Food Network: Brain Cookies with Blood Glaze

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Brain Cookies with Blood Glaze
Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, 2002

Ingredients
Brain Cookies:
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup very finely chopped walnuts, or pecans
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
About 5 drops red food coloring
About 9 drops blue food coloring

Blood Glaze:
2 cups confectioners' sugar
35 to 40 drops red food coloring
2 to 4 tablespoons milk, as needed for thinning glaze

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 large baking
sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Into a separate bowl, sift
together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Alternating with the eggs, add the
flour mixture to the butter mixture, beating well after the addition of each. Fold
in the nuts, vanilla, and red and blue food coloring, being careful not to overmix
the dough. (The food coloring will make the dough a grayish color, resembling the

color of brains.)

Place the dough in batches in a potato ricer and push the dough out onto the
prepared baking sheets in long tubes of dough. With your fingers, loosely pat and
arrange the dough strands into clumps resembling brains, pushing to form 2
hemispheres and shaping into a walnut-like shape. Bake until golden brown on the
bottom, 12 to 14 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to
cool.

To make the "blood glaze," in a small bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar with
the food coloring to make a thick glaze, whisking together. Add milk, 1
tablespoon at a time, until the glaze is a good consistency for drizzling. Drizzle
the "blood" onto the cookies and serve either warm or at room temperature.