TWD: The Ugliest Sables in All the Land

Sables.  Why must they torment me so?

They are little medallions of pure cookie bliss.  When made correctly, they appear to be oh-so-beautiful and dainty.

So, why, oh why, after chilling in the freezer for 2 days, do they come out looking like this?

I know that many a-food blogger will comment on a less-than picture perfect dish and say "Well, it's not winning any beauty contests."  But mine go above and beyond not winning beauty contests.

You know the treasured community chest card in Monopoly that reads: "You just won second place a beauty pageant! Collect $20"? When you pull this card, you first joke around and talk about how pretty you are (you don't do that? Is it just me?) and then curse the person who beat you out. Then you wonder what kind of cheap-ass beauty pageant only awards $20?

Well, if there was a card that says, "You just got hit with the ugly stick!  You owe the hospital $200.", these cookies would be sure to pull that card.

Sure, I could have prettied it up with sprinkles and decorations, but I have been doing this and frankly was not in the mood. Yes, I burned the edges. And please, if you leave a comment saying "They look good to me!", I'll know that you are just being nice and you don't really mean it. But I appreciate the kind words. Thank you.

But they do taste good. Minus the ugly looks, they are perfectly buttery, with a slightly sandy texture that is a pleasure to eat.  I was sure to work with an even hand and not to overwork the delicate dough.  I rolled my logs using a Chopin piano pieces book, hoping that his grace would rub off on my cookies. But alas, I was left with strange shaped, burned cookies.  Deliciously, oddly shaped, burned cookies.

Check out Barbara of Bungalow Barbara for the recipe and check out the rest of TWD for some 1st place winners in the beauty pageants. I'd award them $100. Because I'm nice like that. And I'm the banker. 

Comments

[Andrea@WellnessNotes]

I would gladly eat one of your cookies right about now! :)

[Wendy]

I'm scared to bake mine now! The dough has been sitting in the freezer since before I left for vacation. Glad to know they taste good though.

[jenn (Bread + Butter)]

I've made cookies that looked worse. lol. As long as they taste good, then I'm game. Pass some my way.

[Clivia Gardens]

Whoa. Those are some cookies. Better these turn out this way than the sugar cookies. I'm so impressed at everything you're doing. I hope Santa brings you a spa day!

[dorie]

Hmmmm, I wonder what happened. I'm interested in what Vibi said about baking the cookies higher up -- it is true that if you do that, you keep the bottoms away from the higher heat. And, as Vibi also mentioned, oven temperature can play havoc with your creations, but all your other things are so beautiful. (Your pear tart was gorgeous.) I'd chalk it up to the kitchen witches being at play. Thank goodness they were still delicious.

[Caitlin]

Aren't there cookies called "ugly but tasty" cookies? I think they're Italian, and I think they had relations with some snooty shortbread, yielding these cookies :P I hope things calm down for you soon - sounds like you're super busy!

[Jennifer]

POor thing! Those sables are so tricky!

[Jacque]

Well, dang it!

Did you bake for the whole time? I thought it looked like WAY too much time, like double maybe. I dunno though, I pulled them the minute they looked set.

Sorry :( Your pistachio and pear tart looked fab though.

[Jen @ My Kitchen Addiction]

Sorry they didn't turn out right for you! They sound tasty, though!

[Rebecca]

I made these and mine looked a lot like yours, but beauty is within, right? Your blog is great, by the way.

[grace]

oh, don't be so hard on yourself. now i know why most of the sables i've seen have been rimmed with colored sugar--it's probably to cover up burnt edges!

[Julessomeone]

ok, so they may not win any pretty prizes. You can close your eyes while you are eating them. ;-)

[Bianca @south bay rants n raves]

It sounds cliche but as long as they tasted good....

[steph (whisk/spoon)]

oh...as long as they tasted good, whatever! your poached pear tart looks awesome, btw. not surprised to see it was a prize-winner!

[Amy]

My cookies were definitely more oblong than round, and I think I used too much egg yolk on the outside "painted" layer (and therefore my cookies made a kind of sizzling sound in the oven -- egg yolk getting hot underneath the sugar, I guess?). Weird, but as you say, they tasted good!

[Bungalow Barbara]

Thank you for baking along with me this week!

Yes, they're not the prettiest cookies. Glad they still tasted good! And you got a consolation post from Dorie!

Those sugar cookies are gorgeous! I'm glad your kitchen mojo didn't desert you for those!

[ingrid]

LOL, Gurrrl, I'm not gonna lie to ya. They ain't purdy but they're tasty. Just close yours eyes. LOL! You know you still rock! :)
~ingrid

[Heather Peskin]

But they tasted good, right! I'm going to check out those nice sugar cookies right now.

[Elizabeth - Cake or Death?]

Oh man, I have made some ugly food in my day, so I feel ya. I won't lie and say they look awesome, but they do look buttery and crunchy so I can imagine they tasted delicious. Onward and upward!

[dharmagirl]

well, these cookies may not be the prettiest, but your candy cane cookies totally absolutely ROCK. :)