Milk Cookies: Simple Homemade Recipe

Step-by-step recipe

1. The dough for milk cookies is close in composition to the one used for quiche. The difference is the milk, which makes it less crumbly and, if rolled thick, soft inside. Don't add baking powder to the dough: the bake would rise and turn soft. Be careful with flavourings too (vanillin, zest and so on); the smell and taste of milk should come first.
   
2. Take the butter and eggs out of the fridge in advance. The butter should be very soft. Put the softened butter in the mixer bowl and add the sugar. Beat the butter and sugar with the mixer until smooth. You can use icing sugar instead, which is even more convenient, though the sugar dissolves in the finished dough anyway.
   
3. Add the egg, a pinch of salt and, if you decide to, a little vanillin or vanilla sugar, but only a very little. Keep beating until smooth. Warm the milk in the microwave until just lukewarm and pour it into the mixture. Mix thoroughly with the mixer.
   
4. Sift the flour and divide it into two parts: two cups and one cup. Add the 2 cups of flour to the butter, sugar and milk and mix with the mixer. The dough will be thick and slightly sticky. Then add the flour in small portions, kneading the dough with the mixer or by hand until it stops sticking to your hands.
   
5. Roll the dough into a ball, cover it with cling film and chill for 10-15 mins. It should firm up a little so the milk cookies are easy to shape. Line a baking tray with baking paper. There is no need to grease it: the dough has enough butter, and the cookies won't stick to the paper.
   
6. Pinch off pieces of dough the size of a hen's egg and roll them out into a sheet 1.5-2 cm thick. Note that the thinner the dough layer, the crisper and more crumbly the cookies; a thick layer comes out crisp on top and soft inside after baking. Cut shapes out of the dough with a cutter.
   
7. You can use cutters of almost any size and shape. I had “stars” of different sizes, but in the simplest case you can just cut the dough into squares or triangles and lay them on the tray. If you plan to put a little apple jam on top, make a dip for it right away.
   
8. Heat the oven to 180°C and put in the tray of milk cookies. 20 mins of baking is enough. If the dough is thicker, bake a little longer. Transfer the finished cookies to a board or plate and dust them with icing sugar: put 1 tsp of icing sugar in a tea strainer and shake it over the cookies for a very even dusting.
   
9. Let the bake cool; it will dry out slightly and become more crumbly. Serve the cookies with tea, or better still with warm milk or cocoa. They keep for a couple of days, just covered with a napkin.
   
10. If you like, bake small milk cookies, spread one half with a layer of jam and cover with another half. You get a dessert with jam, very tasty and somewhat like a bouchée cake. If you decide to put jam into the dips you made earlier, do it 2-3 mins before the end of baking.