Salted Duck Yolks Cookies

Salted Duck Yolks Cookies

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Have I raised any concerns yet?  More so, concerns for my husband’s ever-expanding belly (those poor poor pants…).  ANOTHER salted duck egg recipe?  And this time in COOKIES?  AND I thought this is a good time to bring it up just after I drenched this blog in cholesterol and now THEN-SOME?  To be clear, if you were the very honest people who gushed how lucky my husband was for all these foods and whose smiles now start to crinkle… (firmly pointing my finger towards an ambiguous direction) I gave them all to Jason’s colleages who gave them a nice home.  But I can’t expect this level of superior self-restrain from you because quite frankly, this cookie is fantastic.

Ever since men discovered that the conflicted senses from savory and sweet in our brain translates quite closely to… nirvana, no-stopping is the list of treats created in its name.  Bacon in chocolate chips cookies?  Sea salt caramel?  McDonald’s fries dipped in their soft vanilla ice-cream?  Wait, oops… did I say that out loud?  Well, the Cantonese has their own classics rooted in such pursuit, a dim-sum called “nai-huang-bao/liu-sha-bao” created by blending the salted yolks with butter and stuffing it inside a puffy and pillowy white dough then steamed.  When you pop one open, the melted golden lava oozes ever-so-slowly out of the bun, singing the same tune as your senses collide in ecstasy.  So, I thought it’d tastes pretty awesome in solid form as well.

Oh and they do.  The salted yolks not only provide the savory-note, but they give the cookies an unmistakable richness and aroma that’s unique to this ingredient and will linger in your mouth in a good way.  I have made peace with posting this kind of recipes that curious people would probably spare a visit in their good graces.  Perhaps even patiently browse through the ingredients… but all to pause and draw a big “HUH?”, then politely fade out…  I understand.  But those who are willing to make a little detour on their way down to Chinatown for some occasional wontons and mushu, or a couple more clicks on their way for some books – your investment would yield a delicious return.

Servings: Eh… who can count when there’s hot cookies present?  But it’s safe to say approx 30+ small cookies

* Salted duck eggs come in raw or cooked.  Make sure to buy the cooked.

 Ingredients: basic cookie dough recipe based on allrecipes.com

• 2 cups of all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp of baking soda
• 1/4 tsp of salt
• 3/4 cup (170 g) of unsalted butter, room temperature or very soft
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1/2 cup of brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
• 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
• 5 cooked salted duck egg yolks, crumbled *

Sift together flour, baking soda and salt.

Cream the butter, sugar and brown sugar together with a mixer on medium-high speed, until the butter becomes pale in color and fluffy, approx 5~7 min.  Scrape the bottom of the bowl once or twice to make sure the butter is creamed throughout.  During this time, cut the duck eggs open and scoop out the egg yolks.  Make sure you get every last bit of it and it’s ok if some bits of egg whites get into the mix.  Crumble with a fork and set aside.

Once butter is properly creamed, add the eggs and vanilla extract.  Mix again until light and fluffy.  Add the flour mixture now and mix until JUST combined.  Scrape the bottom of the bowl once.  Then add the salted egg yolks and give it a few turns to evenly incorporate it into the dough.  Don’t over-mix it because there should be bits and pieces of it throughout.

I like to refrigerate the cookie dough for at least 30 min before scooping.  You could form the cookie dough-ball and freeze it at this point.

Preheat the oven on 360ºF/180ºC.

Scoop out approx 1 tbsp of cookie dough and set on a baking sheet (line with parchment paper).  Make sure there is at least 3″/8~10cm of space in between each because you know… kids can get curious…

Bake in the oven for 12~13 min until the edges are slightly browned (if you like your cookies soft in the center, DO NOT over-bake them).  Frozen cookie doughs may take a couple min more.  Transfer to a cooling rack immediately after they come out of the oven or they will continue to bake on the hot tray.  I’d tell you to let them cool but they may disappear before that happens…