper for the walnuts, so I could help out with more than just tasting the recipe. And then always including it in our long roundup of cookie recipes we would make every year (to this day) – along with Chocolate Chip Cookies, Peanut Butter Blossoms, and the traditional frosted sugar cookie. Because DUH how could we not make those every single year?! The rest would switch from year to year, but we aaaaalways made those. No exceptions.
The only problem was, these were an extremely traditional cookie recipe. And by that I mean white flour + confectioner’s sugar + soooooo much butter. The combination of which, for me nowadays, would be a WID (weapon of intestinal destruction, for us celiacs). So I made a few upgrades: grass-fed butter/ghee for the plain ol’ butter, organic confectioner’s sugar (without all the junky ingredienets, only cane sugar + tapioca starch) OR make your own with maple sugar + tapioca (like in my homemade marshmallows recipe), and then a gluten-free flour blend. Because try as I might, I could NOT figure out some magical combination of nut + coconut flours, arrowroot or tapioca that would work in place of this. The taste was off, and I’m no wizard. So a gluten-free flour blend it was. Even then, it took me 6 batches of cookie fails to get this one right.
But when I finally did? Tastebuds were transported back to childhood. #winning.
Even though I never met her, this recipe is my Grandmother’s legacy. Well, that along with classic Italian meatballs and red sauce. Because when you grow up in New Jersey to an Italian heritage family, sundays are for all-day sauce making. And meatballs. Lots, and lots of meatballs.
But first, cookies.
- 1 cup grass-fed butter or ghee
- 1 cup homemade confectioner's sugar (substitute 365 Confectioner’s Sugar) plus additional, for garnish
- 1 ¾ cup gluten-free flour blend (I used King Arthur Flour)
- 1 Tbsp vanilla
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup chopped 365 Organic walnuts
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Prepare an 8x8 inch square baking pan with parchment paper.
- Cream room temperature butter and sugar together in a stand mixer or with a hand blender. Gradually add the rest of the ingredients, then fold in the nuts with a wooden spoon or spatula. Chill 10-15 mins in the refrigerator.
- Spread the mixture evenly into the prepared baking pan. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes, until the edges are brown. The middle may still look slightly underdone. (If it looks totally underdone, give it about 5 more minutes - but not so long that the edges begin to brown too much!) Allow it to cool completely in the pan before removing them (about 20 minutes), or they will crumble!
- Once cooled and ready to eat, sprinkle with extra confectioner’s sugar.
This recipe is part of a sponsored collaboration with Whole Foods to share updated versions of your favorite traditional holiday recipes! Share your favorite on instagram or twitter with the hashtag #MyHolidayTradish!
