Triscuit Sandies

When a cracker turns into a cookie.
When a cracker turns into a cookie.

A tisket, a tasket.

A Triscuit, a…cookie?

Yes, leave it to the zany minds behind Milk Bar to come up with crazy crunchy, brazenly buttery cookies made out of pulverized Triscuits.

“Triscuit Sandies” are just one of dozens and dozens of fabulously fun recipes in the new cookbook, “All About Cookies: A Milk Bar Baking Book” (Clarkson Potter), of which I received a review copy.

In the intro, Milk Bar owner Christina Tosi writes, “For those of you who think a cookie is just a cookie, and all cookie cookbooks are the same, welcome, my friend, to our crazy, amazing love affair with the most unsung hero of pastry. Bake a few batches with me, and I promise, you’ll never look at cookies the same way again.”

Indeed, these recipes are full of novel ingredients and approaches, such as “Cheeze-Grits” (tiny, crunchy, cheesy cookies made with corn grits, sharp cheddar and Pecorino), “Peach Shortcake Cookies” (loaded with dried peaches and real shortcake crumbles), “Lemon Poppy Ribbons” (glazed cookies filled with microwave-made lemon curd), and “Cookie Cake” (using cookie dough with favorite mix-ins to create an 8-inch cake).

I love Triscuits for their crunchy, shredded wheat strands that no other cracker sports. But I don’t eat them often because they’re too much temptation to keep in the house. Still, Triscuits are a relatively healthful snack that’s made with only whole wheat, canola oil, and sea salt.

The actual Triscuits.
The actual Triscuits.

For these cookies, you pulverize them in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. The recipe says to do this on medium speed. But definitely use low speed at first — or else a few crackers may go flying out of the bowl.

Cream butter, confectioners’ sugar, flour and a pinch of salt together, then mix in the Triscuit crumbs.

Roll the dough into a square before cutting into smaller individual cracker-like squares. Take a knife edge to the top to gently score a grid-like pattern on top of each one, mimicking a Triscuit design.

The dough is a little cumbersome to work with, but if you're patient and patch here and there, it will come together in the end.
The dough is a little cumbersome to work with, but if you’re patient and patch here and there, it will come together in the end.

Just be warned that this dough is a bit fiddly. It doesn’t hold together easily, so when you roll it into a square, don’t be surprised if you find yourself patching areas back together. The same will happen when you cut the dough into the smaller squares. Just be patient, and squeeze any cracks back together with your fingers.

After removing the cookies from the oven, sprinkle some sugar over the top of each one, and let them cool completely.

These cookies have a marvelous sweet-salty quality. Their texture is crisp and very crunchy, mimicking that of the actual crackers as if they were turned into shortbread.

And what if you’re more of a Ritz cracker kind of gal or guy?

Don’t fret, because there’s a similar recipe in this book for “Ritz Cracker Cookies” made with crushed Ritz that I just might have to try next.

Sweet, salty, and crunchy as it gets.
Sweet, salty, and crunchy as it gets.

Triscuit Sandies

(Makes 16 cookies)

38 crackers (190g) Triscuit crackers

1 stick (113g) unsalted butter, softened

1/3 cup (40g) confectioners’ sugar

3/4 cup (110g) flour

1 tablespoon (15g) turbinado or granulated sugar

1 teaspoon (4g) kosher salt

Flour, for dusting

2 tablespoons (25g) sugar, for sprinkling

Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Pan-spray or line one half-sheet pan with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the Triscuits on low to medium speed until the crackers are crushed into a coarse sand, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

Back in the stand mixer, cream together the butter and confectioners’ sugar on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Add the flour, crushed Triscuits, turbinado sugar, and salt and paddle on low speed just until the dough comes together, no longer than 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.

Scrape the dough out onto a piece of parchment paper and form into a rough square. Dust the top lightly with flour and roll into an 8-by-8-inch square. If the dough starts to crack in places, just pinch back together. Transfer the dough to the prepared pan and freeze, uncovered, until firm, about 15 minutes.

Use a Triscuit to measure, score, ans slice the dough into a grid of 16 Triscuit-size squares. Use the dull side of a knife blade (or the sharp side with a careful hand) to make crosshatch indentations in the cut cookies to resemble the weave of a Triscuit.

Bake at 325 degrees until golden, 14 to 16 minutes.

Sprinkle the tops of the warm cookies with sugar. Let cool completely on the pans, then transfer to a plate or an airtight container for storage. At room temperature, the cookies will keep fresh for 3 days; in the freezer, they will keep for 1 month.

Adapted from “All About Cookies: A Milk Bar Baking Book” by Christina Tosi with Shannon Salzano

More Baking Recipes by Christina Tosi: French Toast Muffins

And: Ted Lasso Biscuits

And: Chinese Sausage Focaccia

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6 comments

  • Oh, the irony of you posting this today, Carolyn! Just yesterday — yes, yesterday — I caved in to the craving and bought an — admirably small — box of Triscuits. Can you see where this is going? Needless to say, there are nowhere near 38 of them remaining in the box. Truth be told, I believe the box is already in the recycling bin. (Sigh) But, thanks to you, now that I realize what a healthy “whole food” snack they are, these are going right back on my shopping list. Oh, I hear you. Adding sugar, butter and (must we really?) more salt is not going to turn those tasty little treats into health food, but in the interest of scientific holiday cookie research, I feel compelled to support your blog by giving this one an immediate try. There’s not a doubt in my mind that it’s (yet another) winner!

  • Hi Carroll: Right? I, too, was pleasantly surprised to learn that Triscuits are actually a wholesome snack, relatively speaking. Who knew!?! Of course, that didn’t stop me from turning them into buttery cookies. LOL But it was so fun to make these. And I will definitely have to bake more from this inventive cookie book.

  • Couldn’t get the dough to stay together at all. Baking them anyway. We’ll see!

  • Hi Donna: Yes, as I noted in my post, it’s a finicky dough that you really have to squish and nudge back together because it is quite crumbly. But if you take the time to do so, the cookies will definitely bake up cohesively. Let me know what you think when they come out of the oven. Happy baking!

  • These are great! Needs the finishing sugar to prevent them from being too savory. Had fun with my guests trying to guess the secret ingredient.

  • Hi Judith: Now, that’s a fun game to play. So, did any of your guests guess the correct answer? 😉

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