We Found The Recipe For Prince's Favorite Cookies. Here It Is. Happy #PrinceDay!
For some time we have had a mild, mostly harmless obsession with The Prince Cookie. Friends from Minneapolis, who may have dated someone who may have baked or delivered batches of a legendarily tasty cookie that was specially ordered to Prince's taste, whispered of a certain restaurant, a secret recipe. We had to have one. After all, Prince is known to have the most exacting vision, the most discerning, demanding palette in...well, everything. From parties to purple silk pajamas, he demanded and received the best out of life. If he specially ordered this cookie to made according to his precise specifications, that must be his favorite cookie. If it was Prince's favorite cookie, it must be the best damn cookie EVER BAKED. A straight masterpiece. The Purple Rain of cookies, if you will. We made inquiries. Friends from Minneapolis were dispatched on a field trip. The recipe could not safely be shared, but was jotted down in a notebook, now lost, and a batch was baked and smuggled to Brooklyn. The Prince Cookies--although there was nothing purple, nothing mystical or otherworldy about them--tasted damn good, prompting some of us to tweet things like:
"I have tasted The Prince Cookie. And It Is Sweet."
After Prince's passing, thoughts of the Prince Cookie were of course obscured by other ways of honoring the Prince Rogers Nelson, his taste and skills in basketball, musical composition, self-expression and shade-throwing all taking reasonable precedence over baked goods. But with Prince no longer here to enjoy The Prince Cookie himself, it seemed the secret was no longer a secret, and it felt appropriate to share these delicious cookies with the world. the notebook, however, was lost. The chain of evidence was broken. But in the spirit of true journalistic endeavor, a little bird who dated another little bird made more inquiries and the mystical source of the Prince Cookie was discovered...and can now be munched openly. We could not think of a better way to celebrate a birthday party for Prince Rogers Nelson than to publish the recipe for his favorite cookies.
Here it is.
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Notes: This is the fabled, extra-rare and funky-special "Prince Cookie," clipped from the recipe books of Minneapolis's Dakota Jazz Club, where Prince and his entourage were often spotted occupying a few booths and taking in both local and national acts. Prince himself played a series of intimate "surprise" shows there with his multiple backing bands in 2013. And every time he can through the Dakota, he was served plates of special cookies, baked from the recipe you see above.
Pastry chef Katie Elsing spent many a shift in the Dakota's kitchen and baked numerous batches of Prince Cookies. The cookies were only served when there was word Prince was on his way; sometimes The Artist himself never even showed, but his crew would still enjoy the cookies. Elsing is now a pastry chef at Minneapolis's Icehouse restaurant, and was happy to share the recipe with the world.
The Recipe (No Reductions Needed)
12 Oz brown butter
1.5 cups white sugar
1 cups brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 eggs
2 lime zest
4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1.5 teaspoon baking soda
1 pound white chocolate chips
1.5 cups macadamia nuts
DIRECTIONS:
Brown butter then let cool. Add sugars and cream. Slowly add eggs, vanilla and zests. Sift dry then add. Add nuts and choc. Portion then chill overnight. Bake in a 350 oven until edges are just set. Cool entirely on the sheet pan.
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We have tasted The Prince Cookie. And it is Sweet. Happy #PrinceDay, World.