Unique Pinipig Cookies recipe

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MANILA, Philippines — Pinipig Cookies are not something you commonly have in the Philippines.

Pinipig, which refers to immature grains of glutinous rice that have been pounded until flat then toasted, has to undergo a certain preparation process before it can be used in, say, baking cookies. But since pinipig is a very Filipino ingredient, Filipino food advocate and restaurateur Amy Besa and her husband Chef Romy Dorotan go ahead and use it on cookies when available. The result: Delicious, crispy cookies, which they serve with avocado ice cream.

Amy and her chefs did exactly that during a cooking demo they conducted at The Maya Kitchen. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups pinipig

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest

1 cup Maya All Purpose Flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and set racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Grease 2 baking sheets.

2. Warm a medium skillet over medium heat. Add pinipig and toast, stirring, until lightly browned and aromatic, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate to cool.

3. Cream butter with the sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until incorporated. Beat in the lemon rind.

4. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet, and stir to combine. Stir in the pinipig.

5. Drop the dough by heaping teaspoons onto baking sheets, setting them 2 inches apart, and press down with the tines of a fork. Bake the cookies in the upper and lower thirds of the oven, rotating the pans and switching the position of the baking sheets halfway through baking, until lightly browned around the edges, about 12 minutes.

6. Let cool on the sheets for a couple of minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely and bake the second batch on the cooled sheets.

Makes about four dozen cookies.