Putri Salju Pandan (Pandan-Flavored Indonesian "Snow White" Cookies)

1 Ratings
  • 50
  • 40
  • 30
  • 20
  • 11

To League of Kitchens cooking instructor Shandra Woworuntu, baking comes naturally. Her grandmother owned a baking supply and snack company in East Java, Indonesia, and Woworuntu and her mother ran a homemade cookie business in Jakarta in the late 1980s. Traditionally in Indonesia, Putri Salju ("Snow White" or "Snow Princess") cookies are made with almonds, peanuts, or cashews inside and are popular during the holidays, including Christmas, Ramadan, and Chinese New Year. Her mother's version, and now the recipe Woworuntu makes, adds pandan flavoring and omits the nuts, making them more cakey than crispy. Pandan, a tropical plant with fragrant leaves that's a popular flavoring in Indonesia and other parts of Southeast Asia, imparts a vanilla-citrusy flavor and a naturally vivid green color to these cookies.

ByShandra Woworuntu
December 2021 / January 2022

Gallery

Credit: Photo by Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Torie Cox / Prop Styling by Lydia Pursell

Recipe Summary test

active:
25 mins
total:
1 hr 50 mins
Yield:
about 30 cookies
Advertisement

Ingredients

Directions

  • Sift flour, cornstarch, and powdered milk into a large bowl; set aside. Beat butter and 1 cup powdered sugar with an electric mixer, starting on low speed and gradually increasing speed to medium-high, until soft and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Scrape down sides and bottom of bowl. Add egg yolks; beat on medium speed until well combined, 2 to 3 minutes. Add pandan flavoring; beat until evenly combined, about 30 seconds, stopping to scrape down sides and bottom of bowl as needed.

    Advertisement

  • Add flour mixture to butter mixture in 4 additions, folding with a rubber spatula after each addition until mostly combined and mixture forms a shaggy dough. Using your fingers, pinch dough to fully incorporate dry ingredients. (Do not knead.) (Dough will be soft and slightly sticky.) Divide dough evenly into 2 balls. Wrap balls individually and tightly in plastic wrap; refrigerate 30 minutes.

  • Preheat oven to 300°F with racks in upper third and lower third positions. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Unwrap dough balls, and shape into 1-ounce balls (about 2 tablespoons or 1 1/2 inches each); arrange at least 3/4 inch apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake in preheated oven until bottoms are light golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating baking sheets between top and bottom racks halfway through bake time. Remove from oven, and immediately dust cookies heavily with powdered sugar. Let cool on baking sheets 10 minutes.

  • Place remaining 1 cup powdered sugar in a medium bowl. Working in batches while cookies are still warm, roll cookies in powdered sugar to coat. Return coated cookies to baking sheets. Let cookies stand until completely cool and dry, at least 15 minutes or up to 4 hours. Dust cookies heavily with more powdered sugar. —SHANDRA WOWORUNTU

Make Ahead

Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.

Note

Pandan flavoring can be found at South Asian markets and online atjustasianfood.com.

Advertisement
© Copyright 2022Food & Wine. All rights reserved. Printed from//www.deekeefe.com02/23/2022