With a corncob pipe and a "button" nose

When I got my December issue of Bon Appetit, the pretty cookies on the cover definitely caught my eye.  Then I spyed the small print near the bottom that proclaimed them to be Dorie Greenspan's Speculoos Buttons, p. 96.  I immediately knew that I'd have to make them.  After all, I know I can rely on Dorie. =)  I realized also that these would be perfect for my virtual cookie exchange. 

The dough is easy to mix up.  You cream butter with regular and brown sugars as well as a little molasses.  Next in are an egg and some vanilla.  Then you add the dry ingredients--flour, salt and spices (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and a bit of cloves).  The dough is formed into logs and chilled for several hours.  Before baking, the logs of dough are brushed with egg white and coated in sparkling sugar.  This was a great chance for me to use the pretty pearlized sugar that I picked up a couple weeks ago.  The recipe calls for adding a glaze and additional decorations to the cookies after they're baked, but I didn't get that far.

The verdict?  I really liked these cookies--they have a good level of spice and aren't too sweet.  Brianna tried one and didn't really like it.  Gillian wouldn't even taste one.  So I took most of them to work, and found several people who were more than happy to take them off my hands.  I will definitely be making these again--the dough is easy to mix up and stash in the freezer for cookie emergencies. =)  Next time I'll have to add the glaze and play around more with the decorations.  Maybe if the girls get to decorate them, they'll reconsider eating them.  Lol. 

If you'd like to try these for yourself, you can find the recipe here.  Be sure to check back in a few days so see what other tasty cookies my friends have come up with for our cookie exchange!