I recently posted about a fantastic beer dinner I attended for Ninkasi and I had some beers left over from the event. What to make? I had a craving for a good cookie and since I had made a batch of cookies last week that I didn’t like, I felt redemption was in order. I have high standards over here. You are your own worst critic, right?

I had a recipe I hadn’t tried so I decided to incorporate some Ninkasi Sleigh’r which is a Double Alt Ale (7.2%ABV) and has a nice roasted quality with a decent hop balance at 50 IBU’s. It’s a complex beer but not too hoppy so I knew it wouldn’t overwhelm the cookie.

Ingredients:

2 3/4 cups AP Flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter (room temp)

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1/4 cup beer

sanding sugar (or RAW sugar) for sprinkling

Directions:

1. Sift together the flour and baking soda and salt into a bowl and set aside. Beat butter in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment with the granulated sugar for 4 minutes or so, until the mixture is lighter in color and fluffy. Add the eggs and beer to the butter mixture and mix until combined.

2. Add in the flour mixture to the butter mixture slowly as you are mixing on medium-low speed. Mix until just combined. Separate the dough into two halves and wrap in plastic wrap and allow to chill in the fridge for 1 hour.

3. Heat oven to 350 degrees F and roll out your dough either on a floured surface or in between two plastic sheets of the plastic wrap. I like the plastic wrap because it doesn’t add flour to the cookies and doesn’t make a mess. Roll to a 1/4 inch thick and cut into your desired shapes. I am partial to heart-shaped cookies so I used that. Put your cookies on a sheet tray with parchment paper or a silpat, sprinkle the cookies with your choice of sugar, and put in your freezer for 10-15 minutes to keep the cookie shapes before baking them.

4. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until the edges are browned. I rotated once during the cooking process so they would cook evenly. Allow to rest on a wire rack and enjoy!

I took these cookies to a buddy’s birthday and they were almost instantly devoured. I guess that means they liked them, right? They are like a sugar cookie but with more complexity in flavor and a softness of texture that reminds me of a snickerdoodle. The crunch of the sugar on top really makes for a satisfying cookie. These were a big hit.