Trilobite Cookies

(neither a professor of gastronomy nor paleontology, but I like cookies)

So bake a batch of 'bites...







A.) Gather the ingredients

2 sticks unsalted butter (1 cup, 240 cc)

2/3 cup sugar (160 cc)

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (5 cc)

3/4 teaspoon almond extract (4 cc)

2 and 1/2 cups flour (0.6 liter)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder (2.5 cc)

1/4 teaspoon salt (1 cc)

Apricot preserves and/or seedless raspberry preserves

8 ounces semisweet chocolate bits (225 gram)

Decorative candy dots for eyes

B.) Find the equipment Mixer

Cookie gun, a.k.a. cookie press, with serrated-bar-shaped extruder

Double boiler

Cookie sheets

Wax paper

Oven and stove



C.) Follow these directions

2.) Blend butter and sugar together in mixer.

3.) Mix in egg, vanilla, and almond extract until yucky.

4.) Add flour, baking powder, and salt, and mix to make dough.





5.) Use cookie press with serrated-bar-shaped extruder to press out a mess of cookies like this. I like to make a range of sizes from babies to big mommas.

6.) Bake at 350 F (175 C) for 12 minutes. (Until edges are lightly brown).





7.) While cooling, sort roughly by size. This is because, in the next step, you will want to combine two cookies of approximately the same size to make each trilobite.





8.) Fill matched top/bottom pairs with jam. I usually make half of the batch apricot and half raspberry. You can use a knife to spread the jam if you wish, but it is faster and neater to use the cookie press with a big nozzle at the end. Squeeze together just hard enough to spread the jam out between the two halves without too much oozing out the sides.

9.) Melt the chocolate bits in a double boiler.





10.) Dip one end of each cookie in melted chocolate, and lay out, on wax-paper, on cookie sheets.





11.) Place two candy decorations for eyes.

12.) Refrigerate (while still on the cookie sheets) at least 20 minutes, for the chocolate to set.





13.) Yum-yum eat-'em-up, or store for later in tins in the refrigerator. They'll soon be extinct once more.

Note: if your computer has only an 8-bit aroma-card, clicking on the pictures above will not faithfully reproduce their delicious smell. You would need at least a 16-bit aroma-card to synthesize the nuances.

Your comments and suggestions are welcome. Send me email at george@georgehart.com

Here are Amelia and Clementine holding a trilobite fossil. For information about real trilobites, you might follow these links: