Now, I thought that I was the only one who thought this, but apparently Martha and I are in agreement that bourbon/whiskey smells like raisins. My husband thinks it smells like paint thinner. It's funny watching him try it. He makes faces like babies do when they try soda or lemons.
He may have a point with this bourbon, however. Here in Washington State, they have crazy liquor laws, and you can't get liqour (except beer and wine) except from a state-run liquor store. I always feel weird going into liquor stores, especially at noon on a Tuesday, so I was a little flustered to begin with. Then, the guy running the store was overly-helpful, to the point where he picked out the bourbon for me. I couldn't really understand what he was saying (he had a very thick accent), and I may have mentioned that I was making cookies with the bourbon, but the next thing I knew, he was grabbing this of the bottom shelf and ringing it up for me. I'm easygoing, almost to a point where it's a problem, so I just took the booze he gave me. And thus, here I am with what is probably very icky bourbon, although I couldn't really tell either way.
Because these are Martha Cookies, they don't have anything as pedestrian as raisins; they have currants. The only currants I found at my grocery store were 'Zante Currants,' which probably means something like 'plain currants' or 'ordinary currants', but I thought the name had a fancy sound to it.
Anyway, these cookies are basically shortbread with booze and currants. I've talked about how making some cookies make my house smell like a sparkly little piece of heaven. These do not. They make your house smell like someone poured booze all over the place. Unpleasant. But, the alcohol smell does go away after a bit. (That, or it just burned out all of my olfactory receptors.)
The finished cookies were surprisingly good. I was not really excited about these cookies, and made them at the request of a friend. The bourbon added a little something interesting to the flavor without being overpowering. The currants didn't add too much (I like lots of bits in my baked goods and would have added more). They weren't overly sweet, and would be really good with a cup of tea and a good book. I tried a couple with some of the leftover bourbon. I do not recommend that. Tea or milk is definitely a better choice.
Next time: Italian Polenta Cookies, p. 141
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