Sweet and Spicy Peppernuts

To the obnoxious driver who passed me on Hwy 29 and shot me a look,

Okay.

First of all, you suck.

Secondly, it was a hill. You know what happens when you drive up a hill? I'll give you a hint: it does the opposite of speeding up.

Look, dude. I understand that sometimes we're in a hurry. I understand that some of us have real issues with drivers who only go 5-10 above the speed limit. I even understand that sometimes we just have bad days. I have them, too.

But that's not an excuse to stick your head out the window, glare, and mouth an obscenity. And what are you even doing out at noon, anyway? You seriously look like you should be studying in a 12th grade English class somewhere. Not driving around like an aimless high school dropout.You know, possibly living at home and blaming his old man and the government for everything crappy in life.

Listen. I wish you a good life. I really do.

Because no one should be that pissed to take it out on the road.

To be perfectly honest I also wish you a speeding ticket. And that your girlfriend would leave you for the cop who gave you that ticket. But other than that, I wish you a curse-free life on and off the road.

So no more crappy road behavior, alright? Awesome.

Sincerely,
 The maker of these Sweet and Spicy Peppernuts.



Okay, now that my little rant is over, I can talk about these peppernuts.

I can only describe them as the cutest, feistiest, crunchiest lil' cracker-cookies. They're a bit fickle, and they're more than a little time-consuming. But they make you work for their love.

Forming the cookie dough is fairly straightforward, and easy.

Forming the lil' peppernuts is fairly straightforward, and easy. And it majorly tests your patience.

Mark my words on this one.

The trick here is to make them even smaller than you think they need to be.  1/8 tsp scoop is about the size you want. Don't think you can handle the wait? Do what I do: turn on something fun on Hulu and get to peppernutting.

You can place them in the fridge until they're ready to bake. It's a good idea to swoosh the pan a bit to loosen any pieces that are stuck together.

I love the tiny ridges.

Or wrinkles... Depending on how you look at them.

Be advised that these will not last more than two days.

Seriously. They are that good.




Sweet and Spicy Peppernuts

*makes about 6 cups

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 4 Tbsp butter, softened
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp white pepper (I used plain black pepper)
• 1 large egg

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, measure all the ingredients. With mixer at low speed, beat ingredients until well blended, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula. (Mixture may be crumbly; if necessary, add 1 tsp water and with hand, knead until mixture holds together.) Shape dough into ball.
2. For each cookie, pinch off 1/8 tsp dough; with hands, shape into ball. Place the unbaked peppernut balls in a plate or cake pan lined with foil and place in refrigerator until ready to bake. Periodically shake the pan back and forth to loosen any peppernuts that are stuck together.
3. Place dough balls, about 1/2 inch apart, on ungreased cookie sheets.  Let cookies cool on cookie sheets. Store cookies in tightly covered container. 

From The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Book of Desserts