This time last year – oh, take me back! – I was relaxing near my own personal infinity pool, just outside of my little private villa, surrounded by lush palms and other tropical greenery, on the side of a steep hill overlooking the Andaman Sea in Phuket, Thailand, at Trisara, the dreamiest resort I’ve ever come across.
I didn’t see Kate Moss, who apparently also loves it there, mainly because I couldn’t pull myself away from what was so relaxing, and so perfectly isolating, and also, delicious…
Besides the fantastic Thai cuisine (I know, I’m gushing), every day, next to my minibar and fridge that was constantly stocked with fresh smoothies, was a little jar that was refilled time and again with these lovely shortbread cookies, which I’d nibble on throughout the day, next to the pool, crossword puzzle nearby, or a magazine…or nothing at all.
I loved them so much that I asked for the recipe, and the manager there happily gave it to me, telling me that it was one that her Australian grandmother used to make. Well, of course, I thought to myself. No wonder they were so good.
The other day, I made them here in Paris, and tried – not too successfully, as you can see – to make these shortbread cookies into cowgirly horses. The result – a yummy cookie in a sort of cartoony horsie shape.
Trisara’s Nutsable Cookies
1 ¼ cup butter
2/3 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
1 2/3 cup flour
1/3 cup ground cashews
Mix the flour and ground cashews together in a bowl and set aside for a sec.
In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Add egg, then flour and cashew mixture. (I didn’t have ground cashews, so I substituted a mixture of ground almonds and hazlenuts.)
Cover and chill dough overnight, or for 8 hours.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees f.
Roll out dough, and cut into whatever shape you’d like – or simply make one large sheet and cut into sticks – and place on cookie sheet.
I dusted mine with cinnamon and sugar, too.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until lightly colored. Transfer to wire rack to cool.
Like any shortbread cookie, these taste best after they’ve been allowed to cool (not that I didn’t try them warm, anyway, with leftover morning coffee).
