I wanted to find you a different (different to me anyway) cookie recipe and in searching through the web, found this.  They are inspired by Krumiri (you impressed yet?! ).  This is an Italian biscuit from the Piedmont region.  It is a crunchy delight, heightened by the cornmeal in the dough.  It’s a different biscuit and there are loads of variations out there, all about the same because, as always – recipes weren’t meant to be written in stone, this is one I just happened to like.  Here is the latest Christmas Treat, Cornmeal and Butter Cookies.

These are inspired by Domenico Rossi who created them in 1878 when he wanted to pay homage to King Vittorio Emanuelle II.  That’s as much history as I want to give you; google can provide you more on the origins.  Check it out, it’s quite interesting.  So let’s get back to the cookie.  It’s delightful with the crunch provided with every bite.  I used cornmeal with a bit of texture, not the fine kind, it had a bit of texture to it.  There were some recipes that said I could also use polenta.  I like the taste and texture of the cornmeal in my pantry, so went with this.

The original shape is like a crescent, reminiscent of the King’s mustache but I saw all kinds of shapes and decide to freeform other shapes instead – stars, buttons, hearts, something resembling a heart(?).  Go crazy with the shapes and make what you want.  Bring the dough our of the fridge about 20 minutes before forming the shapes.  The heat of your hands should keep it together if it cracks. But remember, don’t call it Krumiri if you are changing the shape or the indents, the purists out there will have a field day with you!

A comfortable cookie to make and eat, it goes well with a tea or coffee, glass of Port or on it’s own.  Whatever you enjoy your cookies with, it is a delight.  As always – enjoy!

Ingredients
100g sugar
140g room-temperature butter or softer
2 egg yolks (save the whites for meringue kisses or macarons)
160g cornmeal (I also saw recipes with instant polenta)
100g all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
Pinch of salt
Icing sugar, to finish

Directions
Using your hand or stand mixer, combine the butter and sugar and mix until no longer grainy
Add the egg yolks – one at a time and beat and scrape in between additions
Add the cornmeal, flour and a pinch of salt, and bring everything together into a soft ball of dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for an hour
When ready to make the shapes, remove the dough from the fridge and let it sit for about 20 minutes to soften and make it easier to hand roll into ropes
After 20 minutes, dust your hands with flour and break of pieces of dough – golf ball size or bigger – depends on your rope making abilities
Roll until the rope is 1 cm thick, cut into 1 or 2 cm shapes and either make crescents with the dough or any other shape you like – all free form
Note:  This is where I went crazy with the shapes.  I cut pieces into about 1 cm wide and did some aa crescents, some I left as buttons, and others as free form hearts and stars etc.  I also used the tines of a fork to leave an indentation in the cookie, only visible on the round cookies
Refrigerate the formed cookies before baking –about 1 hour
When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350f, line a baking tray or two with parchment
Bake for 12 minutes, until lightly golden, turn off the oven but leave the oven door ajar and leave the cookies inside for 20 minutes to finish baking
To serve, dust heavily with icing sugar, and keep any leftovers (because trust me, you will be sampling them) in a sealed freezer bag and then a sealed container for extra freshness