Café au lait is French for coffee with milk. In my world, it’s café au lait day, every day (although technically it’s on February 17th). Seriously, I cannot function an entire workday without coffee. Instead of making a coffee with milk, as I’m pretty sure you already know how to do that, we’re making a coffee cookie to go with your morning cup. Or the late-night snack that won’t keep you up too late. Behold the Café Au Lait Inspired Coffee Crumble Cookies!
I love this recipe because it’s super simple to make, and it can be a base for any flavor of the cookie. I use this base for one of my favorite cookies, the almond cookie. I’m sure you could substitute any flavoring, though, like lemon or lavender. It’s a very flaky, crumbly cookie. Think of a less dense version of shortbread.
I call this the Coffee Crumble Cookie for apparent reasons. Once you make them, you’ll understand that the “crumble” part of the cookie is from using Crisco. There are a couple of options to get the coffee flavor. The ideal choice would be a coffee extract. This ingredient can be found in the baking or spice aisle, typically where the vanilla extract is. If you can’t find it at your local grocery, you can make an alternative.
You can enjoy this cookie in the morning with your coffee or tea. As well as at night with a tall glass of milk. The flavoring is not too overpowering, but you still get the essence of the coffee. The espresso grinds give the cookie its nice specks. The coffee life is the life for me, and I’ll take it in any form.
Café Au Lait Inspired Coffee Crumble Cookies
Coffee Crumble Cookies are a very flaky, crumbly cookie you can enjoy with your morning cup of joe or as a late night snack. We won’t tell.
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 1/3 cup Crisco
- 1 tsp coffee extract (2 tsp alternative see tips and tricks)
- 1 egg
- 3 cup flour
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tbsp finely ground espresso
Directions
- Cream together sugar, Crisco, and extra very thoroughly.
- Add in egg and mix well.
- Sift together flour, salt, baking soda, and coffee grounds.
- Mix into shortening mixture
- Roll into marble size balls and place on greased cookie sheet 1″ apart
- Press flat with the palm of your hand or the bottom of a glass. Until about ¼” thick.
- Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes.
Tips & Tricks:
☕️ Coffee extract alternative: Heat 2 tbsp of water until almost boiling then add in a pouch of instant coffee about 1 tbsp.
? Oil your hands with Crisco or cooking oil of choice before rolling them into balls because the batter is quite sticky.
? Let the cookies cool for a few minutes on the pan, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely because they are very fragile when first coming out of the oven.
? If you want to be fancy, you can add a chocolate-covered espresso bean to the middle after taking them out from the oven.
