Hawaiian Petroglyph Cookies
Author: Guava Rose
Prep time: 25 mins
Cook time: 50 mins
Total time: 1 hour 15 mins
Ingredients
Cookies:
  • ⅓ c. soft butter
  • ½ c. sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
  • 1-1/2 c. flour
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • ¼ tsp. sea salt
  • 1 c. toasted unsalted almonds, macadamia nuts or sunflower seeds, finely chopped
Icing:
  • ¼ c. powdered sugar
  • 1 T. unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 T. warm water
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar, then mix in eggs and vanilla. Add flour, baking powder and salt. Stir together to form a thick dough. Mix in nuts.
  2. Scoop ¼ c. globs onto the baking sheets, about 4-5 cookies per sheet. Moisten your fingers with water and press all the cookies down to about ½" thickness.
  3. Bake for 50 minutes until cookies are firm and browned on the bottom. Turn off the oven, then flip the cookies over, bottom sides up. Return the cookies to the oven for a few hours until the oven has cooled down. The cookies should be nice and crisp like biscotti. Cool completely before decorating.
  4. For the icing, mix together all ingredients. Add a little powdered sugar if it is too thin, or add a tiny bit of water if it's too thick. The icing should be the consistency of thick paint.
  5. Dip the tip of a small food safe paint brush into the icing to pick up small amounts of icing at a time. Holding the brush close to the cookie surface, let the icing drizzle off the brush to make the picture, while only gently using the brush to "paint". If you press down too hard with the brush the design will look very messy. When the icing is mostly dried, you can paint a second coat of icing on top if you want the design darker. Otherwise let the cookies air dry several hours or overnight, until the icing is completely hard.
  6. These cookies are easier to eat when broken into pieces first.
  7. (Omit salt if using salted nuts or seeds.)
Recipe by Guava Rose at https://www.guavarose.com/2016/09/hawaiian-petroglyph-cookies/