I recently found a hundred-year-old recipe for Mignons, and decided to give it a try. Mignons are almond cut-out cookies. The cookie dough contains ground almonds, as well as a little cinnamon; and, there are chopped almonds on the top of the cookies.
The name of these cookies seemed a bit confusing to me. I wasn’t sure what “mignon” meant, but kept thinking of Filet Mignon, so looked up the definition of “mignon.” According to Dictionary.com, mignon means “small and pretty; delicately pretty.” It’s an apt description of these cookies. They are visually appealing, light, and tender cookies.
The Mignons had a lovely almond flavor, with just a hint of cinnamon. They would be perfect with a cup of coffee, or on a holiday cookie tray.
Here’s the original recipe:
Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:
Mignons Cookies
½ cup butter, softened
½ cup sugar + additional sugar to sprinkle on top of cookies
3 eggs, separated
¼ cup sliced almonds, ground fine (They can be ground with a blender or food processor) + approximately 2/3 cup sliced almonds, chopped
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 ½ cups flour
milk, if needed
Step 1. Preheat oven to 400° F.
Step 2. Put butter and sugar in a mixing bowl, then cream. Stir in the egg yolks, then the ground almonds, cinnamon, baking powder, and vanilla. Add the flour, stir to make a dough that can be rolled. (If the dough is too dry add a small amount of milk).
Step 3. Put the dough on a prepared surface, and roll the dough until it is ¼ inch thick, then cut with a cookie cutter. (Relatively small cookie cutters that are basic shapes work best.) Put the cookies on a plate and brush the cookie tops lightly with egg white, then sprinkle chopped almonds and sugar on the cookies; press firmly to ensure that the almonds stay put. (It works best to put the almonds on before the sugar.)
Step 4. Put the cookies on a greased cookie sheet, then put in oven and bake for 9-11 minutes or until the cookies are lightly browned.
I’m glad you’ve let us off sourcing Rumford’s Baking Powder! These look a nice little accompaniment to a cup of coffee.
It’s nice to hear that you’re glad that I removed the brand name of the baking powder when I updated the recipe. I don’t see any reason to promote a particular brand – though I do find it interesting that the Rumford company has been around for at least a hundred years. For much of the 20th century, there were a lot of cookbooks and recipe pamphlets published by various companies that promoted their products.
Same here! I still have a few. Even if the brands themselves have disappeared.
That’s a new cookie to me, but so pretty, and tasty, I’m sure. (I must admit, when I first saw the name of the recipe, I was thinking of a woman’s hair styled into a bun. Then, realized….. that’s a chignon! )
🙂 The name of this cookie can definitely be a bit confusing.
They look really good. I have noticed that many recipes now include almonds.
Almonds seem to be very popular right now – though, as indicated by this recipe and others in hundred-year-old cookbooks – they were also commonly used in cookies and other baked goods years ago.
The cookies look delicious! The almonds on top must provide a little crunch to the light and airy cookies.
Yes, you’re right. They do add a nice crunch to the cookies.
The original “Les Mignons” was an interesting piece of history as well! The cookies look well-matched to the plate–good choice.
I learned something new. Until I read your comment, I hadn’t realized that there were original “Les Mignons.” After doing an online search, I realized that I don’t know much about French history.
Me neither! While I read books about French history, I never knew about this part!
They look very festive!
They look nice.
Yes!
these sound really wonderful!
sherry
They’re tasty.
I did not know what a “quick oven” was for baking! I’m sure your kitchen smelled delightful with these in the oven!
I see the term “quick oven” from time to time in old cookbooks. It means that the oven temperature should be very hot. When I updated this recipe, I wrote that the oven temperature should be 400° F. I thought that was a reasonable temperature for baking cookies, though I don’t know exactly what temperature the original recipe author intended.
I grew up learning “moderate oven, quick oven” depending on how long you could comfortably hold your hand inside the open oven while counting to a certain number. I do not recall the numbers now for sure, but I think a moderate oven was count to 10. Cooking on wood fired or coal fired stoves did not rely on a thermostat. Even on the early gas stoves, the thermostat could be off. It would be interesting to know more about those terms.
Back in the days of wood and coal-fired stoves (and the early gas stoves), cooks used various rules of thumb and methods for figuring out the approximate temperature of an oven. Not sure how well they worked. I once did a post on another method for estimating oven temperature:
Using Paper to Determine Oven Temperature When Baking Cakes
This reminded me of Grandma telling me that her doctor had her “sterilize” Daddy’s diapers after they were washed and dried by wrapping them in paper and putting them in the hot oven–a wood-burning stove.
LOL – It’s fascinating how people approached things like “sterilizing” diapers years ago. Times sure have changed
I will make the tea if you bring the cookies. You even have your choice of teas!
I’m in. Sounds like fun. 🙂