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Diamond cookies are tender butter cookies that act as a blank palette for flavors, such as vanilla, chocolate, praline, pistachio or lemon. The cookies originate from France, but their formulation is similar to what many American bakers know as “icebox cookies.” What makes the diamond cookie unique is its formulation, makeup and presentation — a perfectly round disc rolled in sugar.

Ingredient selection: tenderizers and tougheners

The basic diamond cookie is made from flour, butter, sugar and eggs. Because the ingredient list is so minimal, the quality of the ingredients must be high in order to have the desired texture — ethereal, light, crisp and tender.

Cookie dough needs a balance of ingredients that toughen and tenderize. The balance of these two properties is what allows bakers to create the many different types and styles of cookies. Included in the list of ingredients that toughen are flour, starch, cocoa powder, non-fat milk solids, salt, water, milk, whole eggs and egg whites. Ingredients that tenderize include liquid and solid fats, sugars (granulated, superfine and liquid), egg yolks, baking powder and baking soda.

Diamond cookies benefit from low protein bread flour's ability to create just enough strength in the dough. The high quantity of unsalted butter and confectioners' sugar balances the strong flour. Diamond cookies require two types of sugar. Confectioners' sugar is used to make a smoother and more compact dough. Granulated sugar is used on the outside of the cookie just before baking, creating the glittery, textured appearance of a diamond.

Formula and process

The process of the formula is as important as the ingredient selection. Several techniques are common in cookie production and each of them yields different results. Here are the most common techniques:

• Soft butter creaming method

  Creaming method — Based on the blending of butter and granulated sugar, the main function is to incorporate air to lighten texture and promote spread.

• Sponge method — Based on various egg foams to create a light matrix of air bubbles as the base for batters used for products like langue du chat or Parisian macaron.

• Sablér or sanding method — Based on blending cold butter into the dry ingredients, and then adding eggs and or liquids. This is the classic technique used for tart dough and cookie dough that exhibits little to no spread.

• Shaping, storing and baking

  Soft butter creaming method — When compact dough is needed with limited spread, the creaming method is used, but with a modification in ingredient characteristics: the butter must be very soft to limit air incorporation.

Formulas that are made using the soft butter creaming method also may be made using the sablér or sanding method. The end result is the same — a dough with butter spread throughout with almost no air incorporation. The compact texture of a dough limits spread and shrinkage while increasing the tender properties of the final product. For practical purposes, most people now use the soft butter creaming method in the production of tart dough and products like diamond cookies because there is more consistency in the final product.

Before beginning the mixing process, all ingredients should be ready: butter should be soft; eggs should be room temperature (65°F to 70°F); confectioners' sugar (and any other lumpy ingredients) should be sieved.