gooey butter cookies.

If you ever come and stay over at my apartment or if you invite me to stay over at yours I can guarantee I will show up with (or make you) a breakfast treat.  It will be something sinfully delicious (most likely a sugar bomb) and something I would never make myself on a regular basis (because I have some sense of restraint in my life).  If you are really lucky I'll bring you the St. Louis Ooey Gooey Butter Cake which gets so many requests that I should no longer even attempt to bring anything but it.  It's seriously amazing -  a yeasted cake bottom and a creamy, dreamy buttery top (somehow this qualifies as breakfast food).  It's sweet and rich and should probably be illegal in most states, but I can't help but love it (and most everyone else feels the same way). Sadly, (my arteries are probably happy) it only ever gets made once a year, but low and behold there is a genius chef in St. Louis that decided that Gooey Butter Cake could be turned into Gooey Butter Cookie and when I discovered this my heart skipped a beat. These cookies are basically the moistest and most excellent sugar cookies you've ever encoutered.  They are sweet but not in a super cloying way. They are soft and tender and pretty much perfect and I think they would make for an excellent breakfast if your're into cookies for breakfast (there is no shame in cookies for breakfast but only every once in a while).  

Gooey Butter Cookies
Recipe via Tasting Table

Makes about 3 dozen (it also halves very well!)

4½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
1½ teaspoons kosher salt
1 pound cream cheese, at room temperature
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2¼ cups granulated sugar
¼ cup glucose syrup (or an additional ¼ cup granulated sugar)
½ vanilla bean--halved lengthwise, seeds scraped away and reserved
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners' sugar, plus extra for serving

Preheat the oven to 325°. Set a fine-mesh sieve over a large bowl and sift together the flour and baking powder. Add the salt and whisk once to combine.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the cream cheese, butter, sugar, glucose syrup and the vanilla seeds. Mix on medium speed until the batter is light and airy, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat until well combined, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Turn off the mixer, add the flour mixture, then mix on medium-low speed until just combined.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. To a medium bowl, add the confectioners’ sugar and set aside. Scoop the dough into 2-inch balls about the size of a golf ball, then roll each ball in confectioners’ sugar before placing them 2 inches apart on the baking sheet.

Bake the cookies until they spread and puff slightly, 12 to 15 minutes. They should be set around the edges and very soft in the center (don’t let the cookies brown). Remove the cookies from the oven and cool 5 minutes before transferring the parchment paper with the cookies on top to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Once the cookies are completely cool, stack them in an airtight container and refrigerate. Serve chilled and dusted with more powdered sugar.

Make ahead: The dough can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days before baking.

Storing: The cookies can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.