cookie baking puzzle

[serious]

Just read an recipe from cooks illustrated that calls for boiling and sieving yolk of an egg into the ingredients for a butter cookie. I've made a lot of cookies and never saw such a thing..yes, there's a question here but I'm too stunned to organize it.

[bushwickgirl]

Ok, it's an Eastern European butter cookie recipe variation; I have a German one from my grandma, which my mom called Spritz; we'd put the dough through a cookie press. I've seen Norwegian, Czech and the Polish kruche, varieties of the same cookie. They're often flavored with lemon zest, almonds or almond extract and sometimes brandy, but there are many variations from many countries, the flavors are not limited to or do not always include the aforementioned. The egg yolk makes the cookie richer and bit more crumbly or flaky than a regular butter cookie. Google Norwegian Butter Cookies or hard boiled egg cookies for other recipes. These cookies are not limited to Eastern Europe, I've seen older US cookbooks containing hard boiled egg cookie recipes, an import from European ancestors, as my recipe is.

I suggest you try the recipe after your initial shock wears off. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.;-)

[serious]

appreciate the excellent response and explanation..and I'm going to try this.