Semolina Blueberry Cookies

Somehow time escaped me and I went almost all the way through May only having posted once! Sorry guys, I'll be better from now on. I've been working on an epic post about mushroom ravioli but for now I'll tide us over with a cookie recipe. This recipe was adapted from one I found in Sunset (May 2009) but does not seem to exist online.

About 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
1 1/2 c flour
3/4 c semolina
1/2 tsp salt
1 c unsalted butter, softened
1/2 c powdered sugar
1 large egg
About 2 tbs cornmeal

Combine flour, semolina, and salt. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar together until smooth. Add egg and mix until combined. Add salt and flours and mix slowly until everything is incorporated. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and shape into a disk, then wrap it in plastic and chill it for at least two hours (and up to two days).

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Unwrap the dough and roll it out on a pastry mat or a floured work surface; the dough should be about 1/3 of an inch thick. Sprinkle two baking sheets with cornmeal. Cut the dough with a two-inch cookie cutter and space the cookies slightly apart on the baking sheets. Reroll the scraps as needed (the dough may also need to be chilled again if it's getting sticky).

Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, or until they're a light golden brown. If you put both cookie sheets in at once, you'll have to swap their positions halfway through cooking. I prefer to do them one sheet at a time; you'll get more even cooking without fussing around with hot cookie sheets. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a couple of minutes before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely.

You might notice that semolina pops up with some regularity as an ingredient in my kitchen; I got started with it when I bought a 3-pound bag of semolina flour at the Armenian market for $1.50 a couple of years ago. Since then I go and replenish every few months. The spices at that market are super cheap too; I love it. I don't know what semolina prices are like at grocery stores. If you can even find it, it's probably expensive, so I'd recommend looking for it at small ethnic markets or in bulk bins.